Thread by @sheilakathleen

TERRY GROSS: Do you read music?
JAMES BURTON: Not well enough to hurt my playing.

Fantastic interview with guitarist James Burton on NPR - he played with everyone. npr.org/2019/09/03/757…

He was just 18 years old when he put down this lick on Dale Hawkins' "Susie Q" which ... this lick has been sampled countless times since then. Legend.

In 2013, my pal Charlie and I went to see James Burton play at Iridium. Ya gotta see these legends while they still walk among us. It was an epic night - I wrote it up on my site. sheilaomalley.com/?p=69813

I was hoping one of Burton's Telecasters - maybe even the pink one he played onstage with Elvis in Vegas - would be included in the Play It Loud exhibit at the Met - I looked for it! - but sadly, not meant to be. The man still tours. So maybe that's why. Look at that monster.

He got his real start on the Ozzie and Harriet show - playing alongside Ricky Nelson (he recorded with him for years). This little acoustic duet is so pleasing.

I loved the anecdote in the interview about going up to Brian Wilson's house and playing with Brian and his friends for days - he felt a little "kidnapped." To be a fly on the wall!

One final thing: when I saw James Burton play live, he stood there and did an instrumental which wove a spell over the room. I was moved to tears. When I wrote about it, I said something like "he played an instrumental - I have no idea what it was ..."

A couple days later I get an email from one of the guitarists onstage that night - who had tripped over my blog-post - and said "That instrumental you mentioned - it's called 'Only the Young.'" Sometimes the internet is a good place.

Repost w/correct link: Looks like the song is a staple of Burton's shows - so here's a clip. He's such a beautiful musician. I am not surprised to hear a guy shout at the end, "WHAT'S THAT CALLED?" The song - and Burton's playing of it - has that effect.

Burton unleashed.

Another detail which I learned: he'd put banjo strings on his Telecaster. I am not a musicologist and I don't understand this stuff but I love learning new things from people who know what the hell they're talking about. @selmerguy anything to add?