The Best Of Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'N' Roll Trio
As respected as they are in rockabilly circles, JOHNNY & DORSEY BURNETTE don’t have the notoriety of their contemporaries like Elvis Presley or Carl Perkins. While lead guitarist Paul Burlison is nearly as respected as Elvis’ guitarist Scotty Moore—some of the licks on The Trio’s tracks were supplied by session guitarist Grady Martin. Burlison worked with Elvis Presley at Crown Electric, & the brothers knew him as well, but he never recorded any of their songs. Sun Records’ Sam Phillips passed on them because they sounded too much like Elvis—but they were all (along with Perkins) experimenting with similar styles of music at the same time.
The Burnette Brothers were rough hewn. Both were boxers—Golden Gloves Champions—and they weren’t above turning those skills on one another. The groundbreaking raw and ragged guitar sound on Train Kept A Rollin’ has been attributed to a loose tube in Burlison’s amplifier—and one account claims that what knocked the tube loose was a scuffle between The Battling Burnettes.
Competitiveness is a large part of any boxer. Add to that they both wrote songs, and they were both capable singers, & good ol’ sibling rivalry, & it’s no surprise the brother’ relationship was often contentious. Younger brother Johnny’s name being placed before the band’s original name: THE ROCK AND ROLL TRIO didn’t help matters. Dorsey left the group just before their appearance in Alan Freed’s movie; Rock, Rock, Rock, and was replaced by Johnny Black, the brother of Elvis’ bassist, Bill Black.
Upon moving to Los Angeles, Johnny Burnette famously lay in wait in front of Ricky Nelson’s house & sold him on listening to their songs, and the brothers were underway as a songwriting duo.
The Burnette Brothers both had some success as recording artists at the beginning of the ‘60s, with Dorsey leaning toward country and Johnny leaning toward pop. Johnny died tragically in a boating accident in 1964 leaving behind a son, Rocky who went on to have a recording career. Dorsey scored 15 minor hits in the country field & had even greater success as a songwriter. His son, Billy, also went on to become a solo artist and to play with Fleetwood Mac for several years. Like their famous fathers the cousins relationship was strained.
This compilation shows why Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'N' Roll Trio are on everybody’s short list of rockabilly pioneers. I’ve listened to most of these tracks a couple hundred times and they still get me amped up.
In the words of Jerry Lee Lewis: “If God made anything better, he kep’ it fo’ himself”.
For me, the rockabilly forefathers are Elvis, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, & The Burnette Brothers. Elvis & Jerry Lee rarely wrote their own songs, and the others did.
ReplyDeleteBuddy Holly was a force to be reckoned with, and a legend, but he came right after these cats--just shy of being a forefather in my opinion.
Who do you feel I've left off of my rockabilly forefather's list? (I feel Little Richard's songs only BECOME rockabilly when others interpret them, but maybe you feel he should be included for that reason).
THE BEST OF JOHNNY BURNETTE & THE ROCK 'N' ROLL TRIO:
https://pixeldrain.com/u/WYML138R
I know less about rockabilly than Stinky and Koen do. Just looking at the early Sun singles, I see Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Warren Smith, Sonny Burgess, and Billy Lee Riley. And how about Wanda Jackson? Just out of curiosity, what makes Chuck Berry a rockabilly artist?
DeleteI feel that I can detect a rockabilly heartbeat, like a doctor detects a heart murmur.
DeleteLike Little Richard, CHUCK's songs are staples in the repertoire of every rockabilly band--because Chuck, & his songs like MAYBELLINE & NADINE have that rockabilly heart.
Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Warren Smith, Sonny Burgess, and Billy Lee Riley are also forefathers but I was going for more of a MOUNT RUSHMORE thing, The bedrock artists. Hell, BILLY LEE RILEY deserves his likeness carved alongside Jerry Lee's because JLL played piano on Billy Lee's early Sun Records sides.
Wanda Jackson falls in with the second wave geniuses like Buddy Holly in my opinion. Elvis was going strong when Buddy saw him live & focused on what was similar in their approaches--moving away from country & toward rockabilly (which was already an element of his music). Similarly, Wanda was a respected country singer when Elvis suggested she sing rockabilly. She still wears his ring around her neck, btw.
Just listened to the 1955 recordings of Wanda Jackson, when she was plain country.
DeleteJanis Martin, I also listened to her 1956 recordings, That was exciting.
I'm a gigantic fan of WANDA JACKSON's, Richard. Especially her rockabilly sides.
DeleteAnother true rockabilly gal is ROSIE FLORES who brought Wanda out of semi-retirement by having her guest on two songs on her ROCKABILLY FILLY album. Rosie ALSO sings two songs on it with JANIS MARTIN! WANDA toured with Rosie & (of course) I got their autographs. More ROSIE FLORES will be shared here on JOKONKY, so watch this space.
The talent on that fine release also includes ALBERT LEE, ROCKY BURNETTE, RUSSELL SCOTT, & JAMES INTVELD:
https://www.discogs.com/release/3938843-Rosie-Flores-Rockabilly-Filly
Thanks Stinky, that's a great post, brings back a lot of good memories when my uncle played those tracks on his old record player back in the 1960s!
ReplyDeleteAs for forefathers, how about Charlie Feathers? He released a lot of good stuff back in the days!
And for any new visitors, please check out Stinky's earlier Burnette Brothers tribute post:
https://jonderblog.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-burnette-brothers-playbook-johnny.html
Thanks for providing that link, Koen.
DeleteI agree that CHARLIE FEATHERS is another originator, but he has taken so much credit for influencing Elvis' (that many others who were there contest) that I kind of put an asterisk next to his name like they do with ballplayers. Like he's probably a forefather, but there's some dispute. :)
Nonesuch Records recently posted this video of Robert Plant browsing their releases and talking about some of his favorite records. It's sort of like the "Criterion Closet" videos, or Amoeba Records' "What's In My Bag" series. ANYWAY, Plant pulls out a CD that anyone familiar with the American Explorers series will recognize, and he makes a case for the significance of Charlie Feathers' contribution to rockabilly: https://youtu.be/jIML4uwwtrA?si=-3eAysgVO5mpkMIC&t=336
ReplyDeleteThere's no way I'm going up against ROBERT PLANT arguing who is and who isn't a rockabilly forefather. I found a LED ZEPPELIN bootleg of the band playing rockabilly numbers (the music they all loved as youths) live & at sound checks which furthered my understanding of the style and helped me detect that rockabilly heartbeat I talk about above.
DeleteMaybe I'll remove the asterisk.
Here's a record from 1958 (Elvis released BLUE MOON in 1956 for perspective) that I feel DEFINITELY has a "rockabilly heart" but a lot of folks might classify it as blues.
ReplyDeleteMAGIC SAM - 21 Days In Jail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EzuyNprQgo
I feel like THE BLASTERS almost used it as a blueprint--they did record it--and I LOVE THE BLASTERS! :)
I thank you Stinky for this offering. I am not going to burn my hands on what is billy and what is not. It is the narrative Elvis made That's Allright, the blues side and Blue Moon, the country side in 1955. And they did not even had drums on it, just guitars, slappin bass and voice. And this semi-rebellious streak turned two styles into one. As they say "the rest is history"
ReplyDeleteWell put, Richard!
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