Friday November 7th
2008 and it was still fireworks over
on The Wirral (Merseyside) when James Burton
made a special journey from his home in
Shreveport, Louisiana, USA to make a guest
appearance at The Pacific Road Arts
Centre. He was joined by MerseyCats
favourites Lee
Curtis and The
Undertakers
This was The 20th
International Guitar Festival Of Great Britain
running from the 4th - 28th November where
guitarists are invited from round the world to
over the road as honorary ambassadors for the
festival, playing everything from jazz,
classical, blues, pop and rock. James made that
special journey for just one appearance taking
us all on an even more exciting journey through
his years with Ricky Nelson, Elvis Presley and
John Denver spanning much of his fifty year
career.
The
Undertakers
The show opened with
The
Undertakers, a 'Merseybeat' band
formed way back in the 60's and well known for
such hits as Early In The Morning, Do The
Mashed Potatoe and
Just A Little
Bit . The band members Brian
Jones (tenor sax), Geoff Nugent (rythmn guitar
& vocals), Jackie Lomax (lead guitar and
vocals), Billy Good (bass & vocals) and
Jimmy O'Brien (drums) did a great job
throughout their set especially on
numbers such as Do You Wanna Dance, My Baby
Wrote Me A Letter and a couple of songs
Elvis Presley put vocals to
Just A Little
Bit and
I Can't Stop
Loving You. The sax player in this
band was truly sensational and was the topic of
conversation at the end of the first half. He
completely stole the show with his playing
on Just
A Little Bit
and
I Can't
Stop Loving You. During the
interval people were able to purchase
James Burton merchandise which was set up
on a table at the side of the stage. The
proceeds were going to The James Burton
Foundation and yes James was going to be
around at the end of the show for
autographs!! The second part of the show
was
Brian
Jones
dedicated to James' years with
Ricky Nelson and a touch of Dale Hawkins thrown
in for good measure! Before the action started
on stage we were treated to some screen footage
of The Ozzie And Harriet T.V. Show. This show
ran from 1952-63 with the entire Nelson family
on board. James was to join the show at a later
date and appeared for a number of years bopping
alongside of Ricky during the closing segments.
The rest of James' band for the remainder of
the Ricky Nelson years were again all talented
musicians from the
'Merseybeat' era and playing
during the rise of The Beatles, Don
Woods (vocals & guitar), Derek Green (bass)
and Alan Schroeder (drums). However,
tonight they were all alongside of James Burton
and it couldn't be expressed enough by the same
musicians what it meant
James with Don
Woods
having James on stage with
them and representing the event. The set list
for this part of the show covered Ricky Nelsons
classics from 1957- 63 from his love songs to
his rockabilly and rocking greats. James played
along with the rest of the band a straight
seven numbers before a word was spoken to the
audience. Then there was a lot to cover!
Stood Up, Just
A Little Too Much,Young World, Travellin' Man,
I'm Walkin', I Believe
(one
of the first Ricky Nelson numbers James
ever played solo on) and
Lonesome
Town . He was
sensational and played through each
number as if he had just recorded them
the day before.
James with his
band
He melted the hearts of the
audience with his soft smooth guitar licks
during his solos on the ballads yet blew the
audience with his bending and sliding through
the cords during the rest of the numbers. The
audience were in awe throughout. Don't forget
some people in the audience were seeing James
Burton perform for the first time tonight and
others witnessing something new from him.
It was time for a few words now and Don Woods
spoke briefly about the part of the show
focusing on James and Ricky Nelson, then
introduced the band to the audience. Needless
to say, on introducing James he received an
applause that could be heard right across the
River Mersey! Graciously received, James
returned his welcome by informing everyone of
his excitement being here and stressed how much
of an honour it was to be invited to play at
the event.
James
Burton
It was then announced James
would be playing for the very first time ever,
a few solos throughout the Ricky Nelson set,
something he'd never done before. What a
welcomed surprise this was. A chance to hear
more of his distinctive legendary picking,
sliding, bending and twisting guitar licks.
James then led the way in to
It's
Late followed by the first of
his solos. Time for that instrumental great
swampy classic put together by James and later
on lyrics added to it by Dale Hawkins. The
result Suzi
Q .
That all too familiar signature riff from
James complimented by the extended
searing solo. It was
amazing.
James chats with the
audience
He led the entire way, posing
with a 'don't mess with me' stance throughout.
Wow. The audience gave him a well deserved
applause before he started the 1958 hit
Poor Little
Fool. A gain he added a solo to
this finishing with
Don't
Leave Me This Way and an amazing
intro to Fools Rush
In . He was playing
these solos with the same passion as a
great singer and having the same impact.
A bit of 'serious' audience participation
was next helping out with
There'll
Never Be Any One
Else with every one
clapping and singing along, silent only
to listen to James'
solo.
James with Lee
Curtis
The journey through the Ricky
Nelson years ended with
Hello
Mary Lou which was Ricky
Nelsons biggest hit - then that was more
than obvious from the smile on James'
face and again his incredible solo. Oh
yes, there was a nice little starter
before the final half of the show began.
What turned out to be what I can only
describe as a bit of a fun flutter to
sell one of James' t-shirts autographed,
ended up turning in to an auction. It
lasted about ten minutes creating a lot
of excitement in the audience as well as
on stage. James was waiting in the side
lines to be welcomed to the stage and as
a result of the advances getting higher
he was told by the compare that he'd have
to wait a bit longer as there was a
serious auction going on for the t-shirt.
It started at twenty pounds finishing at
two hundred and eighty pounds to a guy by
the name of Steve at the end of our row.
So well done Steve. The money of course
was for The James Burton Foundation and
the wait was worth it in James' eye as he
strolled on stage slowly and casually
with a grin on his face, as if he was now
keeping us waiting.
James and The
Passionettes
After the tease he donned his
guitar and played the intro to
Walk A Mile In
My Shoes followed by
Suspicious
Minds and
Burning
Love. The audience response at
the end was amazing as this was James taking us
to the Elvis years. By now Lee
Curtis a MerseyBeat legend had
taken over on lead vocals and Mike White (lead
guitar) had joined James on stage. In James'
corner of the stage were The Passionettes, two
singers looking sassy and lively dressed in red
sparkly outfits, along with the addition of
Susan on keybords on the opposite
end. After Lee had made his welcome to
James to the UK Susan gave us a wonderful
keyboard intro to Just
Pretend with Lee adding
good
James with Mike
White
strong vocals along with the
girls adding their bit. Then James gave us a
solo with Heart Break
Hotel . He was phenomenal and
it sure was a hive of activity in that corner
with the backing singers rocking away and the
sound of James slipping and sliding on that
telecaster. It brought the house down. The
attention then went to the other side of the
stage to the keyboard. Susan gave us her
rendition of 2001:A
Space Odyssey. This girl was amazing on
keyboards. It was hard to believe that she was
blind. There we all were waiting for the crash
of the drums leading in to
C.C.
Rider. Instead James led right
in to Viva Las
Vegas . He had that guitar all
but talking to us. I have never heard him play
this before and I hope I get to hear it again.
Lee did a great job with the vocals and the
audience went wild. What was good about
Susan's solo was the fact
that
James with the cast of
the show
James made his way over to her
making sure the attention was away from him and
on her. The pace then slowed down a bit to a
great sounding There Goes My
Everything . Great vocals again
from Lee and another solo from James. The
better late than never
C.C.
Rider came next
then Lee along with the backing singers
exited the stage for a change of clothes.
Hard to keep up with James' fast pace..
but glad they did as James was left to
play the entire Mystery
Train as a solo. He
raised the roof of the building as he
bent himself around that guitar as much
as he bent the cords. What a night this
was turning out to be for
solos.
James
Burton
They were flying everywhere
like confetti! We were by now approaching the
end of the show and the count down began
with American
Trilogy . Again more screen
footage of stiil images of James with Elvis
Presley, John Denver, Ricky Nelson and The TCB
Band. I guess James made sure this patriotic
number was performed to perfection during
rehearsals as it sounded sensational on the
night. Let It Be
Me was next with another
fine solo from James plus additional solos he
shared with his co lead guitarist Mike White.
Then it was right in to that great Pomus and
Shuman bluesy number
Mess Of
Blues with a nifty
keyboard intro from Susan. John Denver
was remembered with his great hit
Country
Roads only this time the
vocals were added by Susan. She sang it
superbly and did it a great justice with
James once again joining her at the
keyboards along with Lee
Curtis. Finally it was time
to finish and James closed the show with
his all time classic
Johnny B
Goode having a great
time excersing his solo and by this time
too the entire cast had joined him on
stage partying the number to the end. The
show was incredible from start to finish.
Tonight some of the audience saw and
heard James perform for the first time,
others who just know of him through the
Elvis Presley connection heard the other
side of James and the rest of us who know
of him and his contribution to the music
industry and the legend that he is had a
night we will never
forget.

James
takes a well earned bow
Visit
James' Web sitehttp://www.james-burton.net/portal/index.php
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