Billy Burnette - about his CDs

PenguinHead · #1 03-08-2012, 10:29 PM

Considering all the members of Fleetwood Mac, though Billy isn't high on my list, I still recognize him as a very good musician and writer. And he seems to be a nice chap. I'm just not a very big country rock fan. But because of his (brief) association with Fleetwood Mac, I want to collect more of his music.

Though he's not very prominent on the charts, he's has amassed a impressively prolific body of solo work. The only CD I have of his is Coming Home. Also, on vinyl I have Between Friends (white label promo issue!), his self-titled 1980 album, and Try Me.

Has the Try Me album ever been issued on CD? It's one of my favorties, mostly because of his duet It Ain't Over with Christine McVie.

Of his more current releases, are there any strong recommendations from the hard-core Billy fans here?

SteveMacD · #2 03-08-2012, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Considering all the members of Fleetwood Mac, though Billy isn't high on my list, I still recognize him as a very good musician and writer. And he seems to be a nice chap. I'm just not a very big country rock fan. But because of his (brief) association with Fleetwood Mac, I want to collect more of his music.

Though he's not very prominent on the charts, he's has amassed a impressively prolific body of solo work. The only CD I have of his is Coming Home. Also, on vinyl I have Between Friends (white label promo issue!), his self-titled 1980 album, and Try Me.

Has the Try Me album ever been issued on CD? It's one of my favorties, mostly because of his duet It Ain't Over with Christine McVie.

Of his more current releases, are there any strong recommendations from the hard-core Billy fans here?

There's "Brother To Brother" which is basically a compilation of songs from "Try Me" and "Soldier of Love". "It Ain't Over" is on there. (BTW, THAT would have been awesome on a few levels on the 1987 tour.)

I really enjoy his "All Night Long" CD. It's a rockabilly album (Billy calls it "Psychobilly"), not country or pop. I'm glad he did it. He's good with country and pop, but he's unmatched in rockabilly.

Street_Dreamer · #3 03-10-2012, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Has the Try Me album ever been issued on CD? It's one of my favorties, mostly because of his duet It Ain't Over with Christine McVie.

I don't believe Try Me saw an official CD release which doesn't make too much sense since Soldier Of Love and Brother To Brother did have official CD releases. SOL and BTB are very difficult to find on CD and expensive if you do find them. Personally, the majority of my favorite Billy material is from his older albums. Not saying his newer stuff is bad, I just prefer and love the older stuff more.

This is how I would rank each of his more current albums.

Bekka & Billy - Okay, it's technically not a solo album but this is some of his best work. It's a country album, which for some people would be a turn off but it's fantastic music regardless of the genre.

Coming Home - Another country album, but like B&B there are some great songs on here.

Rock And Roll With It - Billy's most current album is so good. It's straight ahead rockabilly and few can match Billy when performing rockabilly material.

Memphis In Manhattan - Great album. I really loved that the production of the album was live and organic.

Are You With Me Baby - Pure rockabilly and as usual Billy does not disappoint.

Bluegrass Elvises Vol. 1 - Again not a solo album but Billy does provide 1/2 the material. Not a bad album, but I would have preferred Billy did the entire album on his own.

Matt

chriskisn · #4 03-10-2012, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Of his more current releases, are there any strong recommendations from the hard-core Billy fans here?

What about all of the early releases????

PenguinHead · #5 03-10-2012, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chriskisn

What about all of the early releases????

I was just thinking that it might be unlikely that his earlier work was issued on CDs, and that his later work would be more easier to get.

PenguinHead · #6 03-10-2012, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Street_Dreamer

I don't believe Try Me saw an official CD release which doesn't make too much sense since Soldier Of Love and Brother To Brother did have official CD releases. SOL and BTB are very difficult to find on CD and expensive if you do find them. Personally, the majority of my favorite Billy material is from his older albums. Not saying his newer stuff is bad, I just prefer and love the older stuff more.

This is how I would rank each of his more current albums.

Bekka & Billy - Okay, it's technically not a solo album but this is some of his best work. It's a country album, which for some people would be a turn off but it's fantastic music regardless of the genre.

Coming Home - Another country album, but like B&B there are some great songs on here.

Rock And Roll With It - Billy's most current album is so good. It's straight ahead rockabilly and few can match Billy when performing rockabilly material.

Memphis In Manhattan - Great album. I really loved that the production of the album was live and organic.

Are You With Me Baby - Pure rockabilly and as usual Billy does not disappoint.

Bluegrass Elvises Vol. 1 - Again not a solo album but Billy does provide 1/2 the material. Not a bad album, but I would have preferred Billy did the entire album on his own.

Matt

Thanks Matt. The information you provided is very helpful. I'm not a big country fan, but I do enjoy the Bekka and Billy album.

billwebster · #7 03-18-2012, 12:54 PM

Having gotten into Fleetwood Mac because of Billy Burnette's membership in the band, I feel I should speak out about his CD discography.

To be honest, I do not know his recordings from before he was in Fleetwood Mac with the exception of "Soldier Of Love" which I would love on CD but apparently, never made it onto CD officially. Hence, my ranking will not include it.

1) Rock N Roll With It
This is my choice for his strongest set of songs to date. He is letting it rip in the
rockabilly department. "Ready All Ready" is my favourite even though "Karaoke
Queen" is a close 2nd. "Wrong One Right" comes in 3rd. My, that band is tight.
The expectations for Billy's next album are high, to say the least. Here's hoping he
will record another one. Maybe another country album next? Who knows.

2) All Night Long
There are a lot of great songs on this one, too, but played with less power than on the
former. It's a rockabilly record with a touch of country in it, too. "Goes To Show",
"The Mailman", "Good Kind Of Blues" - need I say more? If you like this, feel free
to also get Paul Burlison's "Train Kept A-Rollin'" album because Billy is also playing
and singing on there, and that album has the better version of "Memphis Blues" plus
a really hard rocking version of its title track originally released by the Rock N Roll
Trio but here with Billy and his cousin Rocky Burnette.

3) Coming Home
This was my introduction to Billy, even before I ever got an FM album (but I had
heard and gotten Lindsey's "Out Of the Cradle" even before that because I knew he
was a bandmate of Billy's ... little did I know then about the ways this band had
changed over the years). Anyway, this is the album which started my love for country
music. "This Love Ain't Long For This World", "The Light Of Love", "Let Your Heart
Make Up Your Mind" are my top 3 but how can "Nothin' To Do" which came out of
these sessions still not be on CD despite being a radio hit even?

4) Bekka & Billy
The duo album is a great companion to "Time", or rather the other way around. The
vocal harmonies between the two which are present on Billy's tracks from "Time"
continue here and get more airtime to shine. "Soul Searchin'", "God Knows I Love
You" and "Heart To Call Home" are my 3 picks but as with any of the albums in this
list, it's hard to limit the picks down to just 3.

5) Are You With Me Baby
This is a mixture of a rockabilly album and a country album and Bekka is also there
providing some harmony vocals so it's a good overview of what Billy is capable of.
Yet, I list it so far back because there is really not enough of each of the styles.
"The Edge Of Love" (country), "Believe What You Say" (rockabilly) and "Highway Of
Love" (Bekka) are the picks for this one.

6) Memphis In Manhattan
Recorded live in the studio, this one is the last in the list, simply because it does not
have much new material. It's basically a live set recorded without an audience. "My
Love Will Not Change" is stronger than on the album that came after this one. The
other picks are "It's Late" which is a Rock N Roll Trio song and "Oh Well" which is
the Peter Green song. The album is a bluesy rockabilly affair throughout.

PenguinHead · #8 03-19-2012, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billwebster

Having gotten into Fleetwood Mac because of Billy Burnette's membership in the band, I feel I should speak out about his CD discography.

Much appreciated Bill. It's interesting to read different perspectives on Billy's music. I found it amusing that you were unaware that Billy and Lindsey were never in the band at the same time! In a weird way somewhat, Billy was Lindsey's replacement and then Lindsey was Billy's replacement.

chriskisn · #9 03-19-2012, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

I was just thinking that it might be unlikely that his earlier work was issued on CDs, and that his later work would be more easier to get.

To be honest none of his early stuff ever made it onto anything other than bootleg CDs and is no longer available. If you want it I'll rip them and post them for you. Depends if you can handle them being in mp3 format or not.

I think I have posted them before on here but not sure if the links are still valid anyway. There are 7 albums that I think are generally no longer commerically available.

Billy Burnette (1972)
Between Friends (1979)
Billy Burnette (1979)
Billy Burnette (1980)
Gimme You (1981)
Try Me (1985)
Soldier of Love (1986)

Then of course there is Brother To Brother which only has the title track that doesn't feature on Try Me or Soldier of Love.

billwebster · #10 03-22-2012, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Much appreciated Bill. It's interesting to read different perspectives on Billy's music. I found it amusing that you were unaware that Billy and Lindsey were never in the band at the same time!

Well, I was just a 12 year old kid in Germany and there was no internet back then.

Macfanforever · #11 03-23-2012, 10:39 AM

I like Billy's tunes.Rockabilly,Country .He was a great addition to FM to replace Lindsey at the time.I would to see him duet with Stevie someday.

Street_Dreamer · #12 03-23-2012, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billwebster

To be honest, I do not know his recordings from before he was in Fleetwood Mac with the exception of "Soldier Of Love" which I would love on CD but apparently, never made it onto CD officially. Hence, my ranking will not include it.

Soldier Of Love was officially released on CD, though I think in Japan only. I was able to procure a copy of it on eBay a couple years ago. It wasn't for cheap either. Brother To Brother was also released on CD, likely in Japan only and I've seen it on eBay several times, definitely more often than Soldier Of Love. I have never seen an official CD of Try Me which would complete the Curb Records trifecta for Billy. I have a strong feeling that Try Me never saw an official CD release anywhere.

Matt