Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

ethanrusso wrote:James' sweet rockabilly licks on the latter number prove the versatility of Ricks for playing numerous genres of music.

I'd be surprised if James recorded either of those on the Rick. I've seen other videos of him with a Jazzmaster, but the sound is definitely "Tele".
At the '99 Summer NAMM in Nashville when I worked for Pignose, I had a chance to play and visit with James for about an hour. He is every bit as nice as he is talented, although he hit me up for a lot of "freebies". I ended up giving him a Limited Edition 7-100 "Legendary" covered in Camoflage Tolex.

When I was in my 20s, my Boss at the time was best friends with James Burton,and I did hear what a great guy he was, and I did talk to him on a few occasions, however that was a couple decades before i got into playing, man what an opportunity missed

that just made my day!!! James Burton is one of my heroes!

Skip's point is well taken. Those clips are from the old Ozzie and Harriet TV show, and are almost certainly lip-synched, as was common on TV back then. There's no telling what James played on the actual tracks, but it was probably his Tele. I'd love to hear something that he actually played the Rick on. I met James at a couple of NAMM shows back in the '90's, and he is indeed a really nice guy--who just happens to be one of the best guitarists in the world.

Lyp-Synced or not, I sure wish the camera man had SHOWN the lead part playing.