The Everly Brothers rock groups of the 1960s. The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Simon & Garfunkel developed their early styles by performing Everly songs. The Bee Gees, The Hollies, The Marmalade, and other rock and roll groups that feature harmony singing were also influenced by the Everlys. The music of the Everly Brothers influenced the Beatles, who referred to themselves as "the English Everly Brothers" when Paul McCartney and John Lennon went hitchhiking south to win a talent competition. They based the vocal arrangement of "Please Please Me" on "Cathy's Clown." Keith Richards called Don Everly "one of the finest rhythm players."
The Everly Brothers 1961 through early 1964, the Everlys recorded songs by other writers to avoid paying royalties to Acuff-Rose. They used the pseudonym "Jimmy Howard" as writer or arranger on two selections they wrote and recorded during this time. This ruse, however, was ultimately unsuccessful, as Acuff-Rose gained legal possession of the copyrights once the name substitution was discovered. About this time, the brothers also set up their own record label, Calliope Records, for solo projects. Using the pseudonym "Adrian Kimberly," Don recorded a big-band instrumental version of Edward Elgar's first "Pomp and Circumstance" march, which Neal Hefti arranged and which charted