Johnny Burnette
March 25, 1934 – August 14, 1964
Johnny Burnette was one of the originators of what would later be called rockabilly. Along with his brother, Dorsey Burnette and friend Paul Burlison, Burnette formed The Rock and Roll Trio who would cause a bit of a stir from a remarkable amount of promotional appearances for a band in such infancy. They were lucky enough to appear on American Bandstand, Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour, the Tonight Show and Kraft Music Hall. Unfortunately, the night they appeared in the finals of Ted Mack, Elvis Presley made his debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. But even with all of this great exposure, their records failed to catch on, leading the the end of the group in the fall of 1957. It should be noted that for about six years of his childhood, Dorsey and his family lived in the same Memphis housing project as Gladys, Vernon and Elvis Presley. Both Burnettes also spent their early days as amateur boxers, culminating in Golden Gloves championships for each. Johnny took a shot at turning professional, but after only earning $60 and a broken nose in his first bout, he decided to change careers. By the late ’50s, the Burnette brothers were living in Los Angeles where they would work with and have their songs recorded by Rick Nelson, among others. Johnny would soon go “solo” and record several hits for Liberty Records and later, Chancellor and Capitol Records. But tragedy would strike in August of 1964. While boating one night in a lake north of San Francisco, Burnette’s tiny unlit fishing boat was hit by a much larger cruiser, the impact throwing him into the water to his death.
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