From: Colin Kilgour 
Date: Fri Jan 7, 2005 7:41am
Subject: Scan Do - Dorsey Burnette

Reproduced from 'Not Fade Away' No. 16 - 1980

A tribute by Jim Newcombe: [with reference to NFA editor Neil Foster]
"I had just phoned Neil Foster to ask how the Charlie Gracie concert had
gone in London. Neil was enthusing about Charlie's performance and I
remarked that a lot of good Rock'n'roll performers with a capital P were
still underrated here whilst other highly touted acts had failed to impress.
Hadn't I told Neil how good Dorsey Burnette had been when I saw him at the
Palomino Club in Los Angeles in 1978, indeed I'd written to a couple of
promoters on the subject of a British tour and was about to contact another.

Neil stopped my flow of enthusiastic ideas by saying he'd just heard that
Dorsey had died of a heart-attack, later confirmed as on August 19th at his
home in California. I was stunned and even more upset because I knew Dorsey's 
career was on the up with Jimmy Bowen his producer on Reprise having taken him 
to the Elektra label. I was also cursing myself for leaving my sound movie camera 
in the hotel because I'd thought the Palomino would be a swish place and not the 
raunchy little club it turned out to be.

Neil asked me to pay tribute to Dorsey and maybe because I've been a fan of
his since I bought the legendary 10" L.P. back in the fifties and because I
talked with him only last year I may seem a good choice but the horror of
losing yet another talented musician fills me with a fear of not doing
Dorsey justice with my humble words. The Burnette brothers, Johnny and
Dorsey, were born in Memphis, their parents being Dorsey Snr. and Mae
Burnette.

A friend of Dorsey's was visiting him at the Palomino and he recalled them
fighting under the street lights with rags round their hands for gloves.
They were obviously good at fighting for both boys turned pro. Dorsey
confirmed that he had indeed sparred with the late Sonny Liston, the guy
Mohammed Ali beat to become world champ. Like so many kids of their
generation they listened to a lot of radio and Memphis would give them both
R&B country shows. Dorsey remembered liking other singers too, people like
Vic Damone and Tony Martin and spent hours trying to sing like them.
No need to tell how the Rock'n'roll explosion changed their ideas and by a
quirk of fate these local boys had to leave Memphis, the spiritual home of
rock, to get a break. They auditioned on the Ted Mack Amateur hour, were
three times winners and played at Madison Square Gardens on the Winners
Show. This success led to the contract with Coral Records and a rock tour.
While with Coral they cut a couple of dozen tracks that rank among the
greatest rock records ever, but they met with limited success.

At this time they appeared with guitarist Paul Burlison, the third member of
the Rock'n'roll Trio, in the movie `Rack, Rock, Rock', Johnny doing the lead
vocal on their `Lonesome Train, Dorsey playing stand up bass. Besides
writing a number of the Coral sides with Johnny, Dorsey was given the lead
vocal on several songs `Sweet Love On My Mind', `Midnight Train,' `My Love
You're A Stranger,' which confirms the ballad influences and a roaring duet
with Johnny on `Blues Stay Away From Me.'

These recordings cover the 1956/57 era and we've since seen another duet:
`My Honey' emerge from Johnny's switch to Freedom, and eventually the parent
firm, Liberty, where Snuff Garrett took him to world wide fame with
'Dreamin' but ruined a good, nay, a great, rock singer.

The brothers however were to see their names in the hit parade earlier than
this when their move to California saw them initially making ends meet by
working at anything they could in the daytime and playing small clubs at
night. One club was 'Hollywood On The Pike' at Long Beach. I'd seen some Sun
cuts mentioned but Dorsey reckons he did only one session there with Fabor
Robison, the song being `Let's Fall In Love.' After this came California and
after knocking on many doors, Ricky Nelson, then of course a big star, liked
the boys' work, and recorded several, including `It's Late', 'Waitin' In
School' and `Believe What You Say.'

The tide had turned for both brothers, and a bunch of demos cut for the
Serman/De Vorzon publishing company took Dorsey to Era records. When they
came to pick songs to record, Dorsey let them hear a new song `Tall Oak
Tree' and he soon found himself in the charts. Another classic `Hey Little
One' followed, and Era put out an album released here, too, if my memory
serves me well. This album and his next on Dot show Dorsey well into
country-style lyrics, with several gospel songs on both albums. His vocal
delivery is country, with that big ballad styling
equally employed on standards like `Suddenly There's a Valley' but the
productions are truly West Coast early sixties vintage, that is strings and
things.

As the Dot set were released by London in 1962, the music world was set for
its next shake-up! Beatlemania, and Dorsey faded from our view. He was still
recording and the next decade saw him on a multitude of labels. 1963 saw him
on Reprise cutting a disc with Johnny `Hey Sue'/It Don't Take Much', two
excellent duets. `Hey Sue' was subdued rockabilly. Dorsey cut some great
stuff with Reprise, all issued in album form in Canada on the Point Label.
Notable sides in the sessions produced by Jimmy Bowen are Loudermilk's
`Darlin' Jane' and the terrific Leiber/Stoller beat ballad `Where's The
Girl'.

1964 was the year Johnny drowned but Dorsey assured me his own decline into
the pills and drink scene wasn't caused by this tragic event. I've never
seen a discography of Dorsey but the sixties are full of good records on
labels big and small: Melody, Condor, Merri, Happy Tiger, Music Factory,
Smash, Mercury etc.

His songs were cropping up on other people's records too. Rick Nelson cut
quite a few, including `Gypsy Woman', `Excuse Me Baby,' and `Mad, Mad
World'. Others to cut his songs are country superstars Roy Clark and Glen
Campbell, Bobby Bare, Ned Miller, Roger Miller, Brenda Lee and we all know
Jerry Lee's `As Long As I Live' one of Dorsey's early efforts. In 1969 I met
well known publisher and boss of Hickory Records Wesley Rose.

I asked why Dorsey had been dropped after only one single, 'Ain't That
Fine'. Wesley told me about the pills and booze. It seemed a hopeless
situation. Sometime later I noted Dorsey had a new record out in Britain, a
Joe South song `The Greatest Love'. It seems he'd had a fair sized record
over in the States. I expected an album but none came and next thing he was
on Capitol. I began to see Dorsey mentioned in U.S. country mags and he had
a top twenty country hit `Here and Now' and `Dorsey Burnette', both sadly
unissued here. It looked like he was stable again and I read an interview
where he stated that his wife of many years, Alberta, and a Canadian doctor
had `cured' him of his habits. To my ears the Capitol albums were superb
stuff and showed that all along he'd needed gutsy backings to go with his
strong voice, not the syrupy strings of the sixties.

I applauded producer Steve Stone in this map at the time. Next move was to
the newly formed Melodyland label, a subsidiary of Tamla Motown that was to
be renamed Hitsville. About this time Johnny Tillotson on tour here told me
he'd been on the Dean Martin T.V. show with Dorsey and that he was a great
guy. Other top T.V. shows had him guesting and an odd track or two found British 
release on the Hickory and Hitsville compilation albums and some rock stuff too. 
Hitsville collapsed before Dorsey got a big hit and no album appeared although 
one was cut under a production deal. I got this info from Steve Stone.

A new label brought a top thirty record `Things I Treasure' on Calliope, but
this was apparently some kind of tax-fiddle and it collapsed. An album was
released but I've not been able to get a copy yet so I can't comment on
this. 1978 saw me in Nashville and going by the office of singer Billy Joe
Burnette, I wondered if they might be related. They weren't but it appeared
that he once cut a record for Johnny's Magic Lamp label and knew Dorsey
well.

Through him I obtained Dorsey's phone number and three weeks late., I
dialled the number from a L.A. callbox and got through to Dorsey's son Jimmy
(he had six sons and a daughter). Dad wasn't home but he was going to be at
the Palomino the following Wednesday. You bet I was there.

Before describing Dorsey's stage act, I would like to point out that my
account is in no way coloured by the fact that Dorsey has since died.
Readers of the now defunct `Country Music Spotlight' mag will know I raved
over his act last January.

The Palomino club is situated in Hollywood, close to the major film studios,
and often the big stars in for a night out, so you can imagine my surprise
to find it was far from a swank place, being quite small with fairly plain
furnishings. The walls were hung with photos of all the top Country Stars
who presumably had played there. Bright posters advertised forthcoming
attractions, all fairly big names. I don't know how much they charge for
entrance but presumably people play there for the prestige, not the money.
As I walked in, the house band were playing, led by Jimmy Snyder, a pretty
good singer in his own right. It was about nine o'clock and I was pleased to
see Dorsey had a big crowd, even though it was midweek.

Snyder sang some Sun material and seemed to be swapping tales with someone
sitting near the stage. I heard him say Dorsey would remember so and so. I
tried to locate Dorsey backstage and a pretty teenage girl led me to the
table Snyder had been addressing. There was Dorsey just finishing a big
steak, but no wonder I hadn't recognised him. The most recent photos I'd
seen had shown his hair sleeked back and looking fairly dark. Now he had it
in a modern permed style, all curls and it was quite blond without grease.
The girl said, `Here's the gentleman from England, Daddy.'

Yes she was Dorsey's daughter. Dorsey stood up to shake hands and he was a
big guy as is to be expected from his boxing days. He was due on shortly so

he finished his meal and went off to check his material with the Snyder
band, who had now finished their set. Dorsey took several minutes to get
backstage for at nearly every table someone had something to say to him. He
lived close to the club so I expect he'd made many friends. I'd seen a few
photos of him at the club. I sat there in a slightly nervous state for here
was one of my all time heroes who I knew only on disc. I hoped his act
wouldn't be a let down as has been the case with a few rockers who
have visited Britain late in their careers.

The band took their places again and in walked Dorsey, clad all in black,
shirt and pants, with a broad belt with a huge western buckle. He had a
twelve string guitar which he slung over his shoulder as he exchanged a
brief word with the band and went right into `There was a tall oak tree.'
Thus began one of the most memorable evenings of my musical life. The voice
was there, rich and magnificent, and so sadly under-used in the recording
world. He did a kind of shuffling stomp as he sang and frequently used his
hands or arms to emphasise a line or word.

The second song was new to me but it was sensational. I think it was called
`Corn Grease' and it had everything but the proverbial kitchen sink and went
like the clappers to boot. The lyrics were down-home and Southern and there
was more than a hint of cajun in the style. Dorsey drove the band along with
his pounding rhythm guitar and there was some super fiddle playing from a
young lad named David Mansfield that fitted in so well, even though the song
rocked.

This song was a statement of southern music, blues, country, rock, gospel,
cajun, the whole gamut blended together in a spectacular performance that
left me breathless; it really was edge of your seat stuff. You can talk
about style etc when discussing records but with Dorsey you have to get your
priorities right by talking about his voice, which is nothing short of
magnificent.

True he may not always have been fortunate enough to marry it to the best
material but when he does, then the effect is tremendous, as it was on his
own, 'Hey Little One'. The song is simple in form but the slow deliberate
delivery wrings out the emotion, 'So far from home ...' you can feel the
loneliness as he holds the first note, 'Hey. ..', his arm raised slowly in
the air, the fist clenched in the drama of the song.

Back as it were on the ground, Dorsey surprised me by doing 'Believe What
You Say' the song the brothers sold to Rick Nelson. Dorsey started off the
driving rhythm with his twelve string before the rest of the band joined in,
and his all out crash-bang had me fervently wishing that somebody somewhere
has Dorsey's version on tape; it was terrific and showed that he could well
have handled the rockers Johnny sang.

About this time in the proceedings, Dorsey introduced the band and it turned
out that the black haired youth in the white T shirt who had come on in
place of Jimmy Snyder, and in fact was playing Snyder's Fender, was in fact
Dorsey's son, Billy. Getting his breath back, Dorsey had a little fun by
posing for the people coming to the front for photographs. Dorsey has a
strong personality and voice and so `You Can Have Her' was a natural for
him.

Two of his Capitol records came next, the slow version of `Together Again'
which had him cupping his hands round the mike to growl out the words and
his big country hit `In The Spring' which is an excellent uptempo Burnette
original. I hadn't expected the first rocker; the next was incredible, with
Dorsey singing the Trio's first record 'Tear It Up', and sounding so like
Johnny; their voices have that same timbre and Dorsey sure knows how to rock
despite being more famous as a balladeer.

As he 'tore that dance floor up' I kept thinking how much we in Britain had
been missing all these years and also, sadly, will now never see. He did
another standard in the bouncy 'Cotton Fields', before letting Billy do one
of his records, a country rocker. Dorsey said that was all for now and
closed with a reprise of 'Tall Oak Tree' but of course the crowd wanted
more. Dorsey mentioned a few of his friends who were in the audience and
they included Bumps Blackwell, famous of course for producing Little
Richard. Dorsey sang his thanks to the audience on his knees on the small
dance area, the song 'You've Been So Beautiful'. He stepped back onstage for
his last chart entry 'Things I Treasure'.

Most of the crowd were on their feet as he walked through them to the
dressing room. I can't remember when I was last so excited over a stage
performance. Many of my favourites on disc have been only so-so 'live' but
Dorsey was 'Somethin' else'. His material had been superb, mixing his own
songs with those unexpected rockers and a couple of standards, the voice was
great. No studio gimmicks needed here. He smouldered on the slow songs and
caught fire on the rockers.

After I'd got myself together and given Dorsey time to cool off, I headed
backstage. Dorsey apparently hadn't made it to the dressing room yet.
Everyone seemed to be trooping in to shake hands and several lined up for
photos with him, including Canadian singer, Lucille Starr, who seemed to
know him well. Dorsey's wife, Alberta, chatted to me and told me that she
was proud of Billy and that another son was now a studio engineer. We did
get into the dressing room eventually but that was packed too. A pal from
Memphis was there, Bumps Blackwell with a girl singer. Dorsey's agents,
Billy and for all I knew, Uncle Tom Cobley and all.

I switched my tape on but we were constantly interrupted and Dorsey made
jokes about everything. He poked a lot of fun at his agent who he called
Piggy Smith. He did a mock version of a T.V. ad he thought was funny,
putting on a typical `commercial' voice. In between jokes he seemed very
proud too that Billy was working with Chips Moman, who at that time was big
with a couple of Waylon Jennings number ones. Dorsey joked that when Billy
made it big he could cut all Dorsey's songs and he the `old' guy could
retire.

At the time Dorsey was expecting to sign with M.C.A. and go there under
Jimmy Bowen, who had produced him on Reprise, but months later, Bowen quit
the M.C.A. post. Dorsey called Johnny's Magic Lamp label a big farce, but
didn't elaborate and so it went on, someone changing his line of thought all
the time. He talked of coming to Britain, but this never materialised.
Dorsey seemed a little bit `high' to me but I'd only seen him drinking a
couple of beers. His next spot was pretty late, about twelve, I guess, or
later, and the crowd had thinned down a bit.

He chose slower numbers now, with a real late-night bluesiness coming over
the proceedings. 'Tall Oak Tree' led off again, followed by a throbbing
`Summertime' and then a husky 'Green, green grass of Home'. Billy did
`Believe What You Say', which he said he'd just recorded, and Dorsey sat out
front to watch, although he leapt back onstage after the guitar break to
yell out `Yea, I believe.' After a couple more by Billy, Dorsey dedicated
'Together Again to `My Italian' which is his pet name for Alberta.

He did another oldie `Nice and Easy' in keeping with the mood, then a last
look at rock, when someone yelled out for fifties rock and Dorsey obliged
with `My Babe'. `Too soon, `Tall Oak Tree' rounded it all off. My memory of
Dorsey is completed and sincerely highlighted by the warming vision of him
leaving the club with his wife, two of his children, and a bunch of
long-time friends around him.

The year that passed between that night August 9th 1978 and his death on
August 19th 1979 had brought little record news. As mentioned before, Jimmy
Bowen had left M.C.A. to become boss of Elektra. I wondered what would
happen to Dorsey. We now know he signed for Elektra and it's to be hoped
that an album had been completed before his death. A single, `Here I Go
Again' has recently hit the country charts.

Also new is a Gusto album (available here from the Midland Record Company)
titled `The Golden Hits of Dorsey Burnette' G.T.0050, it must have been a
stop-gap deal, while Bowen fixed things at Elektra. The big surprise is the
material. I expected `Tall Oak Tree' and `Hey Little One', of course, but
hoped for some of the songs he wrote for Ricky Nelson, as they were big hits
he should get credit for, but incredibly, we get five of Dorsey's big songs
and five of Johnny's hits!

No problem of style, Dorsey again sounding so like Johnny, but things like
`Dreamin' and `You're Sixteen' have been cut practically identically with
the original hits, and that means the strings too. Better are `Little Boy
Sad' and Big, Big World' but what a strange choice of material.

One could have dreamed up a more fitting album for his last, but if it
encourages people not already Burnette fans to seek out his other records
too, then it will have done a lot of good. There must be many demos of
Dorsey's songs in publishers vaults. Let's hope they will find their way
onto disc someday, and I know that a full L.P. was planned and cut when he
was on Melodyland, so there are records to come of this fine but sadly
underrated singer/songwriter. May death give him his due".
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posted by Colin Kilgour: