Cat. No. VV 1094: JOHNNY BURNETTE ~ DREAMIN'. LIBERTY STEREO SLYL-933,319.
USED VINYL RECORD. PART OF A COLLECTION NOW UP FOR SALE.
WE HAD A CLOSE LOOK AT THE EARLY JOHNNY BURNETTE ALONG WITH THE ROCK AND ROLL TRIO IN CAT. NO. VV 1080. THIS TIME WE LOOK A LITTLE MORE CLOSELY AT JOHNNY'S SOLO CAREER.
FOLLOWING THE DEMISE OF THE ROCK AND ROLL TRIO, JOHNNY FOUND HIMSELF UNEMPLOYED AND DECIDED TO TRY HIS LUCK IN CALIFORNIA. HE AND A FRIEND HITCHHIKED TO THE WEST COAST WHERE THEY JOINED DORSEY. WITH THEIR DIFFERENCES FORGOTTEN, THE BROTHERS ATTEMPTED TO RESURRECT THE ROCK AND ROLL TRIO WITHOUT SUCCESS. DORSEY AND JOHNNY CONTINUED WITH THEIR SONGWRITING.
THE BURNETTE'S BRASHNESS GOT THEM THEIR FIRST SUCCESS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS IN CALIFORNIA. THEY TARGETED RICKY NELSON AS A POTENTIAL ARTIST TO RECORD THEIR SONGS. TO GET THEIR SONGS TO HIM THEY DECIDED TO SIT ON HIS FRONT DOORSTEP UNTIL THEY COULD GET A MEETING HIM. THEIR PERSISTENCE WORKED AND RICKY NELSON WAS IMPRESSED ENOUGH THE HE EVENTUALLY RECORDED SEVERAL OF THEIR SONGS INCLUDING, "BELIEVE WHAT YOU SAY", "IT'S LATE", "WAITIN' IN SCHOOL" AND "JUST A LITTLE TOO MUCH", AMONGST OTHERS. ROY BROWN'S SUCCESS WITH HIS RECORDING OF THE BROTHERS' "HIP SHAKIN' BABY" ENABLED THEM TO SECURE A CONTRACT WITH IMPERIAL RECORDS AS A DUO. AS THE BURNETTE BROTHERS THEY RELEASED ONE SINGLE ON IMPERIAL, "WARM LOVE" B/W "MY HONEY". THE RECORD FAILED TO CHART. AFTER THIS FAILURE THEY CONTINUED TO WORK TOGETHER AS SONGWRITERS BUT BEGAN TO FOLLOW SEPARATE CAREERS.
IN THE FALL OF 1958, JOHNNY OBTAINED A RECORDING CONTRACT WITH FREEDOM RECORDS, AN OFFSHOOT OF LIBERTY RECORDS. HE RELEASED THREE SINGLES ON THIS LABEL NONE OF WHICH WERE HITS. IN MID-1959, THE FREEDOM LABEL WAS SHUT DOWN AND JOHNNY MOVED TO LIBERTY. HIS FIRST TWO SINGLES FOR LIBERTY, "SETTIN' THE WOODS ON FIRE" B/W "KENTUCKY WALTZ" AND "PATRICK HENRY" B/W "DON'T DO IT" SOLD WELL REGIONALLY BUT WERE NOT NATIONAL HITS. HOWEVER, HIS THIRD SINGLE, "DREAMIN'" B/W "CINCINNATI FIREBALL" REACHED NUMBER 11 ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100 AND NUMBER 5 IN BRITAIN. IT SOLD OVER A MILLION COPIES AND WAS AWARDED A GOLD DISC.
JOHNNY'S FOURTH SINGLE, "YOU'RE SIXTEEN" B/W "BEG YOUR PARDON" DID EVEN BETTER AND EARNED JOHNNY ANOTHER GOLD RECORD.. JOHNNY WENT BACK INTO THE STUDIO AND RECORDED "LITTLE BOY SAD" B/W "(I GO) DOWN TO THE RIVER". SHORTLY AFTER ITS RELEASE JOHNNY WAS HOSPITALIZED WITH A RUPTURED APPENDIX WHICH KEPT HIM BEDRIDDEN AND HE WAS NOT ABLE TO PROMOTE THE RECORD AND IT ONLY REACHED NUMBER 17 ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100 AND NUMBER 12 IN BRITAIN. JOHNNY TRIED TO RETURN TO WORK TOO EARLY AND COLLAPSED WHICH MEANT THAT HIS FIFTH SINGLE "BIG BIG WORLD" B/W "BALLAD OF THE ONE EYED JACKS" RECEIVED NO PROMOTION AT ALL ONLY REACHING NUMBER 58 ON THE HOT 100. ON AUGUST 14, 1964 JOHNNY'S UNLIT BOAT WAS STRUCK BY AN UNAWARE CABIN CRUISER IN CLEAR LAKE, CALIFORNIA. JOHNNY WAS THROWN OFF THE BOAT AND DROWNED.
THIS ALBUM WAS RELEASED IN THE MID-1960s BY LIBERTY AND SUBSEQUENTLY RELEASED IN AUSTRALIA BY FESTIVAL RECORDS AND CONTAINS A CROSS SECTION OF THE RECORDINGS HE MADE FOR LIBERTY RECORDS. THE SLEEVE IS GRADED EXCELLENT WITH ALMOST NO APPRECIABLE SIGNS OF WEAR AND THE RECORD IS GRADED NEAR MINT.
TRACK LISTING: Side 1 - Dreamin' / Lovesick Blues / Finders Keepers / You're Sixteen / Mona Lisa. Side 2- The Fool Of The Year / Clown Shoes / Big Big World / The Poorest Boy In Town / In The Chapel In The Moonlight.
12" VINYL RECORD
