Burton's full bio is at his website at: http://www.charlieburton.net/site/biography.htm
but to sum it up, he was a rock n' roll maniac recording in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the 1970s and 1980s. He had been Rolling Stone magazine's C&W critic in the early 70s, topped the Village Voice's "Pazz & Jop" poll, and he won kudos from noted rock critic Robert Christgau....but never broke through to a national audience.
Geography counts: had Charlie Burton been based in Los Angeles instead of the Midwest, he would likely have garnered a major label record deal. So... let's change that. Burton was damned good, he was overlooked, and I want you to check him out.
By way of comparison, if you like Americana, rockabilly, and bands like the Beat Farmers... you are likely to find something here you like. Most of his songs have a humorous lyrical bent, an amusing lyrical twist.
Geography counts: had Charlie Burton been based in Los Angeles instead of the Midwest, he would likely have garnered a major label record deal. So... let's change that. Burton was damned good, he was overlooked, and I want you to check him out.
By way of comparison, if you like Americana, rockabilly, and bands like the Beat Farmers... you are likely to find something here you like. Most of his songs have a humorous lyrical bent, an amusing lyrical twist.
And if you do like this album, Mr. Burton has a career retrospective CD available at Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Rock%C2%B4n%C2%B4-Roll-Behavior-Charlie-Burton/dp/B00FFEK8JY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455329225&sr=8-1&keywords=charlie+burton
UPDATED CORRECT LINK: Here's my digitization of the "I Heard That" LP:
While it's not on this LP, there's a great video of Burton's music at: https://youtu.be/-4GYwxu1X0Q
The video is lip-synced, with the look of local cable access (Wayne's World!) of the early 80s...but it's pretty damned great. The premise is that you've got Elvis Presley, the King of Rock n' Roll on the emergency room table... Burton gobbles pills while talking about Dr. Nick.....
"Well, wasn't that stimulating...."
Anyway...I was so impressed with the "I Heard That" album that I went and bought a copy, and I urge you to do the same if you like it. Especially with these under-appreciated artists...we need to SUPPORT THE ARTIST. So if you like this, pony up. Guys like Burton have been knee-deep in the muck of the rock n' roll trenches and deserve some recognition.
Flac files of wavs, with a scan of the LP cover.
The video is lip-synced, with the look of local cable access (Wayne's World!) of the early 80s...but it's pretty damned great. The premise is that you've got Elvis Presley, the King of Rock n' Roll on the emergency room table... Burton gobbles pills while talking about Dr. Nick.....
"Well, wasn't that stimulating...."
Anyway...I was so impressed with the "I Heard That" album that I went and bought a copy, and I urge you to do the same if you like it. Especially with these under-appreciated artists...we need to SUPPORT THE ARTIST. So if you like this, pony up. Guys like Burton have been knee-deep in the muck of the rock n' roll trenches and deserve some recognition.
Flac files of wavs, with a scan of the LP cover.
