Albert Austin "Sonny" Burgess (May 28, 1929 – August 18, 2017) was an American

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

guitarist and singer.

Biography

Burgess was born on a farm near Newport, Arkansas to Albert and Esta Burgess. He graduated from Newport High School in 1948. In the early 1950s, Burgess played

boogie woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pia ...

music in dance halls and bars around Newport. Burgess, Kern Kennedy, Johnny Ray Hubbard, and Gerald Jackson formed a boogie-woogie band they called the Rocky Road Ramblers. In 1954, following a stint in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

(1951–53), Burgess re-formed the band, calling them the Moonlighters after the Silver Moon Club in Newport, where they performed regularly. After advice from record producer

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...

, the group expanded to form the Pacers. The band's first record was "Red Headed Woman" in 1956 for

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

, in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, about 80 miles southeast of his birthplace. The flip side was "We Wanna Boogie." Both were written by Burgess. The songs have been described as "among the most raucous, energy-filled recordings released during the first flowering of rock and roll." Their onstage antics in performance were similarly described. Like other artists such as

Ray Harris Ray Harris (September 7, 1927 – November 13, 2003)'. ''The Independent''. November 27, 2003. was an American rockabilly musician and songwriter. He formed a band with Wayne Powers, and wrote the songs "Come On, Little Mama" and "Greenback Do ...

Hayden Thompson Hayden Thompson (born March 5, 1938) is an American singer, songwriter, and rockabilly musician. He is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Thompson was born in Booneville, Mississippi, United States. At high school Thompson formed the So ...

Billy Lee Riley Billy Lee Riley (October 5, 1933 – August 2, 2009) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. His most memorable recordings include "Rock With Me Baby", "Flyin' Saucers Rock and Roll"Variously spelled as "...Rock & Roll ...

, and Warren Smith, chart success largely eluded him. Burgess disbanded the group in 1971 but later found a new audience in Europe. Burgess was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of Europe in 1999. His group, now called The Legendary Pacers, was a hit that same year in a rockabilly concert in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, Nevada. It recorded ''Still Rockin’ and Rollin’'' in 2000, voted the best new album in the country and roots field in Europe. The group was inducted in 2002 into the

Rockabilly Hall of Fame The Rockabilly Hall of Fame is an organization and website launched on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relating to the artists and personalities involved in rockabilly. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennesse ...

. Sonny Burgess & The Legendary Pacers performed at the 2006 National Folk Festival in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. Burgess hosted a weekly radio program called ''We Wanna Boogie'' with co-host June Taylor. The program, named after his first record, aired on Sunday nights from 5-7pm Central Time on 91.9FM KASU in

Jonesboro, Arkansas Jonesboro is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 78,576 and is the f ...

Personal life

Burgess had two brothers and three sisters. He married Joann Adams in 1956 and they had two sons, Peyton and John. In July 2017, Burgess suffered a fall at his home. He died the following month in a Little Rock, Arkansas hospital, at the age of 88.

Selected discography

*''Country Rock'' (1969) *''The Old Gang'' (1976) *''We Wanna Boogie'' (1984) *''Sonny Burgess and the Pacers'' (1985) *''Raw Deal'' (1986) *''Spellbound'' (1986) *''We Wanna Boogie'' (Best-of compilation) (1989) *''I'm Still Here'' (1990) *''The Razorback Rock & Roll Tapes'' (with Bobby Crafford) (1992) *''Tennessee Border'' (with Dave Alvin) (1992) *''Hittin' That Jug'' (Best-of compilation) (1995) *''The Arkansas Wild Man'' (Sun Records recordings) (1995) *''

Sonny Burgess Albert Austin "Sonny" Burgess (May 28, 1929 – August 18, 2017) was an American rockabilly guitarist and singer. Biography Burgess was born on a farm near Newport, Arkansas to Albert and Esta Burgess. He graduated from Newport High School in 1 ...

'' (1996) *''God's Holy Light'' (1997) *''Tupelo Connection'' (2001) *''Back to Sun Records'' (2003) *''Tear It Up!'' (2006) *''Gijon Stomp!'' (2009) *''Live at Sun Studios'' (2012)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Sonny 1929 births 2017 deaths People from Newport, Arkansas American country rock singers American rockabilly musicians Sun Records artists Phillips International Records artists Charly Records artists Songwriters from Arkansas Singers from Arkansas Country musicians from Arkansas