Page, Beck, and Clapton are grieving. So am I.

Cafe Society
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From the Associated Press:

"HORN LAKE, Miss. (AP) – Paul Burlison, a rock guitar pioneer who influenced Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, died Saturday of cancer. He was 74.

Burlison established himself in the 1950s with a string of rockabilly hits, including “Tear It Up,” “Honey Hush,” “Lonesome Train,” “Rock Therapy” and a version of Tiny Bradshaw’s blues classic, “The Train Kept A-Rollin.”

He teamed with Johnny and Dorsey Burnette to form the Rock ‘n’ Roll Trio. They won Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour three weeks in a row in 1956. The group recorded for Coral, a subsidiary of Decca, and made more than a dozen records between May 1956 and March 1957 when the trio split up.

The Yardbirds, Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith played cover versions of Burlison’s hits with special emphasis on his guitar riffs.

Burlison launched a construction and realty company in 1972. He was active in the business until his death."

Folks, this guy was the real deal. Some of the Johnny Burdette/Rock 'n Roll Trio stuff is still in print. Have a listen. You won’t believe that fuzzy guitar comes from 1956.

Burlinson released a terrific album in 1997, Train Kept A-Rollin’. He was backed up by Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Richard Bell and David Hidalgo, among others. This one is well worth your time, too.

A true guitar legend has left us. RIP

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Okey doke, I went ahead and ordered a copy – the list of musicians was pretty mind-blowing.

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Rock n Roll trio stuff was great. There were some Burnette offspring that also played rockabilly stuff. Forget the names though. Had records and toured in the early 80’s.

Paul Burlison was a helluva guitarist.

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Wow. Thought I was pretty knowledgable about that genre, but I’ve never heard of him. Heard of “Train kept a Rollin” of course. I’ll look up his work. RIP.