POP MUSIC / THOMAS K. ARNOLD : Promoter Bristles Over Everly Brothers’ ‘Disdain’

The Everly Brothers’ 11th-hour cancellation of their Aug. 17 double-header at Humphrey’s on Shelter Island has left promoter Kenny Weissberg angrily vowing, “I’m never going to deal with them again.”

Weissberg’s anger is understandable. For one thing, the no-show is costing him money. Since the date was booked last March, he’s spent nearly $3,000 on advertising and promotion (primarily on radio)--all for nothing, it turns out.

For another, the no-show is costing ticket-holders money. As of July 17, when the Humphrey’s date was abruptly canceled, more than 1,100 local Everly Brothers fans had already purchased tickets to the two shows, mostly through Ticketmaster outlets. And while the ticket price is refundable, the $2.50-per-ticket “service charge” ($3.50 if ordered by phone) tacked on by Ticketmaster is not.

What angers Weissberg even more than the actual cancellation is the runaround he was given while trying to discern the reason for the cancellation.

“It’s standard practice in the concert business for every act to have a 30-day cancellation clause in their contract,” Weissberg said, “which means they can cancel any show, for whatever reason, as long as they notify the promoter at least 30 days in advance.

“So when the Everly Brothers’ agent called me on July 17, 31 days before their scheduled appearance at Humphrey’s, to tell me the date was off, there was nothing I could do.”

Still, Weissberg wanted to know why. And when the agent told him “it was because Phil Everly doesn’t like Humphrey’s,” he said, “my reaction was one of surprise, of disbelief, because the Everly Brothers had played for me in 1986 and again in 1987 and I had never sensed for a minute that Phil was unhappy.

“So I tracked down the band on the road--leaving messages at every hotel where they were staying, in every city they were playing--until finally I woke up their tour manager three days later,” Weissberg said.

The Everly Brothers’ tour manager, he said, told him the cancellation “had nothing to do with Phil having anything against Humphrey’s.” Instead, he said, he was told that on the duo’s spring concert tour of Europe, they had played several double-headers and each time “Phil’s voice had faltered during the second show.”

“So when they came back to the United States in mid-June,” Weissberg said, “they decided to cancel every upcoming two-show-per-night engagement, including the one at Humphrey’s.”

Why, then, had he not been informed of this decision at the time, Weissberg wanted to know. He could have saved a month’s worth of needless advertising and promotional expenditures; he could have put an early halt to ticket sales for a pair of shows that never were to happen.

“Ask the agent,” the tour manager said.

Weissberg promptly did ask the Everly Brothers’ agent, who swore he knew nothing of their dislike for playing two shows a night.

“He pointed out that there are several big-paying fair dates that are two-show situations that the Everly Brothers are still doing,” Weissberg said.

After he put the phone down, Weissberg said, he did a little thinking and eventually concluded that “what the whole thing boils down to is that I wasn’t offering the Everly Brothers enough money to make it worth their effort.”

“My only question is, why did they accept my offer in the first place? Ninety-nine percent of the artists I contract with honor their commitment.

“And by failing to honor their commitment, the Everly Brothers have not only slapped me in the face, they’ve shown total disdain for their fans.”

LINER NOTES: The recently reunited Doobie Brothers will appear Oct. 1 at Balboa Park’s Starlight Bowl. Fans of the group’s original country-boogie sound can rest easy: Current members are all from the early 1970s, pre-Michael McDonald incarnation that produced such hits as “Listen to the Music,” ’Long Train Runnin’ ” and “China Grove.”

At last week’s spectacular concert by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at San Diego State University’s Open Air Theater, the Replacements had just finished the opening set when Country Dick Montana of the Beat Farmers, walking up the center aisle, was tackled by a flashlight-waving bouncer. No, the burly “yellow-jacket” didn’t demand to see Montana’s ticket; he merely asked for, and got, an autograph.

San Diego’s the Jacks have officially severed ties with Rounder Records, the small East Coast label that last year released, with virtually no promotional support, their delightful debut album of “blue-eyed soul” originals, “Jacks are Wild.” “So we’re free agents once again,” writes singer-guitarist Buddy Blue in the group’s latest newsletter, “and can shop around for a new, hopefully more aggressive label to release our sacred noise.” . . . Local upstarts Bad Radio, meanwhile, are setting up a showcase performance at Club Lingerie in Los Angeles to audition for interested MCA Records execs. . . . A brief interview with Mojo Nixon appears in the September issue of Playboy magazine.

Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. for Dwight Yoakam’s Sept. 17 appearance at the Starlight Bowl. Opening for the rootsy twangster will be the Desert Rose Band, fronted by Chris Hillman, a former member of such venerable country-rock outfits as the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band.