Any musician, the hardest metal guitarist to the classical harpist, will tell you harmonies are essential. The Everly Brothers were and remain a standard on how to use 6ths and 3rds to create a memorable two-part harmony. In 1958 the Everly Brothers recorded Songs My Daddy Taught Me which was to fulfill a contractual obligation to their label Cadence, before they signed to Warner Bros. They took traditional folk and country songs from the early 30’s and covered them in their own style. Now, the unlikely pairing of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and jazz-pop songstress Norah Jones pay homage to the Everly Brothers album with their own album Foreverly.
Billie Joe Armstrong stated in an interview with Stereogum that he and Jones met when they sang together with Stevie Wonder and his band. Armstrong said it was actually his wife’s idea to get Jones to sing with him, and he realized having a male and female, instead of two male singers, might give a whole new take on the music.
As beautiful as the music and the vocals are, the subject matter is very dark dealing with poverty, pain, murder and deceit. “Lightning Express”, the story of a boy on a train trying to get to his sick mother, pleading with the conductor not to kick him off the train because he has no money. A possible inspiration for The Notebook “Oh So Many Years”, speaking of two people not telling the love for one another, leading in their two different life paths. “I’m Here To Get My Baby Out of Jail”, which is well, pretty self-explanatory.
What really can’t be denied, regardless of subject matter, is the chemistry between Armstrong and Jones. The difference of the songs being heard with male and female vocals really give it a surprise of depth in each track, and breathes new life into the harmonies.
Foreverly is currently streaming for free on Amazon and is released on November 25.