James burton guitarist biography

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A Six-String Trailblazer

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The fleet-fingered sound of James Burton on the Fender Telecaster guitar has been a defining element of rock ‘n’ roll for nearly six decades. Born in Dubberly, Louisiana, in 1939, Burton’s talent was recognized early. In his early teens he joined the house band at the Louisiana Hayride, and from there his career skyrocketed from Shreveport to Hollywood to Graceland and beyond. The lengthy list of stars this backup musician has accompanied in the recording studio and on stage reads like an A-list Grammys’ after-party: Rick Nelson, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Emmylou Harris and John Denver, to name but a few. As a hard-working session musician on the busy L.A. scene of the mid-to-late 1960s, Burton played anonymously on countless records by the likes of Frank Sinatra, the Everly Brothers, the Beach Boys, Sonny and Cher, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and the Fifth Dimension. Louisiana Cultural Vistas’ editor David Johnson sat down with this living legend—a 2001 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—in a conversation that covered the globetrotting career of a man who still calls Shreveport home.

David Johnson: Let’s start back at the very beginning. When did you first pick up a guitar?

James Burton: Well, I probably picked it up somewhere between 5 and 12. I actuall

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Biography

In ’55 James was playing with the Dale Hawkins band. They recorded a demo tape of “See You Soon Baboon” at the KWKH studio. The owner of Stan’s Record Shop, Stan Lewis, was impressed and signed them to a management deal and hawked them to Chess Records. In ’57, Burton recorded “Susie Q” with Dale Hawkins. James wrote the lick and Hawkins put the lyrics to it.

After he left Hawkins, James was playing around town when he got a call from Horace Logan, manager of the Hayride and also manager of Bob Luman. Logan felt that Luman had the style and look and he knew Burton had the licks to complement him. Burton, James Kirkland and Luman tested the waters on a few Hayride shows and then started to work together. With a few hit singles released like “My Gal is Red Hot” and “A Red Cadillac and A Black Mustache, Logan arranged for the band to do a movie in Hollywood, called “Carnival Rock”. Logan also made sure that Bob Luman and The Shadows, as the band was now called, had a semi regular spot on Town Hall Party. A DVD of Luman’s appearances there was released in 2003.

While in Hollywood with Luman, Ricky Nelson heard them rehearse and shortly after that, James got a telegram, asking him and bass pl