Saturday Early Show Celebrating the 2023 Birthday of Guitar Wizard James Burton and the Very Talented Jackie DeShannon

by Robert Wilkinson

Our Saturday early show celebrates the 84th birthday of one of the most excellent guitarists of the second half of the 20th century, the remarkable James Burton! He played on hundreds of hits, and is generally considered one of the true masters of the instrument. Jackie has written and performed some of the greatest hits across the decades, and her music is extraordinary! Whether you know who wrote and sang these before now, you'll immediately recognize her music!

James Burton (August 21, 1939) is widely honored as one of the greatest guitarists ever to pick up the instrument. He was part of “the Wrecking Crew” as well as the “Shindogs.” This bunch of top flight LA musicians included Leon Russell, Tommy Tedesco, Glen Campbell, Dr. John, Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye, Steve Douglas, Larry Knechtel, Barney Kessel, Errol Palmer, Jack Nitzsche, Jim Gordon, Bill Pitman, Chuck Findley, Lou Blackburn, and a bunch of other major league session players who backed some of the great acts of the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Basically, when labels weren’t sure the talent could play at the level they wanted, like the Monkees, Byrds, and other top groups, they called in the Wrecking Crew. They’re most evident in all the Phil Spector “Wall of Sound” productions, and were featured on the Beach Boys “Pet Sounds” album, no small accomplishment! They also played behind Simon and Garfunkel, the 5th Dimension, Mamas and the Papas, John Denver, and Nat King Cole, among many.

James Burton began as a teenage lead guitar prodigy with Ricky Nelson, working with him from 1958 to 1967, so he’s the lead on ALL the hits! From there James played lead in the TCB band from 1969 to 1977. He’s at his best here in the legendary 1973 Aloha From Hawaii concert. James also backed Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, John Denver, Gram Parsons, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Costello, and Roy Orbison.

He’s front and center at his best in the 1988 special, Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night.This assembled some of the greatest musicians in history backing Roy before he died, so for your enjoyment, here it is in the order of the set!

We'll kick off this treat with his #2 hit from 1960, the immortal "Only The Lonely," follow it with “Dream Baby,” and then the beautiful 1963 top 30 hit (#3 UK, #1 in Oz!), “Blue Bayou.”

We now go to the heart of the show with "The Comedian,", followed by Roy's first charting hit from long ago in 1956, "Ooby Dooby." After that, we have “Leah” and the #1 smash hit with soaring voice, “Running Scared.”

We now move with the groove into the backstretch dancing to 1959's “Uptown,” and then drift into his 1963 hit, “In Dreams” followed by the soaring “Crying.”

We begin to close this set with his top 25 hit from 1961 (again, #1 in Oz!), “Candy Man” and “Go Go Go (Down the Line)” followed by two standards “Mean Woman Blues” and “(All I Can Do Is) Dream You.”

Though most associate the song "Claudette" with the Everly Brothers, Roy wrote it for his first wife. From the Man with the Band, here’s “Claudette." We'll finish with the last two of the show, “It’s Over” followed by his iconic 1964 #1 hit, "Oh Pretty Woman."

For now, due to time limitations, I can’t post much more than what I’ve linked to of this amazing talent’s work. But you can get a huge amount of his fantastic picking in the late 50s and early 60s by going to the May 13, 2023 birthday celebration for Pioneer Rock and Roller Rick Nelson since James is all over every tune there.

We’ll close with James and Elvis cranking out "Johnny B. Goode"

For the encore, Rick Nelson’s sons Gunnar and Matthew, cranking it out with Dad’s old lead player! “It's Late” and “Believe What You Say”

For the second encore, I have to post this one! From “A Black and White Night,” James takes a fantastic lead solo about 2 ½ minutes into this classic, accompanied by the Boss, Elvis Costello, JD Souther, and a bunch more! “Oh Pretty Woman”

Thanks for the guitar slinging, James. You’ve always been one of my favorites, and still are! May you live much longer, and keep showing the young ones how to TCB.

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We’re also celebrating the birthday of the great Jackie DeShannon (August 21, 1941). An amazing singer-songwriter of many decades, she wrote and/or sang some of the most memorable tunes in history. She’s in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and is a humanitarian of the highest order. She dated Elvis, knew the Everly Brothers and Rick Nelson, and hung with the Beatles! For your enjoyment, Ms. Jackie DeShannon!

Seen live on Where the Action Is in 1966, she lip synchs her first hit from 1963, the classic “Needles and Pins” (She claims she helped write it but was never given credit. That makes sense, since she was working with Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche, neither of whom were good guys.)

Here’s the Searchers’ version which went into to #1 in the UK in 1964! “Needles and Pins”

In 1963, she wrote and performed “When You Walk Into the Room”

The Searchers also rode this one to #3 on the UK charts! "When You Walk Into the Room"

From 1964 on American Bandstand, Jackie live performing the Buddy Holly classic penned by Sonny West! “Oh Boy”

She wrote this 1960 hit for Brenda Lee with Eddie Cochran’s sister! "Dum Dum"

She co-wrote this hit for Irma Thomas “Breakaway” which Tracey Ullman also made a hit! “Breakaway”

Here’s Jackie’s version, performed live! “Breakaway”

She wrote this gem for Marianne Faithful! “Come Stay With Me” Here’s Jackie’s original. “Come Stay With Me”

When she moved to NY, she hit huge! She went to #7 US, #1 Canada with “What the World Needs Now”

She then wrote and sang this one which went to #2! “Put A Little Love in Your Heart”

For our closer, she wrote this worldwide #1 smash hit for Kim Carnes which won the Grammy Song of the Year award in 1982! "Bette Davis Eyes"

You've never heard it performed this way before! Here’s Jackie’s original version, much jazzier with a swing groove! "Bette Davis Eyes"

For the encore, a tune she wrote and performed this song “inspired by the urgent need for action to provide clean water for the African Continent.” “For Africa, For Africa”

Copyright © 2023 Robert Wilkinson

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