Conference napalm::guitar

    
    There is an Elvis album titled "Live from Madison Square Garden" that
    is a must-have for Burton fans.   It was released around 1971-72.
    
    The album is not readily available anymore in the U.S. but I have seen
    it advertised as an import.
    
    It's a James Burton tour-de-force!  His guitar playing was highly
    featured in that particular era of Elvis bands.  No matter what you
    make think of Elvis (he is well on the road to self-parody on this
    album), the back up band is tight and responds instantly to Elvis's
    commands, stage directions, etc.
    
    Burton is clearly the featured player, followed by the drummer.  The
    music is a very odd mix of Burton's twangy rockabilly, backed by
    Las Vegas-ey horns, and a double-bass drummer that frequently
    overplays, and whose sound is that vintage (bad) flat, clack-clack
    seventies drum sound that drummers used to get by leaving the heads
    off the bottom of their toms and fronts of their bass drums.
    
    The drum sound clearly dates the album as early seventies.
    
    The guitar playing, on the other hand, is timeless!  I never get tired,
    and never stop being amazed, by how much James could do in that
    live format.
      
                   ***************************************
    
    Burton, along with the rest of Elvis's band, was in the air, en route
    to Maine for an Elvis gig, when they learned that the King had died.
    He apprently cracked "I wonder if that gig is still open with John
    Denver?" to the non-amusement of his band mates!
    
                   ***************************************
    
    Finally, does anyone know if James Burton was the session guy that
    guested on a Del Fuegos album a few years back?
    
    Brian

James Burton plays some absolutely wonderful (and tasteful) guitar
on Gram Parson's "Grievous Angel" album (arguably GP's best album).

    He plays a paiseley Tele

Hello....anybody out there ????????

Ok, so us UK guys (me!) think James Burton is a mean player and major influence,
but our US buddies think he is ho-hum, at least the number of replies 
suggest that.

I have my magazine article in front of me...so here is a few edited 
highlights, I'll see if this plus the base note throws up any inputs.

I will use "...... " to show an extract from a sentence and save my typing!

Dave.

Printed without permision.

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....father of string bending and chicken pickin'

Chet was an early inflence and idol

Earliest Ricky Nelson records actually featured Howard Roberts, Barney Kessel
and Joe Maphis on guitar......first tracks for JB was "Waitin In School" and
"Stood up".....Joe Maphis on lead...I was on rhythm.

.....working on Louisiana Hayride with Bob Luman...sixteen years old..we were
in movie called "Carnival Rock"

....JB joined Ricky N at 16 yrs old......1st lead guitar on "Believe What you
say"

.....solo in "Hello Mary Lou" was done live and improvised.

.....dropped the strings down a notch and replaced the top two with banjo 
strings.....I influened Ernie Ball to do custom string sets

Uses string gauges 9,10,12,24,32,38.....uses a thumb pick plus metal fingerpick
on index finger for added snap and attack...

.....getting tele was a happy accident....saw it in music shop in Shreveport
.....got it for Xmas....cost 250 dollars....recently did "It's up to you" with
Johnny Lee and used that tele on it....

Ricky Nelson sessions.....used a Fender Deluxe

JB original player with Hot Band (Emmylou Harris) and I worked with Gram 
Parsons (Byrds) and played on some of their early stuff....hired Clarence 
White to play on some of Ricky's later albums like "Bright Lights and 
Country Music"..bought his string bender over...I didn't like it.....

JB played on Merle Haggard early records..."Last Night the Bottle Let me down"
.."The Fugitive"..."Okie From Muskogie"

Favourite solos....Hello Mary Lou.....Fools rush in....Dale Hawkins Suzie Q
(15 years old at the time!)

First met Leo Fender in Los Angeles in '57.....

Got Paisley tele in '68 used it same night in Vegas with Elvis on "Johnny B 
Goode"....Elvis said you've got to play it every night  So I did....

Jerry Scheff, Glen D, (Bass and Piano with Elvis) and I are putting the band 
together.....tour Europe/England...Also we may be doing a memorial show for
Elvis.....

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>>>Ok, so us UK guys (me!) think James Burton is a mean player and
    major influence,
>>>but our US buddies think he is ho-hum,
    
    Well, some of us US guys like him.  Every time I here "Hello,
    Mary Lou" I want to go out an buy a tele...
    
    Jim

    Re: .5
    
    So how many Teles do you own now, Jim?
    
    I think he's been out of favor with US rockers because he sounds too
    "country" to them.  I like his blues work with Elvis (Presley that is,
    he's also worked with Costello), wish he recorded in that vein more
    often.
    
    Burton wasn't on all of Ricky Nelson's early sides, apparently Joe
    Maphis played on many of them.
    
    Back before there were light gauge strings and unwound G's, people used
    to wonder hoe he got those bent notes: he used a banjo string for his
    G.  
    
    						Brian

    
>>>    So how many Teles do you own now, Jim?
    
    	NONE!
    
        Maybe if I'd buy one, the urge would go away.
    
    Jim (who has a Martin HD-28, a Hirade 5 classical, a Strat, a Strat XII, 
         an ES-175 copy, a Takamine N-10, an Epiphone classical, a Fender 
         acoustic 12-string, a Fender Tele Bass, a baby grand piano and
         two drum sets, but who also REALLY NEEDs a Fender Telecaster.)