Billy Goes to Woodsongs

[michelej1]

Rockabilly prince Billy Burnette comes to WoodsongsBy Walter Tunis — Contributing Music Writer, Dec 11, 2011

Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2011/12/11/1...#ixzz1gFVCq8LE


Billy Burnette can't recall the first time the riotous sounds of rockabilly grabbed his attention.

Maybe that's because the music has surrounded every moment of his waking life — from the roots-driven songs his father and uncle created during the '50s with the acclaimed Rock and Roll Trio to the younger Burnette's own industrious career, which has included touring and recording tenures with Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac and John Fogerty as well as a rockabilly-and-more solo career he is just now returning to.

"As far back as I can remember, music is all I have ever done," said Burnette, 58, who performs Monday at the Kentucky Theatre for the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour. "My mother told me I performed with the Rock and Roll Trio when I was about three and a half. I've been told I sang Hound Dog or something with them as a kid. So I've been involved with music all of my life."

Born in Memphis, the city that helped put rockabilly on the map, Burnette and his family moved to Hollywood when he was in grade school. By age 7, he cut a single for Dot Records with Rick Nelson's band. His father, Dorsey Burnette, produced it.

"We lived right in the heart of Hollywood, so I wasn't the only one in school whose family was involved in music at the time. I just thought everyone was involved in making music and making records. My dad did it. My uncle (rockabilly great Johnny Burnette) did it. That was the way I was brought up."

By the time Burnette was in his early teens, he had cut records with Herb Alpert and toured with Brenda Lee. Roughly a week after he finished high school, his father took him back to Memphis to meet veteran country music producer Chips Moman.

"Instead of going to college, I went to the recording studio and became a writer and singer," Burnette said. "I kind of rediscovered my roots in Memphis then, too. I had a great time."

In the ensuing years, Burnette wrote and recorded steadily, constructing songs and recordings that mixed contemporary country formulas with his inherent command of rockabilly. But by the early '80s an entirely different alliance was struck.

In 1981, Fleetwood Mac drummer/co-founder Mick Fleetwood enlisted Burnette for his side project band The Zoo. The following year, that band backed up Fleetwood Mac guitarist/singer Lindsey Buckingham for an appearance on Saturday Night Live. In 1984, he co-wrote So Excited with Fleetwood Mac keyboardist/singer Christine McVie and recorded a duet called Are You Mine with Stevie Nicks during her Rock a Little sessions.

So it hardly seemed surprising that Burnette was summoned when Buckingham balked at the prospect of touring behind Fleetwood Mac's album Tango in the Night.

"They were in the middle of production rehearsals for Tango in the Night, so they had everything in gear to go on the road," Burnette recalled of joining Fleetwood Mac. "I guess Stevie and Lindsey must have gotten into it because they called me.

"It's a close family, Fleetwood Mac. It's really protected, but I was accepted in before I joined the band, really. Until that first gig in Kansas City, though, it was kind of scary. We didn't know what the crowd was going to think. But it all went fine."

With a more recent six-year stint playing in Fogerty's band also complete, Burnette has finally turned his attention exclusively to his own music. Along with his induction into the International Rockabilly Hall of Fame last month, Burnette has released his first solo album in a decade, Rock N Roll With It.

The album offers hearty samplings of Burnette's rockabilly roots in tunes like the Bo Diddley-flavored Karaoke Queen and the holiday original Rock N Roll in Christmas. But it also veers into vintage pop with the poppish, Roy Orbison-inspired Only the River Knows.

"I told myself it was simply time to do an album again, one that I did by myself. I've never done that before. I've always had a producer or a record company or a band I was part of behind me. So this is the first one I did with just me and my band. It was great fun.

"I've been really fortunate to have played with all these great people and then to have so many people (Ray Charles, Faith Hill, Cher, Loretta Lynn, George Strait and many others) record my songs. So I am very blessed when it comes to doing this."


•If you go
'WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour': Billy Burnette and Lydia Loveless

When: 6:45 p.m. Dec. 12

Where: Kentucky Theatre, 214 E. Main St.

Tickets: $10. Call (859) 252-8888 for reservations.

Learn more: Woodsongs.com

[michelej1]

American Songwriter
http://www.americansongwriter.com/20...-hall-of-fame/

Billy Burnette: From Fleetwood Mac To Dylan To The Rockabilly Hall Of Fame
By Evan Schlansky December 15th, 2011 at 7:00 am


Born into a family of esteemed songwriters, Billy Burnette – whose father and uncle were two thirds of influential ‘50s rockabilly group The Rock and Roll Trio – has written songs for everyone from Roy Orbison and Tammy Wynette to Alan Jackson and Faith Hill.

After years touring alongside Bob Dylan and John Fogerty, the Nashville-based guitarist, singer-songwriter and Fleetwood Mac member has released his first solo album in a decade, Rock & Roll With It. We talked to the International Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductee about producing his own record, Fleetwood Mac’s off-stage tiffs and how Bob Dylan kept him on his toes.

You come from a songwriting family. Did you always think you’d be in the business?
I was in it before I can even remember because it’s all I thought anybody did. I started performing when I was three-and-a-half years old and I cut my first record for a major label when I was seven.

How many solo albums have you put out?
I’ve lost count. I did my first about a week out of high school in Memphis when I was 18. I’ve been on just about every label in the business.

What was the impetus for the new album?
I haven’t done a studio album in about 10 years. I’ve been with John Fogerty for the last five years and before that with Dylan’s band. It had been a while and I just had to do a record. I’ve never done one that I produced and did everything myself.

So did you play all of the instruments?
No, I had Dave Roe, Kenny Vaughan, and Chad Cromwell on drums. We did all the tracks in three sessions. Then I took it home, worked on it, added guitars and additional background vocals. I did a lot of the guitars by myself at home.

Do you prefer the older, vintage style of recording or the new, digital style?
When we’re mixing and recording we use a lot of vintage equipment. We cut it on tape, moved it to Pro Tools, and then mixed it back. I have my process of doing it and believe tape has a richer quality.

Are you into country as much as you are rockabilly?
Country music has changed. I came to Nashville in ’72 and people like Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn cut the songs. They would hear a song, go in, cut it and it would be out the next week. Now it’s what I call “slow business” – they think about something for so long, they cut it, and then think about it again.

How did you get to be a part of Fleetwood Mac?
A month after I’d been nominated for ACM Best New Male vocalist [in 1985] I got the call to join. It was a big life change, and it was exciting – it was a great band and I was huge fan. They were a tight knit family and Lindsey [Buckingham] was a fan of mine from my rockabilly records. I’d sung on a couple of albums and they’d had me out on the road before I was part of the band.

Fleetwood Mac is famous for their inter-band drama. Did you witness any of that?
Oh yeah. I remember when a book came out exposing all of that. We were in Austria and they weren’t too happy that day. There’s drama in every band – overall we got along really good.

Was it more fun than being in Dylan or Fogerty’s band?

With Fogerty and Dylan I was a sideman, but of course… he’s Bob Dylan. I loved playing with his band and I’d been a fan of Fogerty since before high school. Fleetwood Mac was a pretty democratic way of working things out – we would have meetings about everything and we were equal members. With John and Bob, they made the decisions.

Did Dylan change his arrangements to suit your playing style?
No, but he changes stuff every set. We didn’t get the set list until about 20 minutes before we went on. You never know what’s going to happen with that deal – you’re always on your toes with Dylan.

Did you have to learn his whole catalog?
I did learn it all. The band laughed because I told them I learned the songs on the records and they said, “that’s been different for years!” I even had a minor case of carpal tunnel because I was in my room all of the time learning songs. We had our staples though – we did “All Along the Watchtower” pretty much every other night and “Highway 61”.

So the other band members just ignored the album recordings?
Well, the guys who are playing with him now have been with him for 10, 15 years. When I started working with him, he was playing guitar and I could follow him. Then he decided to play piano half of the set, but the guys were great helping me learn it. When you’re with somebody like Dylan, living and breathing it every day, it’s an incredible experience.

[SteveMacD]

They were a tight knit family and Lindsey [Buckingham] was a fan of mine from my rockabilly records.

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