Sonny Burgess

  • Sonny Burgess

SONNY BURGESS & THE LEGENDARY PACERS
8 p.m., Maxine’s. $8 adv., $10 door.

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Sadly, there just aren’t that many members of rockabilly’s first class left with us. Of those early originators who are still going (and at the risk of forgetting anybody) there are three from Arkansas: Ronnie Hawkins of Huntsville, Smackover’s Sleepy LaBeef and Newport native Sonny Burgess, who way back in 1956 cut two Sun Records sides that many rockabilly buffs consider to be among the wildest numbers ever put to tape.

Burgess’s debut (Sun 247, August 1956) featured “Red Headed Woman” b/w “We Wanna Boogie.” It’s a classic slab of primordial rock ‘n’ roll that’s lost none of its power or appeal over the decades (and fetches big bucks, especially the 78 format).

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Nigh on 55 years later, octogenarian Burgess is still rocking, along with original piano pounder Kern Kennedy. Anybody with even a passing interest in rockabilly should not pass up this show.

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