American blues musician
Aron Burton |
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| Born | (1938-06-15)June 15, 1938
Senatobia, Mississippi, United States |
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| Died | February 29, 2016(2016-02-29) (aged 77)
Chicago, Illinois, United States |
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| Genres | Chicago blues, electric blues[1] |
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| Occupation(s) | Singer, bass guitarist, songwriter |
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| Instrument(s) | Vocals, bass guitar |
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| Years active | Late 1950s–2015 |
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| Labels | Earwig, Delmark, Schubert |
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Musical artist
Aron Burton (June 15, 1938 – February 29, 2016) was an American electric and Chicago blues singer, bass guitarist and songwriter. In a long career as a sideman he played with Freddie King, Albert Collins and Junior Wells and released a number of solo albums, including Good Blues to You (Delmark Records, 1999).[1] His recorded work was nominated four times for a Blues Music Award in the category Blues Instrumentalist—Bass.[2]
Biography
Burton was born on June 15, 1938, in Senatobia, Mississippi.[3] 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.[4] King purchased Burton's first bass guitar.[1]
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)[2] 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).[1][5] He also recorded a solo single, "Garbage Man", released by Cleartone Records.[1]
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'.[2] He also toured with Collins before leaving his ensemble in the early 1980s.[1] In the meantime, he worked as a horticulturist for twenty years in Garfield Park Conservatory, under the auspices of the Chicago Park District.[2] 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.[1]
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.[1] He appeared at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1994, where he was joined on stage by Liz Mandeville.[6] 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.[5] This led to the album Good Blues to You, released by Delmark Records in 1999.[1]
Burton co-wrote a song recorded by Too Slim and the Taildraggers on the 2000 album King Size Troublemakers.[7]
Aron Burton died in Chicago on February 29, 2016, of heart disease and diabetes.[8]
