A large number of tracks in my post today, but all are quite wonderful, so please try and find the time to give each and every one a listen if you possibly can.
As I’ve previously mentioned, I like each post I make to this thread to have some sort of theme, and the theme of my post today is
Siblings.
Here’s a selection of great tracks by twelve acts, each of whom either entirely consisted of siblings or included two or more siblings amongst their number. As much as I like both the Righteous Brothers and the Walker Brothers, the former were not real brothers and nor were the latter, so neither act qualifies for this post.
The Ronettes - Be My Baby (1963)
The Ronettes were very much a family affair. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett (later known as Ronnie Spector), her sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley.
Be My Baby was their biggest UK hit single.
Charlie and Inez Foxx - Mockingbird (1963)
Charlie and Inez Foxx were a brother and sister act.
Mockingbird was first released as a single in 1963, but didn’t chart in the UK until 1969. Cracking track.
Nino Tempo and April Stevens - Whispering (1963)
Nino Tempo and April Stevens were another brother and sister act. I’ve previously submitted their American Number One single, the wonderful
Deep Purple, to the thread, so here’s the almost as wonderful follow-up single.
Gerry and the Pacemakers - Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying (1964)
Gerry’s brother, Fred Marsden, was one of the Pacemakers, which is why the group are making an appearance in this post.
Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying got to number 6 in the UK singles chart in the spring of 1964. I love this song.
The Everly Brothers - Love is Strange (1965)
You can’t have a sibling themed post and leave out these guys. This track is a superb, but I tend to say that about virtually every track the Everly Brothers recorded.
The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel (1965)
My favourite track by arguably the best of all the American sixties garage bands. The siblings in this band were Larry Parypa (lead guitar and vocals) and his brother Andy Parypa (bass guitar). The Sonics never had any hits, but like fellow commercially unsuccessful sixties bands,
Velvet Underground and
Love, they achieved significant cult status in later decades. If the song sounds familiar, that’s because it’s currently being featured in a TV advert for car insurance.
The Shangri-Las - Past, Present And Future (1966)
The Shangri-Las consisted of two sets of sisters, with one of those sets consisting of identical twins. I’m not that keen on their biggest UK hit,
Leader Of The Pack, so I’ve chosen my favourite track by the group, which failed to chart over here.
Past, Present And Future is an entirely spoken-word meditation on lost love backed by the moody piano chords of Beethoven’s
Moonlight Sonata; cheesy yet beautiful.
The Beach Boys - Sloop John B (1966)
The Beach Boys consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. There’s already been a plethora of magnificent Beach Boys tracks on the thread, but I don’t think we’ve yet had
Sloop John B, so here it is now.
The Bee Gees - New York Mining Disaster 1941 (1967)
I much prefer late-sixties Bee Gees to Disco-era Bee Gees, and the Bee Gees from my preferred period were actually a five (rather than a three) man group consisting of brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, plus two Australians, Vince Malouney (on lead guitar) and Colin Petersen (on drums). This superb track was their first ever UK hit single.
The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset (1967)
I’ve heard it been said that the sibling rivalry between brothers Ray and Dave Davies is what made the Kinks such a great band. I think it had more to do with the magnificent songwriting of Ray Davies, and would suggest that
Waterloo Sunset is his finest ever composition. I know it’s previously appeared on the thread, but tracks this good deserve to be repeated.
The Isley Brothers - Put Yourself In My Place (1969)
I love everything the Isley Brothers recorded from the late-fifties to the mid-seventies.
Put Yourself In My Place is my favourite sixties track by the group. It previously featured on the thread as one of Rob’s 1969 selection, but the clip he supplied has been removed from Youtube, so here’s an alternative clip.
The Equals - Viva Bobby Joe (1969)
The Equals qualify for this post by virtue of the fact that singer, Derv Gordon, and guitarist, Lincoln Gordon, were (and still are) twin brothers. The band’s most famous member, however, was Eddy Grant, who would later have a pretty successful solo career.
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