Aron Burton | |
Birth Date: | 1938 6, mf=y |
Birth Place: | Senatobia, Mississippi, United States |
Death Place: | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Instrument: | Vocals, bass guitar |
Genre: | Chicago blues, electric blues |
Occupation: | Singer, bass guitarist, songwriter |
Years Active: | Late 1950s–2015 |
Label: | Earwig, Delmark, Schubert |
Aron Burton (June 15, 1938 – February 29, 2016) was an American electric and Chicago blues singer, bass guitarist and songwriter. In his long career as a sideman with Freddie King, Albert Collins and Junior Wells and released a number of solo albums, including Good Blues to You (Delmark Records, 1999). His recorded work was nominated four times for a Blues Music Award in the category Blues Instrumentalist—Bass.[1]
Burton was born on June 15, 1938, in Senatobia, Mississippi.[2] He sang in several local churches and with his cousin founded a singing group, the Victory Travelers. Burton relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in 1955. His musical career commenced the following year, when he played the bass accompanying Freddie King.[3] King purchased Burton's first bass guitar.[4]
Burton served in the United States Army between 1961 and 1965. Upon discharge he found employment playing with Baby Huey & the Babysitters, Junior Wells (with whom Burton toured between 1969 and 1972)[1] and Fenton Robinson. He contributed to recording sessions with George "Wild Child" Butler, Jackie Ross, Andrew "Blueblood" McMahon and Carey Bell (Heartaches and Pain, 1977).[4] He also recorded a solo single, "Garbage Man", released by Cleartone Records.[4]
In 1978, Burton joined his brother, Larry, in Albert Collins's backing band, the Icebreakers, and performed on Collins's Grammy Award–nominated album Ice Pickin'.[1] He also toured with Collins before leaving his ensemble in the early 1980s.[4] In the meantime, he worked as a horticulturist for twenty years in Garfield Park Conservatory, under the auspices of the Chicago Park District.[1] He found further work playing with James Cotton, Johnny Littlejohn and Fenton Robinson (again), before relocating to Europe for a time in the late 1980s. While there, Burton recorded Usual Dangerous Guy, with piano accompaniment by Champion Jack Dupree.[4]
By the early 1990s, Burton had returned to Chicago. Earwig Records issued the compilation album Past, Present, & Future (1993), a collection of recordings made between 1986 and 1993, in Europe and the United States, which established him as a frontman rather than a supporting musician.[4] He appeared at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1994, where he was joined on stage by Liz Mandeville.[5] She also sang on a couple of tracks of Burton's live album, Aron Burton Live (1996), recorded at Buddy Guy's club, Legends. The following year, Burton and his brother played at the Chicago Blues Festival.[6] This led to the album Good Blues to You, released by Delmark Records in 1999.[4]
Burton co-wrote a song recorded by Too Slim and the Taildraggers on the 2000 album King Size Troublemakers.
Aron Burton died in Chicago on February 29, 2016, of heart disease and diabetes.[7]
Year | Title | Record label | |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Past, Present, & Future | Earwig Records | |
1996 | Aron Burton Live | Earwig Records | |
1999 | Good Blues to You | Delmark Records | |
2001 | The Cologne Sessions | Schubert Records |