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Tony Burke

Tony Burke

Tony Burke started to get serious about rock and blues music in the late 1960s, avidly reading NME, Melody Maker and Rolling Stone, and in the 1970s Blues & Soul and Let it Rock, Black Music and Sounds  – as well as frequenting Manchester's many record shops, market stalls, second hand shops and clubs in search of great music. 

Charlie Gillett's Sound Of The City became his bible, along with John Broven's Walking To New Orleans and Mike Rowe's Chicago Blues which led to a voyage of discovery into blues, R&B and rock 'n' roll as well as discovering magazines like Blues Unlimited, Shout, Hot Buttered Soul and Whiskey Women and…, all magazines that helped him dig deeper.

Occasional reviews appeared in Blues Unlimited, articles and discographies (sometimes in conjunction with fellow fans/researchers) were published in the short lived Pickin' The Blues – which became Blues & Rhythm, The Gospel Truth in 1984. Tony became a regular contributor and its production editor – taking over the editorship in mid 1986 until the present day.

Besides Blues & Rhythm, articles, reviews and obituaries have appeared in Record Collector, Maverick, Vintage Jazz Mart and The Morning Star including his Global Routes feature, along with sleeve and booklet notes for reissue labels such as Charly, Ace, Route 66, Krazy Kat and others. In addition to all things blues and R&B, Tony has a predilection for Frank Zappa/Captain Beefheart, the Byrds, Cream, Rory Gallagher, The Band, Dylan, the Allman Brothers, Van Morrison, Springsteen, Robert Plant, 1970s Pub Rock, 1960s and '70s underground rock,  Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Tony Allen, rockabilly, vintage country & bluegrass, western swing, alt.country/Americana, global and African music  and collectable records.

58 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Lee Dorsey 1924-1986

Obituary by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, January 1987

LEE DORSEY, who died on December 1st, 1986, after a long and brave struggle against cancer and emphysema, will be best remembered in the UK ...

Memphis Slim: Obituary: Memphis Slim

Obituary by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, May 1988

FOLLOWING RECENT reports of his serious illness, it came as little surprise to many blues fans that Memphis Slim sadly passed on of February 24th ...

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson: "Goodbye Mr. Cleanhead – things ain't what they used to be…" A Tribute to Eddie Vinson

Obituary by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, August 1988

EDDIE "CLEANHEAD" Vinson, who died on July 2nd at the California Hospital in Los Angeles after suffering a coronary and cancer of the throat and ...

Robert Cray: Young Bob's Blues

Interview by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, February 1989

ON OCTOBER 24th, 1988, Robert Cray played a sell out gig at the Manchester Apollo. He was riding high and on this extensive UK tour ...

Johnny Ace, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Big Mama Thornton, O.V. Wright: Galen Gart and Roy C. Ames: Duke/Peacock Records – An illustrated history with discography (Big Nickel Publications)

Book Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, August 1990

BIG NICKEL PUBLICATIONS continue their unsurpassed service of providing a mine of information to R&B record collectors with another addition to its catalogue of books, ...

Champion Jack Dupree: The Joe Davis Sessions 1945-1946

Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, December 1990

IT IS PERHAPS fitting that the last CD of the Month for 1990 features a bluesman who began his recording career half a century ago ...

Louis Jordan: John Chilton: Let The Good Times Roll – The Story Of Louis Jordan And His Music (Quartet Books)

Book Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, February 1993

YOU'VE HEARD the records, maybe even bought the recent Bear Family nine-CD box set (The Complete Decca Recordings) – now read the biography. ...

Eddie Boyd, 1914-1994

Obituary by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, September 1994

BLUES PIANIST and singer Eddie Boyd died on July 13th in Helsinki aged 79 on July 13th, in Helsinki, Finland, a city in which he'd ...

Ella Mae Morse, 1924-1999

Obituary by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, December 1999

ELLA MAE MORSE, whose 1942 hit 'Cow-Cow Boogie' became the first million selling disc for Capitol Records, died on October 16th at the Western Arizona ...

Charley Patton: Paramount Records and the Blues Twilight Zone

Report by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, December 2003

DISCOVERIES MAGAZINE in the USA has called it "the single most significant blues music related discovery – ever. It is so deep and vast there ...

Desperate Man Blues – Discovering The Roots of American Music

Film/DVD/TV Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, March 2007

JOE BUSSARD, "King Of Record Collectors", would be an excellent contributor to the UK television series 'Grumpy Old Men'. ...

Ernest Stoneman: Ernest R Stoneman: The Unsung Father Of Country Music 1925-1934

Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, March 2009

JIMMIE RODGERS is normally identified as the "father of country music". However, in the booklet notes to this two-CD, 46-track set, Hank Sapoznick argues a ...

Various Artists: Take Me To The River – A Southern Soul Story 1961-1977

Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, March 2009

"WHILE MOTOWN targeted its super-slick beat at teenagers, the much tougher Southern soul issued on labels such as Stax, Hi and Goldwax from Memphis; Fame ...

Various Artists: Gastonia Gallop – Cotton Mill Songs & Hillbilly Blues

Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, March 2010

Piedmont Textile Workers On Record, Gaston County, North Carolina 1927–1931 ...

Robert Johnson: The Very Last Fair Deal Gone Down? A preview of the "ultimate" Robert Johnson reissue package

Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, May 2011

ONE HUNDRED years ago, on 8th May, 1911, Robert Johnson was born – so expect to read a lot about Po' Bob, especially in the ...

Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings – The Centennial Collection

Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, October 2011

THIS IS THE complete Robert Johnson on one double CD – the lot, all 42 Robert Johnson recordings – including all thirteen alternate takes plus ...

Bill Sykes: Sit Down, Listen To This! – The Roger Eagle Story/Pat Long: The History Of The NME

Book Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, October 2012

THE LATE Roger Eagle was an enigma. Born in Oxford into a middle class family during the Second World War, like many others of his ...

Norman Jopling: Shake It Up Baby – Notes From A Pop Music Reporter, 1961-1972 (Rock History Ltd.)

Book Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, May 2015

IN THE EARLY 1960s the U.K.'s music press was dominated by a small group of weekly papers, notably the New Musical Express, (aka NME), the ...

Richard Carlin: Godfather of the Music Business – Morris Levy (University of Mississippi Press)

Book Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, October 2016

MORRIS LEVY WAS born in 1927 and rose through the ranks of the U.S. music business starting by running a hatcheck concession in New York ...

Wilson Pickett: Tony Fletcher: In The Midnight Hour – The Life And Soul of Wilson Pickett (Oxford University Press)

Book Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, December 2017

BACK IN THE mid-1960s, Wilson Pickett was one of my main men. A series of great singles waxed for Atlantic, including 'In The Midnight Hour', covers of ...

Garth Cartwright: Going For A Song

Book Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 24 March 2018

THE RETURN OF the vinyl album and record fairs teaming with "pre-owned" albums, 45s, CDs and even 78s has generated a new interest in the ...

Elvis Presley: D.J. Fontana, 1931-2018

Obituary by Tony Burke, Record Collector, August 2018

DOMINIC JOSEPH "D.J." Fontana died in Nashville on 13th June. He was aged 87 and was suffering from complications of a broken hip. From 1954 ...

Stan Lewis, 1927-2018

Obituary by Tony Burke, Record Collector, October 2018

STAN LEWIS, (aka "Stan the Record Man"), died in Ruston, Louisiana, on July 14th, aged 91. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1927, he worked at his ...

Laurence Cane-Honeysett: The Story of Trojan Records

Book Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 15 December 2018

GROWING UP in the early 1960s in Manchester, with grandparents living in Moss Side, the infectious music of bluebeat and ska records newly imported from ...

Les Fancourt and Bob McGrath: The Blues Discography 1943–1970 (Third Edition)

Book Excerpt by Tony Burke, Eyeball Productions, February 2019

WELCOME TO the expanded and revised third edition of The Blues Discography 1943–1970. It is now 50 years since Mike Leadbitter and Neil Slaven first ...

Clydie King, 1943-2019

Obituary by Tony Burke, Record Collector, March 2019

CLYDIE KING, who became one of the leading session and go-to back up singers during the 1970s, died  on 7th January, aged 75. ...

Lazy Lester, Lightnin' Slim, Slim Harpo: Randy Fox: Shake Your Hips – The Excello Records Story

Book Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, March 2019

FOR MANY UK blues fans, Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon Records opened the door to Excello Records. ...

Various Artists: Texas Hillbillies – 1922-1937 Restored and Remastered

Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, April 2019

NINETY-THREE sides of vintage and rare old-time music from the Lone Star state (mostly instrumentals) on a four CD set – culled from the record ...

Dick Dale, 1937-2019

Obituary by Tony Burke, Record Collector, May 2019

THE PIONEER OF "surf rock" guitar, Dick Dale died on March 16th aged 81. Born Richard Anthony Monsour on 4th May, 1937, in Boston, Dale developed a ...

Roy Orbison, Roscoe Shelton, Joe Simon: Fred Foster, 1931-2019

Obituary by Tony Burke, Record Collector, May 2019

FRED FOSTER, the founder of Monument and Sound Stage 7 Records, died on 20th February in Nashville, aged 87. Born in North Carolina in 1931 ...

Robert Johnson: Gayle Dean Wardlow and Bruce Conforth: Up Jumped The Devil – The Real Life of Robert Johnson (Chicago Review Press)

Book Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, May 2019

THOUGH HE only made 40 recordings, US blues artist Robert Johnson's legacy has endured for over eight decades and his songs are now part of ...

Lou Johnson, 1941-2019

Obituary by Tony Burke, Record Collector, June 2019

NORTHERN SOUL favourite Lou Johnson died on 1stt May, aged 78. Born in 1941 in Brooklyn, New York, Lou sang in gospel groups including the Zionettes ...

Black Sabbath: Jim Simpson with Ron Simpson: Don't Worry 'Bout The Bear – From the Blues To Jazz, Rock & Roll and Black Sabbath (Brewin Books)

Book Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 24 June 2019

BIG BEAR BOSS Jim Simpson holds a unique place in UK music business. A promoter, record producer, festival director, rock band manager and photographer, his ...

Tinariwen, Ali Farka Toure: Various Artists: The Rough Guide To Mali Blues

Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 8 July 2019

THE CONNECTION between blues music and the African continent and how African slaves carried their music to the Americas has been well documented for almost ...

Quicksilver Messenger Service: Gary Duncan 1946-2019

Obituary by Tony Burke, Record Collector, September 2019

GARY DUNCAN, guitarist and vocalist of the San Francisco rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service, died on June 29 at the age of 72 after suffering from a ...

Billy Bragg: Best Of Billy Bragg at the BBC, 1983–2019

Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 24 October 2019

The radical pedigree of Billy Bragg's latest compilation release shows why he's in danger of becoming a national treasure, says Tony Burke. ...

Donnie Fritts, 1942-2019; Jimmy Johnson, 1943-2019; Larry "The Mole" Taylor, 1942-2019

Obituary by Tony Burke, Record Collector, November 2019

SINGER, SONGWRITER and piano player Donnie Fritts – a key member of the session musicians who shaped the sound of soul music recorded in Muscle ...

Jack Bruce: Sunshine Of Your Love: A Concert For Jack Bruce

Film/DVD/TV Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 5 November 2019

IN 2015, A DAY before the first anniversary of his death at the age of 71, an all-star cast of musicians gathered at London's Roundhouse ...

Various Artists: The Rough Guide To Country Blues/The Rough Guide To The Roots Of Country Music

Review by Tony Burke, Vintage Jazz Mart, Fall 2019

Two 25-track CD sets containing an excellent cross section of artists representing the best in 1920s and 1930s country blues and hillbilly music. ...

Little Richard, Billy Vera: Billy Vera: Rip It Up – The Specialty Records Story

Book Review by Tony Burke, Record Collector, January 2020

ONE OF THE most important independent post-war record labels, Specialty is up there with Chess, Modern/RPM, King, and Atlantic. ...

Frank Zappa: The Hot Rats Sessions

Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 16 January 2020

FIFTY YEARS AGO, Frank Zappa declared (after Edgar Varese) that "the present-day composer refuses to die". How true, and half a century on from the ...

John and Colin Mansfield: As You Were – The True Adventures Of The Ricky Tick Club

Book Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, February 2020

THE RICKY TICK Club has a permanent place in the development of British rhythm and blues and rock music. I can't recall any decent history ...

Fats Domino: The Return Of The Big Beat: Fats Domino's I've Been Around – The Complete Imperial and ABC Paramount Recordings (Bear Family)

Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, March 2020

WAY BACK IN Blues & Rhythm 85 (published in January 1994), Tony Watson – in a special feature on the original Fats Domino Bear Family ...

Doris Duke, 1941–2019

Obituary by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, April 2020

THE GREAT DEEP soul singer Doris Duke passed away on 21st March, 2019. The only mention I could find about her death is a reference on ...

Various Artists: Barrelhousin' Around Chicago – The Legendary George Paulus 1970s Blues Recordings

Review by Tony Burke, Blues & Rhythm, October 2020

BACK IN THE early 1980s John Stedman purchased a number of recordings made by George Paulus and released many of them on his JSP label. ...

Bob Dylan: Richard Lysons: Were You There – Popular Music At Manchester's Free Trade Hall, 1951-1996 (Empire Publications)

Book Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 23 November 2020

MANCHESTER'S FREE Trade Hall was built on the site of the 1819 Peterloo massacre as a public hall celebrating the repeal of the Corn Laws ...

Various Artists: Excavated Shellac – An Alternate History Of The World’s Music

Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 29 December 2020

SIX YEARS in the making, this download-only release consists of 100 tracks – all originally issued on 78rpm discs with a 186-page beautifully illustrated book, ...

Charlie Parker: The Savoy 10" LP Collection

Review by Tony Burke, Vintage Jazz Mart, Fall 2020

2020 MARKS Charlie Parker's Centennial and as part of the celebrations Craft Recordings have re-issued Parker's 10" Savoy LPs with restored original album artwork, detailed booklet ...

John Mayall: The First Generation, 1965–1974

Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 7 January 2021

JOHN MAYALL turned 87 recently, and the Godfather of the British Blues – a national treasure – has a new 35-CD box set out featuring ...

Robert Shelton, Dave Laing, Karl Dallas & Robin Denselow: The Electric Muse Revisited (book)/Various: The Electric Muse Revisted (box)

Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 19 June 2021

THE ORIGINAL Electric Muse was written by Karl Dallas (Melody Maker), Dave Laing (Let It Rock), Robert Shelton (New York Times) and Robin Denselow (The ...

Sam Cooke, Little Richard, Roy Milton, Billy Vera: Specialty Records: An Interview with Billy Vera

Interview by Tony Burke, Record Collector, September 2021

As the Specialty label celebrates 75 years, Tony Burke talks to Billy Vera – singer, songwriter, and the author of Rip it Up: The Specialty ...

Various Artists: The Story of Trojan Records

Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 14 September 2021

IN THE early 1970s the world's largest record company releasing Jamaican music, Trojan Records piled up hits in the UK pop charts with artists like ...

The Pretty Things: The Pretty Things: Live At The BBC, 1964-2018 (Repertoire)

Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 11 November 2021

DURING THE 1960s British R&B boom the Pretty Things were the band the UK press loved to hate.  Lead singer Phil May's shoulder-length locks were ...

Let there be rock, and roll: An interview with Jim Dawson

Interview by Tony Burke, Record Collector, December 2022

There's perennial debate about what was the first rock 'n' roll record. Tony Burke asked music historian Jim Dawson for his new book's conclusion. ...

Blind Lemon Jefferson, Leadbelly, T-Bone Walker: Various Artists: The Rough Guide To Texas Blues

Review by Tony Burke, Vintage Jazz Mart, Spring 2022

ROUGH GUIDE/WMN have issued some excellent pre-war blues sets recently. This set features 26 sides cut between 1926 and 1937 from the Lone Star State – ...

Elvis Presley, Ike Turner: Peter Guralnick: Here Comes The Sun

Interview by Tony Burke, Record Collector, February 2023

Peter Guralnick, co-author of the history of Sun Records, tells Tony Burke about the book. ...

Big Joe Turner: Feel So Fine

Book Excerpt by Tony Burke, Hardinge Simpole Books, June 2023

This is Tony's foreword to Derek Coller's biography Big Joe Turner – Feel So Fine ...

Keef Hartley, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Frank Zappa: Neil Slaven, 1944-2023

Obituary by Tony Burke, Rock's Backpages, January 2024

RECORD PRODUCER, researcher, author and discographer Neil Slaven, who died on December 23rd aged 79, was one of the leading lights of the 1960s British ...

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