Johnny Burnette - Train Kept A Rollin'

John Joseph "Johnny" Burnette (March 25, 1934 – August 14, 1964) was an American rockabilly pioneer. A contemporary of Elvis Presley in the Memphis scene of the mid-'50s, Johnny Burnette played a similar brand of fiery, spare wildman rockabilly.

With his brother Dorsey (on bass) and guitarist Paul Burlison forming his Rock 'n' Roll Trio, he recorded a clutch of singles for Decca in 1956 and 1957 that achieved nothing more than regional success.

Featuring the groundbreaking fuzzy tone of Burlison's guitar, Johnny's energetic vocals, and Dorsey's slapping bass, these recordings -- highlighted by the first rock & roll version of "Train Kept A-Rollin'" -- compare well to the classic Sun rockabilly of the same era. The trio disbanded in 1957, and Johnny found pop success as a teen idol in the early '60s with hits like "You're Sixteen" and "Dreamin'."

Burnette died in a boating accident in 1964. His brother Dorsey achieved modest success as a solo act in the early '60s, and Burlison resurfaced as a member of the Sun Rhythm Section.

"Train Kept A-Rollin" is a song written by Tiny Bradshaw, Howard Kay, and Lois Mann. Bradshaw first recorded the song as a jump blues in 1951,his best known recording. After a rock and roll version of the song was recorded and released by Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio in 1956, numerous other versions have been recorded. The Trio's version, considered a rockabilly classic, is an upbeat, high energy version of the original, with lead guitarist Paul Burlison playing what many consider to be the first introduction of the contemporary fuzz tone guitar sound.

The Yardbirds helped make the song a garage-rock staple when they covered it on the 1965 album Having a Rave Up. "Train Kept A-Rollin'" was the first tune Led Zeppelin played together in 1968. According to John Paul Jones, the room "exploded" when they kicked it off, and they knew they had something. They subsequently played the song as their show opener on tour during 1968 and 1969, and revived it in their final tour "Over Europe" in 1980. A studio version was never recorded by Led Zeppelin, but during his solo Outrider sessions in 1988 Page did record a version similar to that performed by Led Zeppelin in 1980. Nevertheless, the song is featured on several unofficial concert recordings from the end of 1968 and 1969.

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