Johnny Burnette ‎– Best Of- 1976 - Rockabilly (vinyl)

Johnny Burnette ‎– Best Of- 1976 -  Rockabilly (vinyl)

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n the fall of 1958, Johnny Burnette obtained a recording contract as a solo artist with Freedom Records, an offshoot of Liberty Records. He released three singles on this label: "Kiss Me" backed with "I'm Restless" (44001), released on September 11, 1958; "Gumbo" backed with "Me and the Bear" (44011), released on March 6, 1959; and "Sweet Baby Doll" backed with "I'll Never Love Again" (44017), released on June 24, 1959. All of these songs except "Sweet Baby Doll" were written by Burnette. None of these records were hits.^[1]

In mid-1959, the Freedom label was shut down, and Burnette moved to the parent Liberty label, under the direction of the producer Snuff Garrett. Liberty had better promotional capabilities than Freedom, so that Johnny's singles for Liberty stood a greater chance of succeeding. His first two singles for Liberty, "Settin' the Woods on Fire" backed with "Kentucky Waltz" (Liberty F-55222), released on November 10, 1959, and "Patrick Henry" backed with "Don't Do It" (Liberty F-55243), released on March 4, 1960, singles sold well regionally but were not national hits. However, his third single, "Dreamin'" backed with "Cincinnati Fireball" (Liberty F-55285), released on May 4, 1960, reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it number 5 in Britain. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.^[1]

His fourth Liberty single, "You're Sixteen" backed with "I Beg Your Pardon" (Liberty F-55285), released on October 5, 1960, did even better, reaching number 8 on the Hot 100 and number 3 in Britain and earned him another gold record.^[1]Burnette went back into the studio and under Snuff Garrett's direction recorded "Little Boy Sad". This was released on January 3, 1961, backed with "(I Go) Down to the River" (Liberty F-55298). Shortly after its release, Burnette was hospitalized with a ruptured appendix, which kept him bedridden for several weeks. He was unable to undertake many personal appearances to promote the new record, and it reached only number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 12 in Britain. Frustrated by this prolonged inactivity he tried to return to work too early, and he promptly collapsed. This meant that his fifth Liberty single, "Big Big World" backed with "Ballad of the One Eyed Jacks" (Liberty F-55318), released on March 30, 1961, received no promotion at all, and reached only number 58 on the Hot 100.

His sixth Liberty single, "I've Got a Lot of Things to Do" backed with "Girls" (Liberty F-55345), released June 14, 1961, was handled differently from his previous records. In Britain, the upbeat side, "Girls", was promoted as the topside and reached number 23 in the British charts in September 1961. In the US it was flipped over with "I've Got a Lot of Things to Do" as the topside, but despite heavy promotion, it failed to become a hit, peaking just outside the Hot 100 at number 109.

After recovering from his illness, Burnette returned to the road with a tour of the Northern cities, culminating in a season at the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre, after which he undertook a tour of Australia with Connie Francis. Back in the limelight, his next release was scheduled to be a Carl Perkins' song "Fools Like Me"/"Honestly I Do" (Liberty 55377) but this was cancelled in favour of "God, Country and My Baby"/"Honestly I Do" (Liberty 55379), which was released on September 27, 1961. It reached No. 18 on the Hot 100, but was to be Burnette's last major American hit.

In 1962, Burnette toured Britain for the first time with Gary U.S. Bonds and Gene McDaniels, where he made an appearance on the New Musical Express Poll Winners' Concert and several TV appearances. His next single "Clown Shoes"/"The Way I Am" (Liberty 55416) was released on January 26, 1962, but it failed to make the US Hot 100. It was more successful in Britain, where it reached No. 35. The song "Clown Shoes" was written by P. J. Proby.

Burnette had two more single releases on Liberty Records. These were "The Fool of the Year"/"The Poorest Boy in Town" (Liberty 55448), which was released on April 13, 1962 and "Damn the Defiant"/"Lonesome Waters" (Liberty 55489), which was released on July 30, 1962. Neither of these singles was a hit, but "Damn the Defiant", which was a Johnny Horton-style naval saga, was Burnette's first self-penned A-side for Liberty as well as his last single for the label.

Sleeve Condition (Out of 10) ~ 9 light light wear
Label Condition (Out of 10) ~ 10
Vinyl Condition ~ (Out of 10)
Side 1 - 10 
side 2 - 10
BIN # 106 / *193/ *194