Zoneboy
06-05-2009, 11:34 PM
Link (http://www.thebestoftimesnews.com/article.php?article=490&issue=199)
In the world of musicians, James Burton is a legend. He would not use that term to describe himself, but the evidence is decisive and his accomplishments are staggering.
The Shreveport native is an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Fender Hall of Fame and the Musician’s Hall of Fame. His discography would fill the pages of this magazine and the list of artists he has played with would require a special edition.
A nearly two hour interview with Burton (which considering his busy schedule was very generous) was really only long enough to skim the surface of his career.
It all began in Dubberly, where Burton was born August 21, 1939. He grew up in Shreveport and from the beginning music was something that made a connection with Burton.
“Mother said that since the day I was born, music did something to me,” Burton said. “I got very excited and happy when I heard music. She said I would pick up anything I could find in the house and act like I was playing guitar. I always loved the guitar. It was something magic to my ear. Every time I would hear the guitar, I could see the guitar and see the strings moving. I could hear the actual notes and where it was going.”
Burton’s parents bought him his first guitar when he was 13. His second guitar came from J and S Music store in Shreveport and was a ‘53 Fender Telecaster, a guitar which would be the start of Burton’s long time association with Fender.
When Burton was 14, he turned professional. In one year, without the benefit of lessons, Burton hit the music scene. His talent was God-given, he said.
“God just blessed me with that beautiful gift. It is all a blessing from God because he was my teacher. Even to this day, I am not a fast reader to sit down and play other people’s music, but they (people who hired him in the beginning) didn’t want me for that (but) because I love to create music,” he said.
At 14 years of age, Burton was playing in a blues band with Dale Hawkins. Burton had written “a little instrumental” and was playing it with Hawkins one day. They played the melody, the guitar lick Burton had written, and Hawkins said he wanted to write lyrics to it. Hawkins wrote those lyrics and Burton’s “little instrumental” became “Suzy Q.”
“From that day on it was wild,” said Burton.
He began playing on the “Louisiana Hayride” behind well known singers, among them, George Jones, Jim Reeves and Johnny Mathis. He also won a few school music competitions and said the $100 first prize awards were pretty good money back then.
However, Burton said he wasn’t playing for the money, but for the love of playing.
Burton’s time performing on the “Louisiana Hayride” was an important start to his career. Though he was already responsible for writing the guitar lick for the hit song “Suzy Q,” his time on stage gave him a different kind of exposure.
“I think being able to present my music and being seen every Saturday night and people hearing me on the radio was very important. I had no idea where it was going to take me. All I knew was every day I picked up my guitar and played, it was the happiest day of my life.”
When he first began playing the guitar, Burton’s main influences were Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, and Les Paul. He also always admired Ernest Tubb’s guitar player, Billy Bird.
Burton started out playing country music, but soon realized that rhythm and blues was very strong in his “musical mind.”
“I created sort of a country and rhythm and blues flavor playing guitar,” he recalled. “When I would play country I would put a little blues feeling into it. It just kept growing into all these different styles.”
Burton was a part of the early days of rock and roll. He said people will often ask him if he knew he was making history.
“How do you know you are making history,” he asked? “You can’t get sidetracked. You have to focus on who you are, why you are playing, and that you love it. That is what it is all about. If you love something, good things come. Your music comes from the heart and the soul. You have to have the musical thing before the business thing. The love of what you are doing has to come first.”
Burton never performed on the “Louisiana Hayride” on the same nights as Elvis Presley because the producers thought their sounds were too similar. So, when Elvis would come to Shreveport, Burton and his band would be sent out on tour. Years later, Burton would go on to have a long time collaboration with Elvis.
Burton moved out to Hollywood when he was only 15 or 16, he said. His parents supported him and his music 100 percent, but his mother was still, understandably, a little hesitant about him going out there.
“She knew it was a good break for me, but she didn’t want me leaving home at that age,” he said.
In 1956 Burton met Ricky Nelson. He and Nelson were the same age when they met at the Imperial Records studio in Hollywood. Burton was rehearsing a song there called “Red Hot” and Nelson came in to listen. He invited Burton to come to his studio, where Burton met Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, Ricky’s parents, and the rest of the family. Ricky hired Burton to work with him and that collaboration lasted until about 1964.
In 1956 everyone in the United States was familiar with the Nelson family due to the popularity of their TV show, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” The show featured the Nelson family, including sons Ricky and David. It wasn’t long before Burton was part of that family, too.
“Ricky Nelson’s family invited me to come and live with them,” Burton said. “I was the third son: David, Ricky and James. It was wonderful. We were cutting records, doing the TV show and doing tours. We were busy. It was like we kind of grew up together in those years. Ozzie and Harriet were wonderful. The whole family is just wonderful people.”
In 1964 Burton was contacted by Johnny Cash about working on a music variety show for television. Burton jumped at the chance and was soon appearing on “Shindig!” which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966.
“The producer wanted me to be on the show every week so we put a band together, the Shindogs. That show became #1 for that whole year.” On the show Burton played behind many of the top singers of the time.
After the show ended, Burton stayed busy. He said he recorded with every artist you could think of, day and night, for 7 days a week. It was an incredibly busy time for Burton, but he had fun.
“I love all these wonderful artists. They are very special people,” he said.
He worked like that until 1969, when he got the call from Elvis that he wanted Burton to come and work with him.
The first call from Elvis actually came in 1968, but Burton was unavailable as he was working with Frank Sinatra at the time. (He also played with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.) Elvis told Burton he used to watch “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” just to see Burton play. Being such a fan of Burton’s, Elvis called back in 1969 to ask Burton to put a band together for his upcoming Las Vegas engagement. Although Burton’s studio career was going very well, he agreed to work with Elvis and continued to work with him until Elvis’ death in 1977.
Roy Orbison, someone Burton admired and recorded with, paid Burton one of the greatest compliments he ever received. He came up to Burton one night and said, “James, you are my favorite guitar player in the whole world,” recalled Burton. As a measure of how much that must have meant, one night Burton was talking to Elvis, one of the greatest singers/entertainers ever, and Burton asked him who he would pick as one of his favorite singers.
“He said Roy Orbison,” Burton said.
Burton said one of his favorite songs to perform on stage was “Trilogy,” which he performed with Elvis.
“It was a show stopper and people would be just crying, happy and excited. It is an incredible song. Elvis was such an incredible entertainer and singer. It was a show stopper - standing ovation. It was such a great performance,” he said.
After Elvis’ death, Burton went on to work for 20 years with John Denver. During their early shows, Jay Leno toured with them and would come out and do 20 minutes of his comedy routine before the musical performance. So, Burton knew Leno long before he became a late night icon.
In 2001 Burton received the call that he was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He said he was much honored. A list of possible presenters was read to Burton, and when they got to one name he knew exactly who he wanted to do the presentation: his good friend, Keith Richards. Yes, that Keith Richards, of The Rolling Stones. Burton knows and has worked with The Rolling Stones and speaks highly of the band, and especially Richards.
Burton enjoys sitting in the studio playing on new records and still loves creating new licks. His most recent honor came on February 8th of this year when he won a Grammy award for the instrumental Brad Paisley song “Cluster Pluck,” which also featured guitarists Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert and Steve Wariner. Burton was in Europe when the song was being recorded and was the last person to lay down their track, although his part is the first in the song. When he asked why he was first on the song, even though they had to wait on his part, he was told it was because he was Brad Paisley’s main influence. He said he was honored to hear that.
Burton and his wife, Louise, moved back to Shreveport in 1989. They also have homes in California and Nashville. His wife wanted to spend time with her parents and it also gave Burton a chance to be close to his mother, who is 94.
Burton gets very excited when he talks about the foundation he started in 2005. He had always wanted to have a concert show of his own, and got the idea to invite a bunch of friends to Shreveport to perform. Thus, The James Burton International Guitar Festival and The James Burton Foundation were born. The money raised from the festival, and donations from artists and the public, go to buy guitars and lesson programs for children so they can be a part of music, regardless of income.
“My show is about James and friends,” Burton said. “All these wonderful people who come are my friends. I am so honored to have them. They come and they donate their time to come and help the kids. They donate guitars for the kids. Nobody makes a dime from the show. It is all donated time. Everyone volunteers. We have many volunteers.”
Burton said he woke up one day and thought ‘I want to do my own show’ and he called his friends up and asked if they would be interested in helping.
“Everyone said absolutely,” he said. “Brad Paisley, bless his heart, he said he was there. Brad played a show on a Friday night in Indiana, got on his bus after the show and played the show that Saturday night, and he left right after the show to go to Nashville to get on a plane to go to Los Angeles Sunday morning. And Steve Wariner, I was thanking him for coming and he said, ‘Man are you kidding, I would have hitchhiked to get here.’ It is a wonderful feeling.”
Burton had decided it was time to give back and putting guitars in the hands of kids seemed the ideal way to do that.
“They took music out of the schools and I wanted to get music back in the schools. It doesn’t matter - rich, poor or whatever; it is the same program wherever. The advantage goes to all of them. If they want to do the music thing, the opportunity is there. To be able to present these guitars for teachers to be able to teach a music program is truly a blessing from God that we are able to do this.”
The foundation has presented guitars at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital here in Shreveport, and the Rutherford House here as well. They have recently donated guitars to the local Veterans hospital, so that the veterans can check out guitars to enjoy. In the local school districts, The James Burton Foundation has donated over 3,500 guitars - a staggering number.
“I enjoy being able to go and present the guitars because I think it is important for them to see who is behind it,” Burton said. “We want to let them know that we are there for them. We are there to continue this and make this work.”
Burton and his wife, along with the foundation, hope to soon put a recording studio in at the foundation offices so the kids can see what recording is like. It will be a professional set up, and they hope the kids can record more than once so they can hear their progress.
Burton stays busy and likes it that way. He might be in Los Angeles one week, Shreveport the next, and Europe the week after that. He does like to spend a relaxing Sunday, when he can, attending his local church and spending time with his family.
He also really likes to drive, even though his work mainly requires air travel. He really enjoys getting in the car and driving to his home in Nashville and would love to drive out to California, something he used to do a lot in his early career - and in a Cadillac convertible, the perfect car for it.
“My first Cadillac was a ’54 El Dorado with a Continental kit. The one after that was a ’59 Caddy convertible. I was too cool. I used to put the top down and I would drive from Shreveport to California. After working for a few weeks, I would put the top down and drive back home. I loved it,” he said almost wistfully.
When you ask Burton what he is most proud of, it is not being inducted into a hall of fame or an award. His answer is much closer to his heart.
“I am most proud of my beautiful family: my wife, Louise; son, Jeff; and daughter, Melanie.” His son frequently plays with Burton and his two grandchildren play the guitar as well. They perform on stage with him each year at the festival.
Burton has no intention of slowing down and seems to still take immense pleasure from creating and from spreading his love of music to others through the foundation’s work.
“I have been blessed. Praise the Lord, I am still doing it and I expect to do it until he says enough is enough, which is going to be a long time. My mother is 94 and I figure if I get past the 100 year mark, I will still be doing it. I just want to continue to be able to give something back to the kids. They will continue my legacy and music. I want to give them the best of what I can give them.”
In the world of musicians, James Burton is a legend. He would not use that term to describe himself, but the evidence is decisive and his accomplishments are staggering.
The Shreveport native is an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Fender Hall of Fame and the Musician’s Hall of Fame. His discography would fill the pages of this magazine and the list of artists he has played with would require a special edition.
A nearly two hour interview with Burton (which considering his busy schedule was very generous) was really only long enough to skim the surface of his career.
It all began in Dubberly, where Burton was born August 21, 1939. He grew up in Shreveport and from the beginning music was something that made a connection with Burton.
“Mother said that since the day I was born, music did something to me,” Burton said. “I got very excited and happy when I heard music. She said I would pick up anything I could find in the house and act like I was playing guitar. I always loved the guitar. It was something magic to my ear. Every time I would hear the guitar, I could see the guitar and see the strings moving. I could hear the actual notes and where it was going.”
Burton’s parents bought him his first guitar when he was 13. His second guitar came from J and S Music store in Shreveport and was a ‘53 Fender Telecaster, a guitar which would be the start of Burton’s long time association with Fender.
When Burton was 14, he turned professional. In one year, without the benefit of lessons, Burton hit the music scene. His talent was God-given, he said.
“God just blessed me with that beautiful gift. It is all a blessing from God because he was my teacher. Even to this day, I am not a fast reader to sit down and play other people’s music, but they (people who hired him in the beginning) didn’t want me for that (but) because I love to create music,” he said.
At 14 years of age, Burton was playing in a blues band with Dale Hawkins. Burton had written “a little instrumental” and was playing it with Hawkins one day. They played the melody, the guitar lick Burton had written, and Hawkins said he wanted to write lyrics to it. Hawkins wrote those lyrics and Burton’s “little instrumental” became “Suzy Q.”
“From that day on it was wild,” said Burton.
He began playing on the “Louisiana Hayride” behind well known singers, among them, George Jones, Jim Reeves and Johnny Mathis. He also won a few school music competitions and said the $100 first prize awards were pretty good money back then.
However, Burton said he wasn’t playing for the money, but for the love of playing.
Burton’s time performing on the “Louisiana Hayride” was an important start to his career. Though he was already responsible for writing the guitar lick for the hit song “Suzy Q,” his time on stage gave him a different kind of exposure.
“I think being able to present my music and being seen every Saturday night and people hearing me on the radio was very important. I had no idea where it was going to take me. All I knew was every day I picked up my guitar and played, it was the happiest day of my life.”
When he first began playing the guitar, Burton’s main influences were Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, and Les Paul. He also always admired Ernest Tubb’s guitar player, Billy Bird.
Burton started out playing country music, but soon realized that rhythm and blues was very strong in his “musical mind.”
“I created sort of a country and rhythm and blues flavor playing guitar,” he recalled. “When I would play country I would put a little blues feeling into it. It just kept growing into all these different styles.”
Burton was a part of the early days of rock and roll. He said people will often ask him if he knew he was making history.
“How do you know you are making history,” he asked? “You can’t get sidetracked. You have to focus on who you are, why you are playing, and that you love it. That is what it is all about. If you love something, good things come. Your music comes from the heart and the soul. You have to have the musical thing before the business thing. The love of what you are doing has to come first.”
Burton never performed on the “Louisiana Hayride” on the same nights as Elvis Presley because the producers thought their sounds were too similar. So, when Elvis would come to Shreveport, Burton and his band would be sent out on tour. Years later, Burton would go on to have a long time collaboration with Elvis.
Burton moved out to Hollywood when he was only 15 or 16, he said. His parents supported him and his music 100 percent, but his mother was still, understandably, a little hesitant about him going out there.
“She knew it was a good break for me, but she didn’t want me leaving home at that age,” he said.
In 1956 Burton met Ricky Nelson. He and Nelson were the same age when they met at the Imperial Records studio in Hollywood. Burton was rehearsing a song there called “Red Hot” and Nelson came in to listen. He invited Burton to come to his studio, where Burton met Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, Ricky’s parents, and the rest of the family. Ricky hired Burton to work with him and that collaboration lasted until about 1964.
In 1956 everyone in the United States was familiar with the Nelson family due to the popularity of their TV show, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” The show featured the Nelson family, including sons Ricky and David. It wasn’t long before Burton was part of that family, too.
“Ricky Nelson’s family invited me to come and live with them,” Burton said. “I was the third son: David, Ricky and James. It was wonderful. We were cutting records, doing the TV show and doing tours. We were busy. It was like we kind of grew up together in those years. Ozzie and Harriet were wonderful. The whole family is just wonderful people.”
In 1964 Burton was contacted by Johnny Cash about working on a music variety show for television. Burton jumped at the chance and was soon appearing on “Shindig!” which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966.
“The producer wanted me to be on the show every week so we put a band together, the Shindogs. That show became #1 for that whole year.” On the show Burton played behind many of the top singers of the time.
After the show ended, Burton stayed busy. He said he recorded with every artist you could think of, day and night, for 7 days a week. It was an incredibly busy time for Burton, but he had fun.
“I love all these wonderful artists. They are very special people,” he said.
He worked like that until 1969, when he got the call from Elvis that he wanted Burton to come and work with him.
The first call from Elvis actually came in 1968, but Burton was unavailable as he was working with Frank Sinatra at the time. (He also played with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.) Elvis told Burton he used to watch “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” just to see Burton play. Being such a fan of Burton’s, Elvis called back in 1969 to ask Burton to put a band together for his upcoming Las Vegas engagement. Although Burton’s studio career was going very well, he agreed to work with Elvis and continued to work with him until Elvis’ death in 1977.
Roy Orbison, someone Burton admired and recorded with, paid Burton one of the greatest compliments he ever received. He came up to Burton one night and said, “James, you are my favorite guitar player in the whole world,” recalled Burton. As a measure of how much that must have meant, one night Burton was talking to Elvis, one of the greatest singers/entertainers ever, and Burton asked him who he would pick as one of his favorite singers.
“He said Roy Orbison,” Burton said.
Burton said one of his favorite songs to perform on stage was “Trilogy,” which he performed with Elvis.
“It was a show stopper and people would be just crying, happy and excited. It is an incredible song. Elvis was such an incredible entertainer and singer. It was a show stopper - standing ovation. It was such a great performance,” he said.
After Elvis’ death, Burton went on to work for 20 years with John Denver. During their early shows, Jay Leno toured with them and would come out and do 20 minutes of his comedy routine before the musical performance. So, Burton knew Leno long before he became a late night icon.
In 2001 Burton received the call that he was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He said he was much honored. A list of possible presenters was read to Burton, and when they got to one name he knew exactly who he wanted to do the presentation: his good friend, Keith Richards. Yes, that Keith Richards, of The Rolling Stones. Burton knows and has worked with The Rolling Stones and speaks highly of the band, and especially Richards.
Burton enjoys sitting in the studio playing on new records and still loves creating new licks. His most recent honor came on February 8th of this year when he won a Grammy award for the instrumental Brad Paisley song “Cluster Pluck,” which also featured guitarists Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert and Steve Wariner. Burton was in Europe when the song was being recorded and was the last person to lay down their track, although his part is the first in the song. When he asked why he was first on the song, even though they had to wait on his part, he was told it was because he was Brad Paisley’s main influence. He said he was honored to hear that.
Burton and his wife, Louise, moved back to Shreveport in 1989. They also have homes in California and Nashville. His wife wanted to spend time with her parents and it also gave Burton a chance to be close to his mother, who is 94.
Burton gets very excited when he talks about the foundation he started in 2005. He had always wanted to have a concert show of his own, and got the idea to invite a bunch of friends to Shreveport to perform. Thus, The James Burton International Guitar Festival and The James Burton Foundation were born. The money raised from the festival, and donations from artists and the public, go to buy guitars and lesson programs for children so they can be a part of music, regardless of income.
“My show is about James and friends,” Burton said. “All these wonderful people who come are my friends. I am so honored to have them. They come and they donate their time to come and help the kids. They donate guitars for the kids. Nobody makes a dime from the show. It is all donated time. Everyone volunteers. We have many volunteers.”
Burton said he woke up one day and thought ‘I want to do my own show’ and he called his friends up and asked if they would be interested in helping.
“Everyone said absolutely,” he said. “Brad Paisley, bless his heart, he said he was there. Brad played a show on a Friday night in Indiana, got on his bus after the show and played the show that Saturday night, and he left right after the show to go to Nashville to get on a plane to go to Los Angeles Sunday morning. And Steve Wariner, I was thanking him for coming and he said, ‘Man are you kidding, I would have hitchhiked to get here.’ It is a wonderful feeling.”
Burton had decided it was time to give back and putting guitars in the hands of kids seemed the ideal way to do that.
“They took music out of the schools and I wanted to get music back in the schools. It doesn’t matter - rich, poor or whatever; it is the same program wherever. The advantage goes to all of them. If they want to do the music thing, the opportunity is there. To be able to present these guitars for teachers to be able to teach a music program is truly a blessing from God that we are able to do this.”
The foundation has presented guitars at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital here in Shreveport, and the Rutherford House here as well. They have recently donated guitars to the local Veterans hospital, so that the veterans can check out guitars to enjoy. In the local school districts, The James Burton Foundation has donated over 3,500 guitars - a staggering number.
“I enjoy being able to go and present the guitars because I think it is important for them to see who is behind it,” Burton said. “We want to let them know that we are there for them. We are there to continue this and make this work.”
Burton and his wife, along with the foundation, hope to soon put a recording studio in at the foundation offices so the kids can see what recording is like. It will be a professional set up, and they hope the kids can record more than once so they can hear their progress.
Burton stays busy and likes it that way. He might be in Los Angeles one week, Shreveport the next, and Europe the week after that. He does like to spend a relaxing Sunday, when he can, attending his local church and spending time with his family.
He also really likes to drive, even though his work mainly requires air travel. He really enjoys getting in the car and driving to his home in Nashville and would love to drive out to California, something he used to do a lot in his early career - and in a Cadillac convertible, the perfect car for it.
“My first Cadillac was a ’54 El Dorado with a Continental kit. The one after that was a ’59 Caddy convertible. I was too cool. I used to put the top down and I would drive from Shreveport to California. After working for a few weeks, I would put the top down and drive back home. I loved it,” he said almost wistfully.
When you ask Burton what he is most proud of, it is not being inducted into a hall of fame or an award. His answer is much closer to his heart.
“I am most proud of my beautiful family: my wife, Louise; son, Jeff; and daughter, Melanie.” His son frequently plays with Burton and his two grandchildren play the guitar as well. They perform on stage with him each year at the festival.
Burton has no intention of slowing down and seems to still take immense pleasure from creating and from spreading his love of music to others through the foundation’s work.
“I have been blessed. Praise the Lord, I am still doing it and I expect to do it until he says enough is enough, which is going to be a long time. My mother is 94 and I figure if I get past the 100 year mark, I will still be doing it. I just want to continue to be able to give something back to the kids. They will continue my legacy and music. I want to give them the best of what I can give them.”