Rockabilly pioneer Sonny Burgess dead at 86
Rockabilly legend Sonny Burgess, a Sun Records contemporary of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison, died this weekend. The guitarist and singer was 86.
Burgess passed away Friday night at Baptist Hospital in Little Rock, Ark., about a month after taking a fall at his home, according to a Facebook post by bandmate Bobby Crawford.
The Arkansas native, born on a farm near rural Newport, was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2002.
His fans and friends included singer-songwriter Dave Alvin, who recorded the acclaimed album “Tennessee Border” with Burgess, and E Street Band bassist Garry Tallent.
Bruce Springsteen’s previously unreleased song “Tiger Rose” appeared on Burgess’ 1996 self-titled album, produced by Tallent. Springsteen and Burgess performed the tune at a 2001 benefit in Red Bank, N.J.
The Elvis Presley contemporary was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2002.
(MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES)Burgess launched his career after his Army discharge in 1954, with his band The Moonlighters opening some dates for Presley.
Elvis later urged Sun Records impresario Sam Phillips to record the group, known then as The Pacers. Though their two-sided first single, “We Wanna Boogie” and “Red Headed Woman,” fared well, the band never achieved the success of Sun’s other stars.
Burgess retired from show business in 1974, becoming a salesman for a decade until accepting an invitation to reunite with fellow Sun artists — including Presley drummer D.J. Fontana — in a touring band.
He eventually resumed his career as a solo artist as well, and his last live performance came on July 15.
The concert was broadcast live on local cable TV station CN8. The duet can be found on bootlegs taken from the same broadcast.