Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n Roll Trio
Encyclopedia
Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n Roll Trio is the 1956 debut album of the influential rockabilly
band The Rock and Roll Trio
, fronted by Johnny Burnette
. Recorded over two separate sessions in 1956, the album includes a number of the band's singles. 2008's Icons of Rock calls the album "an all-time rockabilly classic". Released by Coral Records
in December 1956 (#10041), it was released again in 1957 (#57080) and in 1978 by Solid Smoke (#8001). In 1993, it was released on compact disc
by Aris Records (MCD 30489). 1998's Go Cat Go!: Rockabilly Music and Its Makers characterizes the CD reissue as "legendary and essential."
Rock and Roll Trio relocated to New York in the hopes of finding the fame that had eluded them in their native South, they signed with Coral Records and entered the studio, recording a total of 25 tracks for the label over three sessions between May 7, 1956 and March 22, 1957. The first session took place on May 7, 1956 at the Pythian Temple
in New York City
. The second series took place almost two months later and over eight hundred miles away, at the Owen Bradley
Studio in Nashville, Tennessee
from July 2 through July 5. Tracks from those two sessions, including several singles by the band, were collected and released in December 1956 as the band's first album. The band's recordings have exerted a strong influence over subsequent rockabilly artists, although the band did not themselves enjoy broad success at the time. The Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound indicates an ever more widespread influence, suggesting that "the sheer verve and energy communicated by the brother's records influenced the aesthetics of British and American rock stars in the 1960s and 1970s."
". "Tear It Up" did not enter the charts, but enjoyed regional popularity and has subsequently been covered by a number of artists, including Charlie Feathers
, Rod Stewart
and Stray Cats
. Even though the song was the band's first single on Coral, it was not originally included in the album, appearing on the CD rerelease.
Other singles, however, were, including their biggest seller, "Train Kept A'Rollin'". The Rough Guide Music USA indicates the band is best known for their rendition of this song. In Billy Poore's Rockabilly: A Forty-Year Journey, he describes the single "Train Kept A'Rollin'", backed with "Honey Hush", as "two of the best all-time rockabilly cuts ever", "what pure, scorching, unrestrained rockabilly music should sound like". Among its notable features, "Train Kept A'Rollin'" displayed a ground-breaking fuzzed guitar. This resulted from an accident, when a valve in the amplifier of the guitarist Paul Burlison came loose during the drive to the studio. The distorted sound that resulted proved so popular that Burlison intentionally repeated it in future performance.
, Dorsey Burnette
and Johnny Burnette
(sometimes under pen name Al Mortimer)
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
band The Rock and Roll Trio
The Rock and Roll Trio
The Rock and Roll Trio was the name of a rockabilly group which was formed in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1950s. They were also known as "Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio" and the "Johnny Burnette Trio". The members of the Trio were Dorsey Burnette, his younger brother Johnny, and a...
, fronted by Johnny Burnette
Johnny Burnette
John Joseph "Johnny" Burnette was an American rockabilly musician. Along with his older brother Dorsey Burnette, and also a friend named Paul Burlison, Burnette was a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. He was the father of 1980s rockabilly singer Rocky Burnette.-Early life:Johnny Burnette...
. Recorded over two separate sessions in 1956, the album includes a number of the band's singles. 2008's Icons of Rock calls the album "an all-time rockabilly classic". Released by Coral Records
Coral Records
Coral Records was a Decca Records subsidiary formed in 1949. It recorded pop artists McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer, as well as rock and roller Buddy Holly....
in December 1956 (#10041), it was released again in 1957 (#57080) and in 1978 by Solid Smoke (#8001). In 1993, it was released on compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
by Aris Records (MCD 30489). 1998's Go Cat Go!: Rockabilly Music and Its Makers characterizes the CD reissue as "legendary and essential."
Background
When the Memphis-basedMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
Rock and Roll Trio relocated to New York in the hopes of finding the fame that had eluded them in their native South, they signed with Coral Records and entered the studio, recording a total of 25 tracks for the label over three sessions between May 7, 1956 and March 22, 1957. The first session took place on May 7, 1956 at the Pythian Temple
Pythian Temple (New York City)
The Pythian Temple is an historic Knights of Pythias building at 135 West 70th Street between Columbus Avenue and Broadway in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1927 to serve as a meeting place for the 120 Pythian lodges of New York City...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The second series took place almost two months later and over eight hundred miles away, at the Owen Bradley
Owen Bradley
Owen Bradley was an American record producer who, along with Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sound in country music and rockabilly.-Before the fame:...
Studio in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
from July 2 through July 5. Tracks from those two sessions, including several singles by the band, were collected and released in December 1956 as the band's first album. The band's recordings have exerted a strong influence over subsequent rockabilly artists, although the band did not themselves enjoy broad success at the time. The Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound indicates an ever more widespread influence, suggesting that "the sheer verve and energy communicated by the brother's records influenced the aesthetics of British and American rock stars in the 1960s and 1970s."
Songs
A number of the songs are regarded as classics of the rockabilly genre, particularly the trio-penned "Tear It Up", released on single on June 5, 1956, and their definitive cover of "Train Kept A'Rollin'Train Kept A-Rollin'
"Train Kept A-Rollin" is a song written by Tiny Bradshaw, Howard Kay, and Lois Mann. Bradshaw first recorded the song as a jump blues in 1951—his best known recording. After a rock and roll version of the song was recorded and released by Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio in 1956, numerous...
". "Tear It Up" did not enter the charts, but enjoyed regional popularity and has subsequently been covered by a number of artists, including Charlie Feathers
Charlie Feathers
Charles Arthur "Charlie" Feathers was an influential American rockabilly and country music performer.-Biography:...
, Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
and Stray Cats
Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American Rockabilly band formed in 1980 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer , upright bassist Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia and the U.S...
. Even though the song was the band's first single on Coral, it was not originally included in the album, appearing on the CD rerelease.
Other singles, however, were, including their biggest seller, "Train Kept A'Rollin'". The Rough Guide Music USA indicates the band is best known for their rendition of this song. In Billy Poore's Rockabilly: A Forty-Year Journey, he describes the single "Train Kept A'Rollin'", backed with "Honey Hush", as "two of the best all-time rockabilly cuts ever", "what pure, scorching, unrestrained rockabilly music should sound like". Among its notable features, "Train Kept A'Rollin'" displayed a ground-breaking fuzzed guitar. This resulted from an accident, when a valve in the amplifier of the guitarist Paul Burlison came loose during the drive to the studio. The distorted sound that resulted proved so popular that Burlison intentionally repeated it in future performance.
Track listing
Except where otherwise noted, all songs by Paul BurlisonPaul Burlison
Paul Burlison was an American pioneer rockabilly guitarist and a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. Burlison was born in Brownsville, Tennessee, where he was exposed to music at an early age. After a stint in the United States Military, Burlison teamed up with Johnny and Dorsey Burnette...
, Dorsey Burnette
Dorsey Burnette
Dorsey Burnette was an early Rockabilly singer. With his younger brother, Johnny Burnette, and a friend named Paul Burlison, he was a founder member of The Rock and Roll Trio.-Background and early career:Dorsey Burnett was born on December 28, 1932 to Willie May and Dorsey Burnett Sr...
and Johnny Burnette
Johnny Burnette
John Joseph "Johnny" Burnette was an American rockabilly musician. Along with his older brother Dorsey Burnette, and also a friend named Paul Burlison, Burnette was a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. He was the father of 1980s rockabilly singer Rocky Burnette.-Early life:Johnny Burnette...
(sometimes under pen name Al Mortimer)
Side one
- "Honey Hush" (Big Joe TurnerBig Joe TurnerBig Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
) – 1:59 - "Lonesome Train (on a Lonesome Track)" (Glen MooreGlen MooreGlen Moore is a jazz bassist who occasionally performs on piano, flute and violin.His performing career began at age 14 with the Young Oregonians in Portland, Oregon where he met and played with Native American saxophonist, Jim Pepper. He graduated with a degree in History and Literature from the...
, Milton SubotskyMilton SubotskyMilton Subotsky was an American TV and film writer/producer. In 1964, in England, he formed Amicus Productions with Max J Rosenberg.Together they produced a number of low budget science fiction and horror films....
) – 2:09 - "Sweet Love on My Mind" (Wayne Walker) – 2:26
- "Rock Billy Boogie" – 2:33
- "Lonesome Tears in My Eyes" – 2:05
- "All by Myself" (Dave BartholomewDave BartholomewDave Bartholomew is a musician, band leader, composer and arranger, prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century...
, Fats DominoFats DominoAntoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
) – 2:04
Side two
- "Train Kept A-Rollin'Train Kept A-Rollin'"Train Kept A-Rollin" is a song written by Tiny Bradshaw, Howard Kay, and Lois Mann. Bradshaw first recorded the song as a jump blues in 1951—his best known recording. After a rock and roll version of the song was recorded and released by Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio in 1956, numerous...
" (Tiny BradshawTiny BradshawMyron C. Bradshaw was an American jazz and rhythm and blues bandleader, singer, composer, pianist, and drummer from Youngstown, Ohio.-Early years:...
, Howard Kay, Lois Mann) – 2:13 - "I Just Found Out" – 2:18
- "Your Baby Blue Eyes" – 2:09
- "Chains of Love" (Ahmet Nugetre) – 2:35
- "I Love You So" (Henry Jerome) – 2:15
- "Drinking Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee" (Stick McGheeStick McGheeGranville Henry McGhee, also known as Stick McGhee, was an African-American jump blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known for his blues song, "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee".-Early life:...
, J. Mayo WilliamsJ. Mayo WilliamsJay Mayo "Ink" Williams was a pioneering African-American producer of recorded blues music. Ink Williams earned his nickname by his ability to get the signatures of talented African-American musicians on recording contracts...
) – 2:11
1993 CD release
- "Honey Hush" (Turner) – 1:59
- "Lonesome Train (on a Lonesome Track)" (Moore, Subotsky) – 2:09
- "Sweet Love on My Mind" – 2:26
- "Rock Billy Boogie" – 2:33
- "Lonesome Tears in My Eyes" – 2:05
- "All by Myself" (Bartholomew, Domino) – 2:04
- "The Train Kept A-Rollin'" (Bradshaw, Kay, Mann) – 2:13
- "I Just Found Out" – 2:18
- "Your Baby Blue Eyes" – 2:09
- "Chains of Love" (Nugetre) – 2:35
- "I Love You So" (Jerome) – 2:15
- "Drinking Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee" (McGhee, Williams) – 2:11
- "Rock Therapy" (Subotsky) – 2:14
- "Blues Stay Away from Me" (Alton Delmore, Rabon Delmore, Henry GloverHenry GloverHenry Glover was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and trumpet player. In the music industry of the time, Glover was one of the more successful, and influential, black executives. He gained eminence in the late 1940s, primarily working for the independent King label...
, Wayne RaneyWayne RaneyWayne Raney was an American country singer and harmonica player.-Biography:Raney was born on a farm with a foot deformity and could not do heavy labor. After learning to play harmonica at an early age, he moved to Piedras Negras, Mexico at age 13, where he played on radio station XEPN...
) – 2:12 - "Eager Beaver Baby" (Stanley Clayton, Bill Katz, Ruth Ann Roberts) – 2:01
- "You're Undecided" – 1:57
- "If You Want It Enough" (Grayson, Mel Howard) – 2:12
- "Please Don't Leave Me" (Domino) – 2:15
- "Touch Me" (Johnny Burnette, Hyde, James M. Smith) – 2:23
- "Tear It Up" – 1:52
Personnel
- Tony Austin – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Paul BurlisonPaul BurlisonPaul Burlison was an American pioneer rockabilly guitarist and a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. Burlison was born in Brownsville, Tennessee, where he was exposed to music at an early age. After a stint in the United States Military, Burlison teamed up with Johnny and Dorsey Burnette...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Dorsey BurnetteDorsey BurnetteDorsey Burnette was an early Rockabilly singer. With his younger brother, Johnny Burnette, and a friend named Paul Burlison, he was a founder member of The Rock and Roll Trio.-Background and early career:Dorsey Burnett was born on December 28, 1932 to Willie May and Dorsey Burnett Sr...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Johnny BurnetteJohnny BurnetteJohn Joseph "Johnny" Burnette was an American rockabilly musician. Along with his older brother Dorsey Burnette, and also a friend named Paul Burlison, Burnette was a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. He was the father of 1980s rockabilly singer Rocky Burnette.-Early life:Johnny Burnette...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together... - Eddie GrayEddie GrayEdwin "Eddie" Gray was a cultured winger who was an integral member of the legendary Leeds United football team of the 1960s and 1970s, later twice becoming the club's manager....
– drums - Grady MartinGrady MartinThomas Grady Martin was one of the most renowned, inventive and historically significant American session musicians in country music and rockabilly....
– guitar