September 19th
Johnny Burnette Trio-Lonesome
Train on a Lonesome Track-Coral 7” single
Big Black, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion,
Royal Trux. AC/DC, ZZ Top. Sonic Youth, The
Three Johns, The Fall. A long list of hard rockin’(sic),foot to the floor, no
nonsense, low down and dirty rock and roll purveyors. (All the clichés coming
out here). None of them, absolutely none of them, hold a candle to this track
by Johnny Burnette, recorded in 1953 for Coral Records. I can’t actually write
about this without falling deep into cliché territory as it rocks so hard (see,
there I go). This is the sort of thing that’s recorded in one take and one take
only. Johnny and his Trio would have gathered around the microphone, slammed it
out in three minutes and that would have been it. No overdubbing, no multi-tracking,
no auto tuning, no 48, 24 or even 8 track, this whole thing would have been
“let’s give it a go and head off for a beer.” I’m sure that there are some bum notes, out of
tune vocals, missed cues and fluffed chords, but it doesn’t matter one iota.
This is what music should be all about-whether it’s rockabilly (like this
track), blues, jazz, rock, classical; it should have this raw outpouring of
emotion. (I have a recording somewhere on the iPod of Shostakovich’s 7th
Symphony, played in New York and conducted by Toscanini on its Western premiere
in 1942. That showed the (short-lived) spirit of unity between the USSR and the
U.S. at the height of the Second World War and in defiance of the Nazi threat
at the siege of Leningrad. That 1942 recording is powerful in itself; how much
more powerful and emotive would have been a recording of the premiere itself from
the besieged city?) It doesn’t matter therefore what the genre of music is-that
passion can be as evident in a two and a half minute rockabilly song as it is a
lengthy symphony. It’s when music is made without that passion, and when it is
simply soulless and mechanical, that it becomes irrelevant and disrespectful.
Johnny Burnette was born in Memphis in
1934. He grew up (with his brother, who also played in his band) in the same
housing project that Elvis stayed in with his parents between 1948 and 1954. There was an incorrect tale, which would have
done Johnny’s career no harm, that he went to same school as Elvis-this wasn’t
true as he was a little bit younger than Elvis. However, Johnny recalled Elvis
passing him on his motorcycle, guitar strapped to his back, and waving to him
and his brother was they walked home from school.
Although Johnny’s brother was a boxer
for a while, and that avenue was also open for Johnny as well, he decided that
ending up with a broken nose and picking up a few dollars for each fight wasn’t
really worth it. He got a job working on the river boats on the Mississippi and
the story is that he honed his songwriting skills by taking his guitar to work
and writing songs whenever he had a spare moment. (It’s a good tale, but a bit
too romantic to be believed). Johnny’s career never really took off. He was
killed in a boat accident at the young age of 32; but he left the world this
fantastic song.
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