thumb|thumbtime=3844|start=3844|end=3963|upright=1.5|Johnny Burnette, "Lonesome Train", 1956

John Joseph Burnette (March 25, 1934 – August 14, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter of rockabilly and pop music. His career was cut short on August 14, 1964, when he drowned following a boat accident, aged 30.

He is the father of 1980s rockabilly singer Rocky Burnette.

Early life

Johnny Burnette was born to Willie May and Dorsey Burnett Sr. in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Despite this activity, the three singles this rock and roll trio had released over this period failed to reach any national hit parade. This might be due to a result of Elvis Presley who appeared on a CBS television program that was broadcast live from Los Angeles, CA at exactly the same time that this Burnette trio had performed on ABC televised "Original Amateur Hour" in New York. Furthermore, the CBS show that had broadcast Elvis in Los Angeles, had garnered an 82.6% share, or 60,710,000 viewers, whereas the ABC and NBC networks had garnered less than 5 million viewers each. Their persistence worked, and Nelson was sufficiently impressed with their work that he eventually recorded several of their songs, including "Believe What You Say", "It's Late", "Waitin' in School", and "Just a Little Too Much", amongst others.

His fourth Liberty single, "You're Sixteen" (written by the Sherman Brothers) backed with "I Beg Your Pardon" (Liberty F-55285), released on October 5, 1960, did even better, reaching number 8 on the Hot 100 and number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, When he received the news, Dorsey Burnette called Paul Burlison, who flew out to comfort him and attend Johnny's funeral. The two men were to keep in touch until Dorsey's death of a heart attack in 1979. Johnny Burnette is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Legacy

Burnette gained renewed prominence in 1973 thanks to Ringo Starr's version of "You're Sixteen". In addition, Burnette's original song was recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. One of his songs, "Train Kept A-Rollin'" by Tiny Bradshaw, would later be recorded by the Yardbirds, Aerosmith and Motörhead. Early British rock and roll power trio and proto punk garage band Johnny Kidd and the Pirates and psychobilly band The Meteors both covered "Lonesome Train."

The Cramps covered his song "Tear it Up", Poison Ivy was heavily influenced by Burnette's raw guitar style and Lux Interior borrowing Burnette's vocal approach, and fellow rockabilly band Tav Falco's Panther Burns did a cover of "You're Undecided", both songs from Burnette's first album and again, heavily indebted to Burnette's quivering, emotional vocal delivery.

The Beatles, with John Lennon on vocal, performed "Lonesome Tears in My Eyes" at the BBC on July 10, 1963, for broadcast airing on July 23, 1963. During the airing Lennon introduced the song, originally recorded by Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n Roll Trio on July 3, 1956, and released in March 1957, joking, "This is a Dorsey Burnette number, brother of Johnny Burnette, called 'Lonesome Tears in My Eyes', recorded on their very first LP in 1822!" The song also influenced a later Beatles song, "The Ballad of John and Yoko" in that the outro guitar riff to that song was inspired by the corresponding intro guitar riff on "Lonesome Tears in My Eyes". This live in-studio recording of "Lonesome Tears in My Eyes" (including Lennon's spoken intro) was later included on the Beatles' 1994 two-CD set, Live at the BBC.

Quotation

NME, February 1961

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;

|-

! Year

! Album

! Record label

|-

| rowspan="1" | 1957

| align=left | Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n Roll Trio

| rowspan="1" | Coral Records

|-

| rowspan="1" | 1960

| align=left | Dreamin

| rowspan="5" | Liberty Records

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1961

| align=left | Johnny Burnette

|-

| align=left | Sings

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1962

| align=left | Roses Are Red

|-

| align=left | Johnny Burnette's Hits and Other Favorites

|}

Compilation

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;

|-

! Year

! Album

! Record label

|-

| rowspan="1" | 2004

| align=left | The Complete Recordings 1955–1964

| rowspan="1" | Bear Family Records

|}

Singles

Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n' Roll Trio

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;

|-

! rowspan="2" | Year

! rowspan="2" | Title

! colspan="2" | Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" | Record label

! rowspan="2" | B-side

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! align=centre| US

! align=centre| UK

|-

| rowspan="1" | 1956

| align=left | "Tear It Up"

| –

| –

| rowspan="1" | Coral Records

| "You're Undecided"

|Tear It Up

|}

The Johnny Burnette Trio

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;

|-

! rowspan="2" | Year

! rowspan="2" | Title

! colspan="2" | Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" | Record label

! rowspan="2" | B-side

! rowspan="2" | Album

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! align=centre| US

! align=centre| UK

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1956

| align=left | "Oh Baby Babe"

| –

| –

| rowspan="3" | Coral Records

| "Midnight Train"

|

|-

| align=left | "The Train Kept a-Rollin'"

| –

| –

| "Honey Hush"

| rowspan="2" | Rock 'n Roll Trio

|-

| rowspan="1" | 1957

| align=left | "Lonesome Train (On a Lonesome Track)"

| –

| –

| "I Just Found Out"

|}

Johnny Burnette

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;

|-

! rowspan="2" | Year

! rowspan="2" | Title

! colspan="2" | Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" | Record label

! rowspan="2" | B-side

! rowspan="2" | Album

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! align=centre| US

! align=centre| UK

|-

| rowspan="1" | 1955

| align=left | "You're Undecided"

| –

| –

| rowspan="1" | Von Records

| "Go Mule Go"

|

|-

| rowspan="3" | 1957

| align=left | "Eager Beaver Baby"

| –

| –

| rowspan="3" | Coral Records

| "Touch Me"

|

|-

| align=left | "Butterfingers"

| –

| –

| "Drinking Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee, Drinking Wine"

|

|-

| align=left | "Rock Billy Boogie"

| –

| –

| "If You Want It Enough"

|

|-

| rowspan="1" | 1958

| align=left | "Kiss Me"

| –

| –

| rowspan="3" | Freedom Records

| "I'm Restless"

|

|-

| rowspan="3" | 1959

| align=left | "Me and the Bear"

| –

| –

| "Gumbo"

|

|-

| align=left | "I'll Never Love Again"

| –

| –

| "Sweet Baby Doll"

|

|-

| align=left | "Settin' the Woods on Fire"

| –

| –

| rowspan="11" | Liberty Records

| "Kentucky Waltz"

| rowspan="1" | Dreamin

|-

| rowspan="3" | 1960

| align=left | "Patrick Henry"

| –

| –

| "Don't Do It"

|

|-

| align=left | "Dreamin'"

| 11

| 5

| "Cincinnati Fireball"

| rowspan="1" | Dreamin

|-

| align=left | "You're Sixteen"

| 8

| 3

| "I Beg Your Pardon"

| rowspan="1" | Johnny Burnette

|-

| rowspan="5" | 1961

| align=left | "Little Boy Sad"

| 17

| 12

| "(I Go) Down to the River"

| rowspan="2" | Sings

|-

| align=left | "Big Big World"

| 58

| –

| "Ballad of the One Eyed Jacks"

|-

| align=left | "Girls"

| 109

| 37

| "I've Got a Lot of Things to Do"

| rowspan="1" | Roses Are Red

|-

| align=left | "Fools Like Me"

| –

| –

| "Honestly I Do"

|

|-

| align=left | "God, Country and My Baby"

| 18

| –

| "Honestly I Do"

| rowspan="1" | Johnny Burnette's Hits and Other Favorites

|-

| rowspan="6" | 1962

| align=left | "Clown Shoes"

| 113

| 35

| "The Way I Am"

| rowspan="2" | Roses Are Red

|-

| align=left | "The Fool of the Year"

| 113

| –

| "The Poorest Boy in Town"

|-

| align=left | "I Wanna Thank Your Folks"

| 117

| –

| rowspan="1" | Chancellor Records

| "The Giant"

|

|-

| align=left | "Damn the Defiant"

| –

| –

| rowspan="1" | Liberty Records

| "Lonesome Waters"

|

|-

| align=left | "Tag Along"

| –

| –

| rowspan="2" | Chancellor Records

| "Party Girl"

|

|-

| align=left | "(Remember Me) I'm the One Who Loves You"

| –

| –

| "Time is Not Enough"

|

|-

| rowspan="1" | 1963

| align=left | "It Isn't There"

| –

| –

| rowspan="3" | Capitol Records

| "(Wish It Were Saturday Night) All Week Long"

|

|-

| rowspan="4" | 1964

| align=left | "You Taught Me the Way to Love You"

| –

| –

| "The Opposite"

|

|-

| align=left | "Sweet Suzie"

| –

| –

| "Walkin', Talkin' Doll"

|

|-

| align=left | "What a Summer Day"

| –

| –

| rowspan="1" | Sahara Records

| "Fountain of Love"

|

|-

| align=left | "Bigger Man"

| –

| –

| rowspan="1" | Magic Lamp Records

| "Less Than a Heartbeat"

|

|}

References

Other sources

  • Johnny Burnette's Rock 'n' Roll Trio
  • – for single releases 1954 to 1964, Infinity, Gothic and Vee Jay releases as the Texans, Liberty release as the Shamrocks
  • The Johnny & Dorsey Burnette Discography by Gilles Vignal and Marc Alesina – For recording session details, including demo sessions 1954 to 1964
  • Survey of American Popular Music by Frank Hoffmann – Dorsey and Johnny Burnette
  • "Rock Billy Boogie/Johnny Burnette Trio" by Colin Escott (sleeve notes to Bear Family CD BCD 15474/AH) – general background details including original spelling of Burnette name, Dorsey Sr.'s 1939 purchase of Gene Autry guitars, boxing and 1949 meeting with Paul Burlison
  • "Johnny and Dorsey/The Burnette Brothers" by Adam Komorowski (sleeve notes to Rockstar CD RSRCD 005) – early Freedom singles and possibility of Eddie Cochran's presence on Gumbo
  • That's The Way I Feel: The Complete Capitol Recordings – Johnny Burnette by Adam Komorowski (sleeve notes to Rockstar CD RSRCD 006) – details of Infinity, Gothic and Vee Jay singles, Reprise single, Capitol sessions and releases, Sahara and Magic Lamp releases, death and Dorsey's reunion with Paul Burlison
  • "You're Sixteen: The Best of Johnny Burnette" by Dawn Eden (sleeve notes to Liberty CD 82–99997) – broken nose and sixty dollar boxing purse, details of first meeting at the home of Ricky Nelson, details of Liberty releases, Hot 100 and UK chart positions, UK/US switch of sides "I've Got a Lot of Things to Do"/"Girls", reference to P. J. Proby, Capitol, Sahara and Magic Lamp releases
  • Dreamin' Johnny Burnette – Johnny Burnette by N. E. Fulcanwright (sleeve notes to Beat Goes on CD BGOCD329) – For Johnny's ruptured appendix in 1961 and its consequences, Liberty release, Hot 100 and UK chart positions, UK/US switch of sides "I've Got a Lot of Things to Do"/"Girls", US tour and Australian tour with Connie Francis, UK 1962 tour, reference to P. J. Proby
  • Johnny Burnette article by Dr. Frank Hoffmann
  • Rockabilly.net
  • Rockabilly.nl