Search - Johnny Burnette :: Train Kept A-Rollin' - Memphis to Hollywood: The Complete Recordings 1955-1964

It's all here!

Maheen Wickramasinghe | Ontario Canada | 03/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an outstanding box set! Bear Family has done it again! This set includes everything by Johnny and Dorsey Burnette and you get to hear a lot of rockabilly and Johnny's solo work such as his hits Dreamin, You're 16, Little Boy Sad and many more! There are even some unreleased alternate takes and demos which I know you will all enjoy! Yes, it is quite expensive, but it's all worth it for the casual fan like myself or for any rockabilly fan! You even get to hear songs that were hits later for artists such as Ricky Nelson It's Late and Believe What You Say plus their own version of Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee which Jerry Lee of course recorded. Johnny very sadly lost his life while drowning after going fishing in 1964 so it's great that he recorded so much before his untimely death. Highly recommended!"

Not to Be Forgotten

Lance M. Wilson | North Hollywood, California USA | 06/21/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There are three distinct phases of Johnny Burnette's career. The first is perhaps the most popular, which is the rockabilly period. Johnny, with his brother, Dorsey, and guitarist Paul Burlison created some mighty fine rockabilly with The Rock 'n' Roll Trio. They released an album (a classic), some singles and some stuff which didn't get released until 1969 on the 'Tear it Up' LP. The definitive version of Tiny Bradshaw's "Train Kept A-Rollin" was performed by the Rock 'n' Roll Trio.

After the break up of the band Johnny and Dorsey ended up in Los Angeles where phase two begins. This is when they wrote songs for Ricky Nelson which ended up on Nelson's albums. The songs were great and all the while Johnny was recording demos in L.A. which all appear on the last three discs of this box set. For the Nelson versions of said songs you can find them on Bear Family's excellent first Ricky Nelson box. Some singles were released under Johnny's name at this time but they never charted.

The last phase of Johnny's career is the early sixties era where he had hits on the radio which, strangely, he didn't write. "Dreamin'," "You're Sixteen" (later successfully covered by Ringo Starr)and a couple others hit on the US charts, while a couple more charted in the UK. They sound nothing like the early, rockabilly stuff though, he had become a Hollywood crooner, a singer of pop songs. A far cry from the raw, primal Memphis stuff (he went to the same high school as Elvis) the Rock 'n' Roll Trio made their bones with.

Johnny died in a boating accident in 1964. He hadn't had a hit in a couple of years but he'd still been recording and releasing music. Dorsey (who'd hit the charts before Johnny but that song isn't on this set) later died in 1979.



There's good stuff from all the different eras (even a good deal of the demos are worth your time) of Burnette's life. Another fine box for those who can afford it, from Bear Family."