This photo taken at Joe Fortes restaurant features Bruce Allen, his brother Grant, me, and guitar icon James Burton. James came to town to perform with the Elvis orchestra at the annual Elvis Night at the PNE. Burton played over 1,000 concerts with Elvis on the road and in Las Vegas and never missed one. His solo work on stage was breathtaking and you can see why Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and other guitar greats admire him so much.

James’ background is fascinating. He started out with an appearance on the Louisiana Hayride backing up rockabilly singer Bob Luman. He was then hired by Ozzie Nelson to be the chief picker for son Rick Nelson on their popular TV series Ozzie & Harriet.  In 1969 he went to work with Elvis, including his return to the stage at the International Hilton Hotel. He played with Elvis for 9 years, and after Presley’s untimely death he worked for John Denver.

James has worked with them all. Recently he toured with Elvis Costello. A great guy and a fantastic story teller. It was enchanting to listen to his first hand stories. He is in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.