“Bye, bye love Bye, bye happiness Hello, loneliness I think I’m a gonna d-ie” was the opening and chorus of the Everly Brothers’ debut song in 1957. It quickly rose to the top of the charts, and the Everly Brothers’ mix of Kentucky Country with Rock ‘n Roll became wildly successful. Phil Everly, the younger brother, died recently. He was 74.
I have fond memories of the Everly Brothers, not only their songs, but of my 8th grade art class. Our semester project was to make a string puppet of some famous music or dance person/group for the school-wide music program. The teacher would not allow any rock-and-roll music, and Elvis was especially off limits. But, she accepted the Everly Brothers because, in her mind, they were clean cut and sang country songs.
The marionette, with a paper mache’ head was made in art class. I made the guitar in shop class, and my Mom made the clothes — white dinner jacket, black pants, white shirt, red bow tie; white baby shoes completed the outfit. I had the most fun building the guitar. Working with the strings on the puppet (picture strumming the guitar and tapping your foot) was a real nightmare, but at least the music was easy to listen to.
Thought for the Day: Some people tap their feet, some people snap their fingers, and some people sway back and forth. I just sort of do ’em all together, I guess. Elvis Presley
Larry's Blog 
Didn’t we three (with R.L.) do the marionettes for and sing Three Little Maids from School? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXWkIZUPmDY
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Larry,
We just returned from Laura’s this past Thursday. Your photo reminds me of the visit Larry and I made to the Music Instrument Museum in Scottsdale. It was an incredible two-story building housing thousands of instruments from all over the world. A room was reserved for instruments of each continent and special rooms were set aside for experimentation, restoring, and listening. Video clips were made of each musical great, like Leonard Bernstein, Joshua Bell, Pablo Casals, and Elvis. Several costumes and guitars were on display for Elvis, as well as a restored guitar cover he had taken everywhere. Your quote fit perfectly with the video clips they showed of his performances. As an adult, I can more fully appreciate his talent and attraction.
I wish I could remember you making the guitar and marionette. It sounds like quite a feat and Mom made it special for you. Wish you had a photo of it.
Sherrie
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