The Band Paul Simon Saw as “The Soil of American Culture”

Calling a band the “soil of American culture” is quite the compliment. Given the decades of wildly impressive musical works coming from the U.S., being labeled the backbone of that success is really the ultimate praise. An artist many would consider at least a building block of U.S. music, Paul Simon, once gave another band this weighty compliment. Find out who Simon was talking about below.

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Paul Simon Said This Band Was “The Soil of American Culture”

Many bands have contributed to the trajectory of U.S. music. Each decade has tentpole artists we can point to as the groundwork for everything that followed them. Narrowing down the most influential force in American music is a tough ask, but if you had to pick one band and have as many people as possible agree with you, The Everly Brothers aren’t a bad pick.

The Everly Brothers were the songwriter’s songwriters. Everyone from The Beatles to Simon acknowledged how influential they were to the careers of so many great talents. “They were one of the major influences on the Beatles,” Paul McCartney once said. “When John and I first started to write songs, I was Phil, and he was Don.”

Simon echoed McCartney’s praises of the duo, calling them the very soil of U.S. music.

The Everly Brothers

“The roots of the Everly Brothers are very, very deep in the soil of American culture,” Simon once wrote.

“The Everly Brothers’ impact exceeds even their fame,” he continued. “They were a big influence on John Lennon and Paul McCartney — who called themselves the Foreverly Brothers early on — and, of course, on Simon and Garfunkel. When we were kids, Artie and I got our rock & roll chops from the Everlys. Later, as Simon and Garfunkel, we put ‘Bye Bye Love’ on Bridge Over Troubled Water, and much later, Phil and Don both sang on the song ‘Graceland.’”

It’s not hard to agree with Simon’s praises of The Everlys. This tumultuous duo penned and recorded countless timeless tracks, including “All I Have To Do Is Dream,” “Cathy’s Clown,” and “Wake Up Little Susie.” Though their personal relationship was rocky over the decades, their influence on rock was evergreen.

Many people have been credited as the fathers of rock music, but The Everlys are the least known by the mainstream. Their influence, as Simon pointed out, was paramount to the melodic-forward sounds of early rock. Revisit one of their biggest hits above.

(Photo by Ivan Keeman/Redferns)