James Burton

Pete Townshend from The Who has joined The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation as a lifetime recipient artist with “It’s So Easy” presented to him by legendary guitarist James Burton

James was one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of any era. If he had only been the lead guitarist for the “King”, Elvis Presley, his career would have been legendary, but that was only part of his incomparable legacy. From his early years as a 14-year old staff guitarist on the Louisiana Hayride, to Dale Hawkins iconic Susie Q, to the unmistakable inspirational guitar licks on Ricky Nelson’s hit records, to Gram Parsons groundbreaking recordings, Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band, John Denver and so many others, the amazing guitar virtuosity of James Burton has complimented international hit recordings for more than five decades. It is appropriate that James Burton, as an electric guitarist who so admired and appreciated Buddy’s music, will soon be awarded a lifetime Fender Telecaster with a unique hand-made custom leather cover in black and red displaying the title of Buddy’s first recording “Blue Days, Black Nights” by the Foundation, along with an acoustic replica of his Gibson J-45 just as with our other recipient artists, also titled “Blue Days, Black Nights”.