It’s Horrible Being In Love When You’re 19½: “Problems” by The Everly Brothers

More pensive angst for Don and Phil here; they seem to be in a similar situation to the protagonist of “Summertime Blues” – love life non-existent, poor grades at school, can’t use the car so much – and they can’t quite work out why. I note the attendant irony of a song with lyrics including “Woe is me, I should have stayed in bed” becoming a hit in a world into which Morrissey was about to be born, but the song’s central mystery is: what exactly is their problem? How do they love this girl – is it unrequited love, is she cheating on them or does she even know they exist? The song is a slower variant on “Bird Dog” with the brothers’ Bo Diddley influence made really plain by the simple effect of turning up the mixing desk fader to accentuate those 12-string scimitars. But what if it’s an answer song to “Bird Dog” – what if this is actually being sung by daydreaming Johnny, who is unlikely ever to know what love is? In Beatles-influencing terms, “Problems” would definitely be a Lennon song.

Date Record Made Number Two: 20 December 1958

Number of Weeks At Number Two: 1

Record At Number One: “To Know Him, Is To Love Him”” by The Teddy Bears

UK Chart Position: 6

Other Information: The mournful, high-pitched lead guitar motif, which the young George Harrison probably spent a weekend learning, was most likely played by Hank Garland.

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