Johnny Burnette and the Rock ‘n Roll Trio: The Train Kept a-Rollin'

Singer Johnny Burnette was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1934 and was a boyhood friend of Elvis Presley. Burnette and the Rock ‘n Roll Trio are often credited as the “pioneers” of rockabilly music.

As a feral, high-energy force at the absolute dawn of rock and roll, Burnette pioneered a fierce, distorted, and rhythmically relentless style that injected country music with a dangerous dose of urban rhythm and blues. Possessing a raw, hiccuping vocal delivery and backed by the blistering, innovative guitar work of his brother Dorsey and friend Paul Burlison, he created a sonic template that was far more aggressive than that of his mainstream contemporaries. His early Memphis recordings established a legendary underground blueprint that directly shaped the future of hard rock, punk, and psychobilly music.

The legendary album, "Rock and Roll Trio" (1988), is one of the finest collections of early rock and roll. The album collects the early singles of Burnette and the Trio and contains at least three masterpieces: “The Train Kept a-Rollin’,” “Honey Hush,” and “Lonesome Train.” The title of the song, “Rock Billy Boogie,” is believed to be the origin of the name given to this style of music, “rockabilly.”

Burnette scored pop hits in the Sixties without the Rock and Roll Trio, including “You’re Sixteen” in 1960, but his best work was during the birth of rock and roll about five years earlier. Burnette died in a boating accident in 1964, at the age of 30.

Essential Album Review: Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n' Roll Trio (1956/1988)

This explosive archival collection stands as an indispensable historical anchor, gathering the legendary 1956 Coral Records sessions that defined the outer boundaries of early rockabilly media. The tracking showcases an astonishingly heavy, distorted guitar sound—achieved by Paul Burlison loosening a tube in his amplifier—that predated the heavy rock riffs of the 1960s by a decade. Burnette's breathless vocal tracking and frantic screams give the entire record a dangerous, unconstrained energy that remains unmatched in mid-century popular music.

• Released: 1988 (Original Session Era: 1956)
• Label: MCA Records / Coral
• Producer: Owen Bradley
• Core Personnel: Johnny Burnette (Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar), Dorsey Burnette (Stand-up Bass), Paul Burlison (Lead Guitar), Tony Austin (Drums)
• Key Tracks: "The Train Kept A-Rollin'", "Honey Hush", "Rock Billy Boogie"
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Essential Compilation Review: You're Sixteen - The Best of Johnny Burnette (1992)

For listeners seeking to understand the full, fascinating evolutionary arc of Burnette’s career, this brilliantly curated retrospective collection is unmatched. The album masterfully balances the raw, uncompromising rockabilly fury of his mid-1950s trio work with his smooth,

commercially polished 1960s teen-idol pop hits recorded for Liberty Records. It serves as a flawless audio blueprint for how an underground rock pioneer successfully navigated the shifting landscapes of the early American mainstream.

• Released: 1992 (Archival Compilation)
• Label: Liberty Records / EMI
• Producer: Snuff Garrett, Owen Bradley
• Core Personnel: Johnny Burnette (Vocals), Paul Burlison (Guitar), The Johnny Mann Singers (Backing Vocals)
• Key Tracks: "You're Sixteen", "Dreamin'", "Tear It Up"

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Them: Here Comes the Night

Them: The Raw and Primal Rhythm of Belfast Blues-Rock

 

Them stands as one of the most ferocious, fiercely authentic, and intensely brilliant bands to emerge from the mid-1960s British blues boom. Hailing from Belfast, they bypassed the polite pop sensibilities of the era, opting instead for a volatile, aggressive approach to rhythm and blues that rivaled the absolute heaviest sounds of the London scene. The band's ultimate weapon was their legendary front man, whose raw vocal power and poetic, improvisational intensity established a completely new template for rock vocalists. Though their classic era was notoriously brief and chaotic, the primal energy and street-level grit of their recordings left a permanent mark on garage rock and alternative music for generations to come.

 

Them were perhaps the best of the British blues-rock bands that emerged during the Sixties. The band covered much of the same blues/R&B terrain as bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds, yet they possessed the best white blues shouter of the era, Van Morrison. 

Them were formed in Belfast, Ireland, in 1964, and the band quickly gained a reputation for its hard drinking and brawling as well as music.

 

The band’s first album, "Here Comes the Night" (1965), was a brilliant debut that combined inspired covers of blues standards and original material. The title track, “Here Comes the Night,” would become a hit. “Mystic Eyes” and “Gloria” are also standout tracks. The band’s sophomore album, "Them Again" (1966), continued in the same rave-up R&B vein with outstanding covers of "Turn On Your Love Light," "I Put a Spell on You," and "I Got a Woman."

 

Van Morrison left the group after Them Again to pursue a solo career, and the band continued without him. Despite the loss of Morrison, Them produced two more solid albums featuring a new psychedelic sound: “Now and Them” (1968) and “Time Out! Time In For Them” (1968). "Complete Them (1964-1967)" is a fine compilation of the band’s work.

 

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Here Comes the Night (1965) 

This explosive debut long-playing record stands out as a definitive cornerstone of mid-sixties garage rock and electric blues. The production perfectly captures the group's frantic, unhinged energy, driven by sharp guitar riffs and a relentless rhythm section. The album holds massive historical importance because it introduced an iconic, three-chord rock anthem that went on to become one of the most covered songs in rock history, showcasing the band's ability to turn basic blues progressions into high-voltage pop-rock gold. 

• Released: September 1965 
• Label: Decca Records (UK) / Parrot Records (US) 
• Producer: Bert Berns, Tommy Scott 
• Core Personnel: Van Morrison (Lead Vocals, Harmonica), Billy Harrison (Lead Guitar), Alan Henderson (Bass), Peter Bardens (Keyboards), John McAuley (Drums) 
• Key Tracks: Gloria, Here Comes the Night, Mystic Eyes 

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Them Again (1966) 

The band's sophomore studio album represents a tighter, more experimental expansion of their gritty R&B sound. Under the guidance of their production team, the tracking seamlessly blends traditional acoustic folk elements with blistering electric blues rave-ups. The record serves as a spectacular platform for some of the most dramatic and uninhibited vocal tracking of the era, illustrating why the band's pioneering sound became an essential structural reference point for the future of underground rock. 

• Released: January 1966 
• Label: Decca Records (UK) / Parrot Records (US) 
• Producer: Tommy Scott 
• Core Personnel: Van Morrison (Lead Vocals), Billy Harrison (Guitar), Alan Henderson (Bass), Ray Elliott (Keyboards, Saxophone), John Wilson (Drums) 
• Key Tracks: It's All Over Now Baby Blue, I Can Only Give You Everything, Turn On Your Love Light 

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Now and Them (1968) 

Following the departure of their iconic lead singer, the remaining members completely transformed the band's sonic architecture to adapt to the late-sixties musical landscape. This fascinating transitional album breaks entirely away from raw Belfast blues, opting instead for a highly complex mixture of garage rock, raga rock, and early psychedelic experimentation. The production utilizes unique instruments like the sitar and features extended, dreamlike tracking that shows off a surprisingly sophisticated progressive rock maturity. 

• Released: January 1968 
• Label: Tower Records 
• Producer: Ray Ruff 
• Core Personnel: Kenny McDowell (Lead Vocals), Ray Elliott (Keyboards, Flute), Alan Henderson (Bass), David Harvey (Drums) 
• Key Tracks: Square Room, Walking In the Queen's Garden, I'm Your Witchdoctor 

 

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Jerry Lee Lewis: The Killer

An explosive, untamed force at the dawn of the rock and roll era, Jerry Lee Lewis fundamentally redefined the role of the piano in popular music. Infusing his performances with an unhinged, dangerous energy that combined the emotional fire of southern gospel with hard-driving rhythm and blues, he became one of the most polarizing and electrifying showmen of the 20th century. His spectacular technical agility, characterized by glissandos fired off with his boots and a relentless boogie-woogie left hand, forged a template for rock rebellion that influenced generations of performers from Elton John to Bruce Springsteen.

Lewis’s musical journey started in his hometown of Ferriday, Louisiana, where he was born on September 29, 1935. Lewis was a cousin of television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart and country singer Mickey Gilley. Lewis studied the piano from the age of ten, and his mother enrolled him in a Bible college in Texas.

According to a famous story, Lewis was thrown out of the school on his first day for performing a raucous version of “My God Is Real.” It is stories such as this one and Lewis’s fervent performances that earned him the moniker “The Killer.”

At 21, Lewis auditioned for Sun Records, and Sam Phillips signed him as soon as he heard the tape of the audition. His first single, “Crazy Arms,” was a minor hit. Phillips believed that Lewis could become another Elvis Presley. Accordingly, Phillips poured out money for the promotion of Lewis’s follow-up, “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Original Golden Hits (1969)

This essential document compiles the definitive, high-velocity tracks that built the foundation of early rockabilly and rock and roll piano styling. The analog production perfectly preserves the explosive room echo of Sun Studio, letting Lewis's blistering vocal deliveries and relentless acoustic piano rhythms cut through the mix with raw intensity.

• Released: 1969
• Label: Sun Records / Share Records
• Producer: Sam Phillips
• Core Personnel: Jerry Lee Lewis (Vocals, Piano), Roland Janes (Guitar), J.W. Brown (Bass), Jimmy Van Eaton (Drums)
• Key Tracks: Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On, Great Balls of Fire, Breathless

The record was banned on many radio stations across America, but it became a huge hit on the country, R&B, and pop charts. His next single, “Great Balls of Fire,” became his trademark song, and another release, “Breathless,” made for three huge Lewis hits in a row. In the meantime, Lewis was also gaining a reputation as a live performer unequalled in intensity.

Lewis had secretly married his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown, the daughter of his bass player and uncle, J.W. Brown. While on a trip to England, the British press found out about the marriage and ripped him to shreds, causing Lewis to retreat to the U.S. His career went into rapid decline as a result.
Smash Records signed Lewis, and he began recording country music in his own style. Due to the label’s bargaining with country music disc jockeys, Lewis became a star again.

After overcoming a series of personal problems with drugs and alcohol and a divorce from Myra Gale, Lewis became one of the first inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. In 1989, Lewis was the subject of the film “Great Balls of Fire,” which told his life story. Lewis re-recorded all of his old hits for the film and has continued to record and play live since.

Several fine compilations of Lewis’ early hits are available, including the three-volume “Original Golden Hits” (1969) and “Original Sun Golden Hits" (1983).

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Original Sun Golden Hits (1983)

A historic archival retrospective that captures the absolute height of Lewis's foundational tenure at Memphis's most famous recording outpost. The collection showcases his remarkable stylistic versatility, seamlessly jumping from traditional country-and-western music to the dangerous, rhythm-and-blues-inflected arrangements that terrified mainstream mid-century authorities.

• Released: 1983
• Label: Rhino Records / Sun Records
• Producer: Sam Phillips
• Core Personnel: Jerry Lee Lewis (Vocals, Piano), Roland Janes (Guitar), J.W. Brown (Bass), Russ Smith (Drums)
• Key Tracks: High School Confidential, Crazy Arms, Lewis Boogie

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