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Tommy Burton
One night in the summer of 1960 a friend of mine Dixie Dean took me to see a band called the “TOMMY BURTON COMBO” at the Tramways Social club in Stafford Street Walsall, my first sight of Tommy was a big man standing on the stage in a red suit with a guitar playing and singing a song by Bob Luman called “Let’s think about living", that was the first and last time in a period of forty years that I saw Tommy playing a guitar.
Tommy was a legend in the Midlands, in all the years that I was involved in the music business I never came across any person with the talent that he had, he was probably the best ragtime piano player in the land, but also equally at home playing tenor sax with his Rock!n!Roll combo playing authentic 1950,s&1960,s music. Over the next year I got to know Tommy better, in 1962 he invited me to join the band as a vocalist singing a few chart pop tunes( as Tommy wasn't really in to that type of music )to vary the programme a bit. I stayed with the band for a couple of years until I eventually left to start my own band “Brian Gulliver & the Travelers", I gained a wealth of experience from Tommy in the two years I was with the band both as an artist and a drinker, a couple of years later I was to do a recording session at Lansdowne studios in London, Tommy was also booked to do a session which resulted in “Lavender Blue” and “I’m Walkin” being released on the Bluebeat label, Tommy let me play the cowbell on the recordings. When I did my session Tom sat in on piano one of the lines in my song was “even though you’ve been seen with Joe” suddenly through the headphones I heard Tom’s voice shout !!!who the f!!!!!!!!!! hell is Joe!!!!,it took me another six hours to get back to a state to finish the session, that incident was just typical of the man. In 1966 I joined the Tommy Burton Combo as bass player vocalist, I stayed with the band until Tom finally disbanded it in 1968 when he decided to go back to his first love Jazz. I often told my son Paul stories of the great man but he never met him in until one night in 1997 when Paul and my wife took me out for a meal to celebrate my birthday, on the way back home we called in at The Bell at Stretton on the A5 close to where Tommy lived, at 10 o clock we decided to go home as we went to go out of the door I saw this huge shadow in the doorway as the door opened Tom placed his hand on my chest and said “back you go", we stayed in the pub till !!!!!!!!!!!!! whenever drinking pints of mild and whisky chasers reminiscing and telling tales ,Paul was fascinated listening to Tommy as he had heard so much about him from me. I could tell so many tales about Tom but it would take for ever. The last time I saw him was at the Vaughan Arms in Lapley, the last words he spoke to me as I was leaving were" happy days Brian”. The day I heard Tommy had passed away was a very sad one ,I just sat and couldn't believe I would never see him again. Rest in peace Tommy, there was only one Burton and there will never be another, our deepest sympathy to Dot and family. Brian and Janice. Guys I worked with over the years in Tommy’s band,
Dave Holmes,Mac Bailey, Trevor Worrall, Peter Graystone, Dave Gray, Phil Harris, Terry Underhill, Steve Dean, David Price, Johnny Millington, Mac Wooley ,Eric Jones, Arthur Ray
Last Updated
25-May-2008
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