On August 21, 1939, James Burton was born in Dubberly, Louisiana, but he grew up in Shreveport. Before he ever picked up a guitar, he would be beating on broom sticks and beat on pretty much everything else around the house. His parents got him his first guitar, which was an acoustic one. His second guitar was also an acoustic one, but it was in a J&S Music store in Shreveport where he first saw the '53 Fender Telecaster and knew that this was the guitar for him.

He used to listen to KWKH in Shreveport. Through KWKH, Burton was exposed to Chet Atkins, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddly, Elmore James, Lightnin' Hopkins, etc. He soon would astonish everybody with his ability to play the instrument. At only 14, Burton went professional, working club gigs and private parties. He would skip school just to be able to play guitar.

Money was something he didn't think about, it was just for the thrill of playing. To play in those clubs, you had to go to the police station to get a permit if you were underage. Horace Logan was the producer of the Louisiana Hayride and he asked if James wanted to do some shows and join the staff band. James was 14 at the time. At the Hayride, he played behind guys like George Jones, Jimmy and Johnny, Billy Walker and Johnny Horton. He remained with the Hayride for about a year.

He became fascinated with the steel guitar. He and Hayride steel guitar player Sonny Trammell would switch licks, James would play steel licks and Trammell would play guitar licks. His interest in steel guitar would later led him to pursue the slide dobro.

Before recording the song that would put him on the map forever, Burton recorded with a few local artists at Mira Smith's RAM Records in Shreveport. There he recorded many songs with artists like Joe Osborne, Joe then still playing guitar instead of bass, James Wilson, with whom he made his recording debut on lead guitar, Leon Post, Charlotte Hunter and Larry Lincoln, with whom he formed the band Larry Bamburg and The Louisiana Drifters. All these recordings can be found on the album Shreveport High Steppers.

In '55 James was playing with the Dale Hawkins band. They recorded a demo tape of See You Soon Baboon at the KWKH studio. The owner of Stan's Record Shop, Stan Lewis, was impressed and signed them to a management deal and hawked them to Chess Records. In '57, Burton recorded Susie Q with Dale Hawkins. Burton wrote the lick and Hawkins put the lyrics to it.

After he left Hawkins, Burton was playing around town when he got a call from Horace Logan, manager of the Hayride and also manager of Bob Luman. Logan felt that Luman had the style and look and he knew Burton had the licks to complement him. Burton, James Kirkland and Luman tested the waters on a few Hayride shows and then started to work together. With a few hit singles released like My Gal is Red Hot and A Red Cadillac and A Black Mustache, Logan arranged for the band to do a movie in Hollywood, called Carnival Rock. Logan also made sure that Bob Luman and The Shadows, as the band was now called, had a semi regular spot on Town Hall Party. A DVD of Luman's appearances there was released in 2003.

While in Hollywood with Luman, Ricky Nelson heard them rehearse and shortly after that, James got a telegram, asking him and bass player James Kirkland to meet Ricky Nelson. They were offered to be on the Ozzie and Harriet show as Nelson's backing band. Both agreed to do it, and before Burton knew it, he was living with the Nelson's. Ozzie and Harriet had invited him to stay at their home. Burton lived there for about 2 years, before finding his own place.

During his time with Ricky, James performed at Town Hall Party together with Bob Luman. Their live recording of My Baby Walks All Over Me and Milk Cow Blues can be found on the Rockin' At Town Hall album. Burton's first recording with Nelson was Waiting in School / Stood Up. Joe Maphis played lead and James played rhythm. After this, Burton took over from Maphis and played on every record until 1967. Believe What You Say was Burton's first record with Nelson, on which he played lead guitar.

Burton's style of playing has always been very distinct. He uses a straight pick and a fingerpick on his middle finger. On this record, James replaced his first 4 strings with banjo strings and moved the A and D string up to D and E. This allowed him to bend the strings up a lot more. James' legendary chickin' pickin' was born. He later had them gauged: .009, .010, .012, .024, .032 and .038. While working with Nelson, Burton also found time to record with Glen Campbell. Burton played dobro on Campbell's 1963 album Big Bluegrass Special. This is probably the first album on which Burton played dobro.

While working with Nelson, Burton also found time to record with artists like Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and The Everly Brothers. Burton was under contract with Ricky Nelson, so he couldn't do much outside of his work with Ricky. But because of his work with Ricky on songs like Hello Mary Lou and Travelin' Man, Burton was an increasingly in-demand guitar player. In '65, Burton got a call from Johnny Cash to play dobro on a TV pilot for a new musical show called Shindig. Nelson wasn't too happy about the fact that Burton would leave him, but after a while, Nelson's manager gave Burton the go-ahead.

Burton was called to play on a session with Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, in Bakersfield, California. Burton helped creating the 'Bakersfield sound' while playing with them. On those sessions, he also met pedal steel player Ralph Mooney, with whom he would record his first solo album in 1969. In 1968, James was nominated for the Country Music Award for Best Lead Guitar, but it would take 10 years and 7 nominations before Burton finally won the award for Best Guitar Player. In 1968, James got the call from Elvis Presley to be on his Comeback television special, but at the time, he was working with Frank Sinatra and therefore was unavailable. Elvis told James how he always watched the Ozzie and Harriet show just to see James play. It was no surprise that when Elvis called James back in '69 to put up a band for his Las Vegas engagement, he was there. It was a very though decision to make, since his studio career was very busy and very lucrative. Burton had already turned down an offer by Bob Dylan to go on tour. Sessions were usually booked three months in advance, so Presley gave Burton a few months to get the band together. Burton would remain with Elvis until Elvis' untimely death in 1977.

In the 70's, Burton was still one of the most in-demand guitar players. In 1971, James was in the studio to record with Elvis. When Elvis didn't show up because he was ill, the producer saw an opportunity to record James' second solo album: The Guitar Sounds of James Burton. Burton wasn't too satisfied with the result, because it wasn't planned well enough.

Emmylou Harris recorded her debut album in 1975, titled Pieces of the Sky. Because she wanted Burton and Glen D. Hardin, who at that time was also working for Presley, on tour with her, she carefully planned her tours around Elvis'. Though touring with Presley and Emmylou Harris kept Burton busy, he still had much session work.

Presley's death came as a shock to James, but instead of doing nothing, he dove head-on into session work. Shortly before Presley's death, Burton got a call from John Denver. He wanted to do a television special with him. During the taping, Denver asked if he wanted to go on a European tour. After Presley's death, Burton got the call for an album. He remained with Denver for 15 years. He was also part of Denver's Wildlife Concert in 1995. When John passed in 1997, James was a speaker at his funeral.

As the 70's came to an end, Burton was still going strong. The sessions went on. Artists like Kenny Rogers, Elvis Costello and Johnny Cash were eager to have him on their records. He toured with Jerry Lee Lewis and with John Denver. Due to the amount of storage space on Lewis' Lear jet, Burton toured with only his Paisley Telecaster. With Denver, he carried several instruments, including backup Dobro’s and a spare Telecaster. The Lear also lacked space for heavy amplifiers, so they had to be provided by the promoter each night, something Burton isn't too happy with. "It isn't necessarily my sound sometimes. I just can't get the sound of a Fender Twin out of something else." In 1986, Burton teamed up with singer/songwriter Elvis Costello. Burton played on Costello's King of America album and also toured with him. Burton would appear on 4 albums by Costello.

In 1987, Roy Orbison did a highly acclaimed television special which was stunningly filmed in black and white. Elvis Presley's TCB Band was the backup band with, of course, James on lead. Other guests were, Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits among others. "It's not every day that you get to sing harmony with Roy Orbison and play guitar next to James Burton", said Springsteen after the show.

With the 90's came the long anticipated release of an instructional video. In the video, Burton explains how he played his most well known solos, like Hello Mary Lou, and Too Far Gone to name a few. At the end of the video, Burton plays a 3 minute instrumental that is worth the price of the video all by itself.

After 45 years in the recording business, the millennium ended, but the 2000's had more in store for James. Burton makes frequent appearances at fan club conventions mostly in Europe. But in 2001 came the recognition he should have gotten years ago: James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March of that year. Keith Richards, Rolling Stones guitarist and long time Burton fan, inducted James. "I never bought a Ricky Nelson album, I bought a James Burton album".

2005 was the year of James' guitar festival. This 3-day benefit featured artists like Steve Cropper, Jerry Donahue, the Nelson Twins, Brad Paisley and many more. The proceeds went to the James Burton foundation. The foundation is dedicated to providing musical scholarships and instruments to children as well as young adults. A website for the foundation was launched and can be found at www.jamesburtonmusic.com. 2005 also saw the release of James' solo project God Loves You, a spiritual album featuring James on both guitar and vocals. The album hasn't been officially released yet, but that will change soon, hopefully.

In March of 2007, James' second guitar festival took place in Shreveport. His session work once again paid off and James was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame as part of the Wrecking Crew. James also formed his own band, appropriately titled The James Burton Band. His son Jeff is the lead singer and in May 2008 they had their European debut with shows in Holland, Belgium and France. Since that time James had produced two other festivals, one in 2008 and another in 2009 bringing such talent as Dale Hawkins, Charlie McCoy, Billy Swan, Phil Chen, Joe Stampley and the Uniques, Eddie Anders, Doyle Dykes, Junior Brown, Al Di Meola, Jim Messina, Emmy Lou Harris, Mark Farner, Jeff Berlin, Lenny LeBlanc, Danny Seraphine, Rusty Young, Phil Keaggy, Delbert McClinton, Gary Nicholson, Nokie Edwards, David Grissom, Kristen Capolino, Mike Farris, Albert Lee, Andy Chrisman, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Jennifer Batten, Steve Luthaker, and many more.

The James Burton music festival gives his foundation,The James Burton Foundation, the resources to continue giving guitars to children, young people, and veterans. To date the foundation has given thousands of guitars and provided the musical instruction. It has been his dream to give back to the music community by helping young musicians realize their potential. The James Burton Foundation is currently working on putting a recording studio in their offices, so that the children will have a place to come and record their music.

www.james-burton.net