How to Play Johnny Burnette - Train Kept A Rollin' - Adrian Whyte

[@paulcampbell4431]

Here's Grady Martin backing Jerry Reed, it's slower but contains some very familiar licks and octave playing and a certain amount of distortion. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bafQn6NspLCYZs0

[@kerryfromaj9032]

Well it’s an hour later since my last comment and the Soundslice with tab play along went really well. I got rollin’ through it really well. Thanks again!

[@AdrianWhyte]

Great to hear!! This song is one of the rare ones that I would say seems harder than it is. I’ll tell you a secret.. I transcribed this and made the video all in a two hour span, including having to re record the play through and lesson because of an audio glitch. My ear was on fire that morning!

[@rockabillyrevolution]

Nice job Adrian - this is one I was about to look at myself. Grady Martin is noted as the guitar player on the record and I think it will be him due to the reason that they moved from New York to Nashville to get a better sound for the record. As GM was the resident session player it makes sense that he would be on the record. Having said that the arrangements on this record are so diverse that I suspect Burlison must have had an input. All conjecture of course but it makes sense to me.

[@АндрейНевоград]

Спасибо ,что радуете новыми разборами . Замечательная музыка рокабилли , слушаю ее уже двадцать пять лет.

[@DiminishedChords]

There is a thread on Gretsch-Talk from 2010 where Paul's son is pretty adamant that it was his dad on the track. He mentions there are two tracks, but that the distorted tones are his father. To be fair, I don't know who is on the track, but the song is an absolute tune and I would want to claim it for my family if I could as well! LOL.

[@AdrianWhyte]

Lol I was looking forward to this kind of discussion, and am totally open to being wrong, heck.. maybe they both played? I do wonder if Paul gets a bum wrap for his abilities, cos he seems to know what he’s doing in the film clips even if he is miming! His hands look smart enough!!

[@paulcampbell4431]

@@AdrianWhyte Have you seen the 'Hound Dog' footage that they did on the Ted Mack show? With the best will in the world once he leaves his comfort zone of walking basslines, Burlison appears to be totally out of his depth. And that was recorded AFTER the session that yielded Train Kept A Rollin'. Those pinched octaves require a degree of right hand dexterity that Burlison never demonstrated at any other time.

[@slicksnewonenow]

You're absolutely CORRECT... it certainly was Grady Martin on "Train".... he played lead on almost every one of the Nashville Burnett sessions. (Actually, he, Bob Moore and Buddy Harmon played on nearly EVERY Rockabilly record made in Nashville throughout the Fifties). Burlison did play on one or two, though ("Tear It Up" comes immediately to mind, you can distinctly hear his Telecaster)... Of course he was the Rock N Roll Trio's regular guitarist. Man... Your tone is SPOT ON for the Grady Martin vibe! How'd ya achieve it? It's magnificent! I've always used tremolo, delay and a fuzz pedal. The best part of it all was that Grady just improvised all of this killer stuff, COLD. I lived in Nashville through the Nineties and had the distinct honor of knowing Mr. Martin and all of the "A Team".... All were great fellas, and OH! The tales those guys could tell! Also... You know, it never occurred to me to ask those guys about who all was on this particular track... And Mr. Martin never told me. Although, they were doing all kinds of weird stuff in the studio, even back then... It certainly wouldn't surprise me if Owen Bradley or Chet recorded a second track of Grady and underdubbed it on the tape while Grady was playing live.

[@AdrianWhyte]

That all sounds right to me Slick!! In regards to my tone, I can’t recall.. I think I just had the preamp on the mystery brain pushing a little, but it’s all about attack I reckon, when you start grabbing at the strings a little it really comes to life!

[@slicksnewonenow]

@@AdrianWhyte hi Adrian - Yes... The tone you're getting with that Jet is incredible... Especially considering that those Gretsch pickups are slightly "hotter" than those that were in Grady's Bigsby. Those Bigsby pickups weren't more than maybe 5.k ohms... That's why they "fuzzed out" when he'd dig into them. There's a fella here in the States that makes an exact replica of those pickups, his name is T.K. Smith... You should check out his work on the Toob. And check out his website... He builds some incredible stuff, including guitars. Anyhow... I'm not sure what kind of rig Grady Martin used on those records, but I do know that he had a '53 Standel amp, one of those ancient "liquid can' tremolo effects and an Echo machine. I got to see all of that equipment once when I visited those fellas at Bob Moore's house. The double neck Bigsby was killer, for sure! I used to tour a lot and always used solid state amps for the clean headroom and reliability... So I figured out how to fake the sound with a delay pedal, a tremolo pedal (or one built into the amp) and a Blues Driver. I have an old Tele with a Bigsby pickup in the neck position, and whenever I switch on all of the gear, it gives me goosebumps even after 40 years of "copying" Grady... It's one of my favorite Rock N Roll tones! Cheers

[@slicksnewonenow]

@@AdrianWhyte hiya Adrian... I was just now listening to the old Burnett rockabilly stuff... Another tune that I think Burlison is playing on, along with Grady, is "Blues Stay Away From Me"....

[@billnelson9413]

I’m in the Grady Martin camp too.

[@AdrianWhyte]

Cheers man, it makes the most sense. The tube story .. I just don’t think it checks out. I’m going to sus it with a tech friend of mine at some point!

[@kevintaylor8055]

Great piece of work Adrian I remember cutting my teeth trying to work that solo out about 40years ago I think it's a classic less is more type solo nice job mate and grate tone keep on rocking buddy 👍

[@AdrianWhyte]

Thank you Kevin, appreciate it!!! Yeah it’s really cool, less often is more!!

[@AthelstanEngland]

Cheers Adrian. We play this but I've never properly focused on the exact patterns, the idea of just getting the pattern in your head is really good advice... gonna work on that. I guess live (if they ever did it live?) that "Grady Burlinson" probably often played the solo different everytime.

[@AdrianWhyte]

Lol I’m sure Grady Burlinson did play it different everytime, I would say a key take away is see if you can sing what you play, even if it’s not the same solo. You’ll be attaching your guitar to musically educated consciousness by doing this!

[@AthelstanEngland]

@@AdrianWhyte good advice. Cheers.

[@DannyGatton94]

Awesome song and lesson brother

[@AdrianWhyte]

Cheers mate!!

[@manoelteixeira4936]

Excelente, muito bem explicado nos mínimos detalhes. Paul Burlison possuía um estilo único o que fez a diferença na interpretação de TRAIN KEPT ROLLIN' por Johnny Burnetet Trio. Parabéns por compartilhar conhecimento. maneco - Porto Alege-RS -Brasil.

[@kerryfromaj9032]

Hmmmm…I have that same T-shirt……😼 I’m creeping up on learning guitar for 4 years now. It’s gotten easier by far thanks to a handful of people and an insane amount of daily practice. This lesson sounds great with that octave dissonance, the whole song sounds “off” in the good way. I’m going to try your SoundSlice again now that my place isn’t full of sand for the next bit. Thanks again !!!

[@o.r.grinter7763]

Awesome playing and awesome gretsch

[@AdrianWhyte]

Thank you man!!

[@Joe-ym6bw]

Johnny was great

[@subdaim]

Nice man, glad i found this. This song is amazing. Could you maybe do Honey Hush - How to play? Also amazing guitar playing song.

[@AdrianWhyte]

Hey man! Which cover are you thinking in particular?

[@subdaim]

@@AdrianWhyte kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKrVaX1meaqUars

[@Haifishtrio]

the truth is... Paul Burlison was a rookie starter at the time and was replaced by session guitarist Grady Martin. Paul Burlison also played a double esquier and you can hear a wammy bar on one song?? it was obviously not so nice to be replaced for Paul Burlison...nice lesson Adrian

[@AdrianWhyte]

I believe this to be the case too! Thanks for commenting and hope you’re well man!!

[@slicksnewonenow]

Grady was the "House" player... I'm pretty sure that Chet Atkins was in charge of those recording sessions and didn't think that Paul Burlison's playing was up to snuff (which it wasn't). So he had Grady play leads on all but a couple of those Burnett songs. And you just might hear a Bigsby Vibrato on some of those tracks... Grady played his double neck Bigsby guitar on every one he's featured on... It's got a Bigsby Vibrato on the main six string neck. If someone looked on the Toob for "Ozark Jubilee" shows, they can see Grady playing the very guitar.

[@dearanferris]

love the t shirt

[@AdrianWhyte]

Me too! Thanks man!!

[@kevintaylor8055]

OK Adrian here's a thought how about it was both of them on that track stranger things have happened.anyway hats off to you have a good one

[@AdrianWhyte]

Could be possible! I have heard this since posting actually! Thanks Kevin, have a great weekend!

[@rockabillyste]

Mmm! I've for years assumed it was Grady but since you posted this I've given it another, very quick lo-fi, listen. The intro & coda are definitely Grady. Not just the licks but the tone is pure Grady on both. The thing is with this track is we concentrate on the double octave stuff and miss what is, subtly, going on underneath. There are some very Grady licks low in the mix under the double octaves and the tone of the octave stuff (loose tube?) is very unlike Grady's. I'd say Grady on the intro and coda Paul on the double octave backing & solo.

[@AdrianWhyte]

Quite possible, although a loose tube is more likely to arc and burn out then give a different tone, that’s a hinging point for me on the honesty of the story - it just doesn’t check out. Even reaching into the back of your amp at a gig to get that tone- those tubes are hot!!

[@CC-qb9sm]

👍

[@AdrianWhyte]

Cheers Cc, I appreciate you always leaving a comment of some sort!

[@CC-qb9sm]

@@AdrianWhyte - you bet! I was swamped today so a short thumbs up comment was all I was doing for a bit 😂 Thanks for all the great content! Have a good one! -Corie

[@billiee835]

Find out who was on bass , and might give a clue who was on guitar , Martin for my money

[@AdrianWhyte]

Good point! Wyatt Earp on the Gretsch guitar players group sent me a podcast to listen to that delves, so I’m looking forward to that!!

[@andrewwatson4244]

It’s just a fucking tune, took me ages to get the stamina to get all the way through this song

[@AdrianWhyte]

It’s a belter isn’t it! Thanks man!!