Music From The 50’s – The Johnny Burnette Trio

The Johnny Burnette Trio

John Joseph Burnette was a true pioneer of the Rockabily sound, born in 1934 he died in 1964, the trio in it’s best known form came together in 1956 they were allegedly turned down by Sun Records for sounding too like Elvis.

With the rise to fame in the 1960s of groups like the The Beatles and The Yardbirds, with their professed admiration for The Rock and Roll Trio, interest in the group was rekindled. The Beatles would cover the trio’s songs (Lonesome Tears In My Eyes and Honey Hush in particular) at live gigs and on BBC radio. The Yardbirds, when Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page were part of the lineup, were said to have practically made a career out of covering the Trio’s songs, particularly with “The Train Kept A Rollin” and their own rewrite of that song, “Stroll On”. “Stroll On” was featured in the 1966 Michelangelo Antonioni film “Blow Up”, which starred David Hemmings.

The Yardbirds went on to record a cover of this version of “The Train Kept A-Rollin’”

“The Train Kept A-Rollin;” – Johnny Burnette Trio [MP3]

This version of “Lonesome Train” supports the Elvis comparisons.

“Lonesome Train” – The Johnny Burnette Trio [MP3]

Roots of a Song – Whole Lotta Love

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” was featured on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II.

To most non rock fans it will be best remembered as the theme music to Top of the Pops as performed by CCS who reaced No13 in the charts with their cover in 1970.

In 1962, Muddy Waters recorded “You Need Love” by peer Willie Dixon. In 1966 British soul band The Small Faces recorded the song as “You Need Loving” for their début Decca LP. Some of the lyrics of Led Zeppelin’s version were borrowed from the Willie Dixon song, a favorite of Plant’s. Plant’s phrasing is particularly similar to that of Steve Marriott’s in the Small Faces’ version.

“You Need Love” – Muddy Waters [MP3]

“You Need Loving” – The Small Faces [MP3]

Similarities with “You Need Love” (and “Bring It On Home“) would lead to a lawsuit settled out of court in favour of Dixon in 1985.^[1] Strangely, The Small Faces were never sued by Dixon, even though “You Need Loving” still only credits Ronnie Lane and Steve Marriott.

Robert Plant, a huge fan of blues and soul singers, regularly quoted other songs, especially live. The practice of borrowing others’ lyrics has long been integral to the blues style. To quote Robert Plant:

“

Page’s riff was Page’s riff. It was there before anything else. I just thought, ‘well, what am I going to sing?’ That was it, a nick. Now happily paid for. At the time, there was a lot of conversation about what to do. It was decided that it was so far away in time (it was in fact 7 years) and influence that…well, you only get caught when you’re successful. That’s the game.[2]

 

Here then is “Whole Lotta Love”