Though Elvis and Carl Perkins found greater commercial success with their style, Johnny Burnette & The Rock N’ Roll Trio will be remembered by connoisseurs the world over as the ‘50s’ finest purveyors of whiskey-soaked rockabilly abandon. They remain best known for “The Train Kept a Rollin’,” a hellacious slice of fuzz-soaked hillbilly blues immortalized by the Yardbirds, Aerosmith and others, but Burnette's legacy extends beyond the considerable impact of this one track. Though Burnette’s recordings lack some of the musical dynamism of the sides coming out of Sun Studios at the time, few recordings of any era can match tunes like “Rockabilly Boogie” and “Lonesome Train (On a Lonesome Track)” for sheer ferociousness. Paul Burlison’s deep-fried rockabilly guitar runs are truly a wonder to behold, while Johnny’s brother Dorsey Burnette’s joyously slapped-out bass riffs remain incredibly infectious. Though Johnny Burnette would disband the Rock N’ Roll Trio in 1957, in the hopes of pursuing a career as a defanged pop icon, these sides remain his finest work.
