See also entry James Burton. This is James Burton and James Kirkland as The Shadows.
Fabor Robison, the impresario behind Dandelion Music and Abbott, Fabor and Radio Records, had a self-contained recording-studio complex in Malibu where he cut the Shadows, consisting of James Burton on guitar, James Kirkland on bass and John S. (Butch) White on drums. The Shadows constituted among the earliest of James Burton's recordings, which came out even earlier than his work with Ricky Nelson, the recording star and cast member of his parents' early television series, The Ozzie and Harriet Show.
A number of Robison acts, including Johnny Horton and Bobby Lee Trammell, tried to get work with Ricky Nelson. James Burton succeeded and ended up with a career of thousands of live and studio performances for artists like Elvis Presley, John Denver, Gram Parsons and Elvis Costello. If Ricky Nelson was The Shadows' entree into television, it was Bob Luman who got them into the movies, with "Shadow Rock" and "The Creep" featured in Carnival Rock with Bob Luman.
James Burton was born orn on August 21, 1939, outside of Shreveport, Louisiana, home of the Louisiana Hayride, where James Burton as a young teenager got his start backing Bob Luman. Luman and Burton went to Los Angeles where Burton appeared on Luman’s Abbott recordings, “That’s All Right With Me” and “No Use Lying.” James Burton also backed Bobby Lee Trammell on “Shirley Lee,” a Bobby Lee Trammell song that Ricky Nelson later recorded.
James Burton eventually moved back to Shreveport and started hosted an annual music festival and his own Rock and Roll Café.
