"Cathy's Clown" is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

, written by

Don Everly The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...

and recorded by

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...

in 1960. The lyrics describe a man who has been wronged and publicly humiliated by his lover: "Here he comes / That's Cathy's clown". The choruses are sung by brothers Don and Phil in their trademark

close harmony A chord is in close harmony (also called close position or close structure) if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in open harmony (also c ...

style, while Don sings the bridges solo. "Cathy's Clown" is noted for its unorthodox structure, such as beginning on a chorus and having

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

s but no verses. The song was a worldwide success and the best-selling single of the Everly Brothers career. Because of its enduring influence on popular music the song was added to the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

in 2013.Daniel J. Levitin (2013
The Everly Brothers - Cathy's Clown
Library of Congress, accessed 12 Jan 2020

Recording

The musicians included the Everlys on guitars, Floyd Cramer on piano,

Floyd Chance Floyd Taylor Chance (21 December 1925 – 11 April 2005), often credited as Lightnin' Chance, was an American session musician who played bass on many successful country and pop records, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. His bass playing can be ...

on bass and

Buddy Harman Murrey Mizell "Buddy" Harman, Jr. (December 23, 1928 – August 21, 2008) was an American country music session musician. Career Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Harman played drums on over 18,000 sessions for artists such as Elvis Presley, Jerry ...

on drums. The distinctive drum sound was achieved by recording them with a tape loop, making it sound as if there were two drummers. "Cathy's Clown" was recorded live in a single take, with Don and Phil sharing a microphone.

History

"Cathy's Clown" was The Everly Brothers' first single for Warner Bros., after they had recorded for

Archie Bleyer Archibald Martin Bleyer (June 12, 1909 – March 20, 1989) was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive. Early life Bleyer was born in the Corona section of the New York City borough of Queens. His father was a well-kn ...

's Cadence label for three years. It sold eight million copies worldwide, spending five weeks at number 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and one week on the R&B chart. The song spent seven weeks at number 1 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in May and June 1960, and was the Everly Brothers' biggest-selling single and their third and final U.S. number 1 hit. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number 3 song of the year for 1960. In 2004, it was ranked 149th on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine's list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

. In November 2018, a judge ruled that Don was the sole writer of "Cathy's Clown", as Phil had relinquished his rights sometime before June 1980.

Acuff-Rose Music Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. was an American music publishing firm formed in 1942 by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose (songwriter), Fred Rose in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Acuff-Rose's honest behavior towards their writers set them apart from other m ...

, which owned the song publishing, and BMI (the brothers' rights society) removed Phil's name from all the royalty statements. In 2011, Don filed to regain ownership, with the estate of Phil following in 2014.

Associations

"Cathy's Clown" was inspired by Ferde Grofé's '' Grand Canyon Suite''. It was a major influence on the Beatles, who — having "once toyed with calling themselves The Foreverly Brothers" — three years later re-created the song's vocal arrangement in their first U.S. single, "

Please Please Me ''Please Please Me'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom, following the success of the band's first two s ...

". "Cathy's Clown" is mentioned in the

opening line At the beginning of a written work stands the opening sentence or opening line. The opening line is part or all of the opening sentence that may start the lead paragraph. For older texts the Latin term "incipit" (it begins) is in use for the very ...

of Elliott Smith's song "Waltz 2 (XO)", the title track of his 1998 album '' XO''.

Jan and Dean Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music style ...

recorded a cover of "Cathy's Clown" for their album ''Filet of Soul'', but Liberty Records rejected both set lists that included the song. Liberty later selected its own set list, which did not include "Cathy's Clown", and released it shortly after Jan Berry's crash near Deadman's Curve. Jan & Dean's cover of "Cathy's Clown" is available on the "Filet Of Soul Redux: The Rejected Master Recordings" release.

Chart history

All-time charts

Reba McEntire version

The song was recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist Reba McEntire in April 1989 as the first single from her album '' Sweet Sixteen''. The song reached #1 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.

Chart positions

Year-end charts

Other versions

The song was covered by

Bill and Boyd Bill and Boyd were a pop music duo from 1959 to 1989 consisting of William "Bill" Cate (10 October 1940 - 29 November 2020) and William "Boyd" Robertson (born 1941), both on lead vocals and lead guitar, which started recording in 1960. They bega ...

in New Zealand; their version reached number 1 on the Lever Hit Parades chart in that country in July 1960. Another cover, by the English singer Dick Jordon, reached number 5 in New Zealand. A cover of "Cathy's Clown" by

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

appears on his 1983 album ''

Come See About Me "Come See About Me" is a 1964 song recorded by the Supremes for the Motown label. The track opens with a fade-in, marking one of the first times the technique had been used on a studio recording. The song became third of five consecutively rel ...

''. Also covered by Phish at their July 2, 2019 show at Saratoga Performing Arts Center as the show opener.

References

{{authority control The Everly Brothers songs Jan and Dean songs 1960 songs Songs written by Phil Everly Songs written by Don Everly 1960 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Warner Records singles Reba McEntire songs Song recordings produced by Jimmy Bowen 1989 singles MCA Records singles United States National Recording Registry recordings