have made his style so unique. Best of all, these techniques will be demonstrated & taught in the context of some of his most famous rhythm parts from songs such as "Hello Mary Lou," "Fools Rush In," "Travelin' Man," "Poor Little Fool," "Suzie Q," "Lonesome Fugitive," "Mystery Train,"& "Too far Gone."(60 min.)
Classic Hot Licks titles on DVD! For the first time HOT LICKS classic video titles are available on DVD, making it even easier to learn with the world's top players... right in your own home! These new transfers make them look better than ever while DVD technology makes navigating each lesson even easier!
'On lead guitar from Shreveport, Louisiana… Mr. James Burton'
THE James Burton Story
The first time I met James Burton was back in May 1990, when he played together with Glen Hardin and Jerry Scarf on the European tour of John Denver. I was really impressed by seeing him perform with his unmistakable catapulting' and hot licks. To me, James already was the number one guitar player in the world and seeing him live was just overwhelming. I thought I almost died when, after the show, he handed me the famous horseshoe ring which Elvis gave him once. It was sitting right there in my hand, the ring 'our El' once gave to him! What an experience! James explained that he sometimes took it off while playing because it would limit his playing. But he always carries the ring proudly with him, same thing with the CB-necklace that's always decorating his neck. At the time it felt so good talking to James as well as Glen and Jerry that I totally forgot to say 'hi' to John as he was passing by!
James Burton was born in Doubly, Louisiana, on August 21, 1939, but he grew up in Shreveport which he refers to as home. He never took any lessons in how to play the guitar. He picked it up from listening and sitting in. His first guitar was not a Fender (the one he is most associated with) but a Rex, and after that a Stella. In 1953, he walked into a Shreveport music store and fell in love with the '53 Telecaster.
The typical Burton style, a combination of finger-picking and flat-picking, evolved soon thereafter. The mix of country and blues was pretty new at the time. James was mainly working on his own style but had some idols - which he never copied though. He liked Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddly. He was into rhythm and blues a lot. What James used to do was listen to the radio or a record and then try to play it in his own style. He felt that a solo in a song had to be played just like a lyric, that it should be played in the same way, in keeping with the melody. James also loved the steel guitar; in his concept the sweet sustained sound of it had to be part of the way an electric guitar should sound.
In 1955, James became part of the staff band on The Louisiana Hayride. Elvis didn't play there anymore by the time he got the job, but James did play with names like Slim Whitman and Johnny Horton. When James wasn't playing the Hayride, he was performing in small bars like the 'It'll Do Club' with the Dale Hawkins band. A demo tape of a song called 'See You Soon, Baboon' was made. It was played over the air and heard by Stan Lewis, a record shop owner who signed Hawkins to a management deal and pitched it to Chess Records. In February 1957, the great 'Susie Q' was recorded, for which a 17-year old James Burton wrote the music. Contrary to popular belief, this was not James' first record, but 'Just For a While'/ 'You Never Mention My Name' by Carol Williams on the RAM-label was. RAM was a Shreveport-based label named after a local record store. James can be heard playing the solos and the fills on the record. He was still playing bars when Horace Logan, general manager of the Hayride, approached him. Logan was also Bob Layman's manager, and he knew that coupled with bass-player James Kirkland this could be a 'winning' team. A couple of weeks later, the three headed for California. Logan got Layman a deal on Imperial Records, and James can be heard on recordings like 'Red Cadillac And A Black Moustache' and 'Make Up Your Mind'. Logan also arranged for James and the band to appear in the Roger Cowman-directed rock 'n roll-movie 'Carnival Rock'. Specifically made for American drive-ins, the film is a classic mainly because of the wild performances by Layman, (fellow Hayride star-) David Houston and 'the band' featuring James, which in the film was credited as The Shadows.
