Keep On The Firing Line
Comin' On Strong
Recorded and Pressed by Rite Record Productions - Cincinnati, Ohio
The Burtons worked out of Cincinnati, Ohio.
From the back cover: It has been said by many fans that the fresh new sound of The Burtons is delightful, exciting, and definitely "Comin' On Strong."
There are few gospel LPs in my collection that feature instrumentals. So, much to my surprise, I found a fun instrumental on this LP with some fine guitar work by Grady Burton, Jr. who is credited for "rhythm & lead guitar" on the album.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteI am the youngest child of Grady Burton, Jr. that you mention above. He's the one guy in the pic that's not in the tree.
The Burtons consisted of my Dad, his brother Danny (pictured next to Dad), and their father, Grady Burton, Sr. (He's the one highest in the tree in this shot.) My mother, Betty Burton, sang with the group prior to this album, which was recorded in the early 70's as far as I remember. The non-family group members in this picture were only in the group long enough to produce this album.
The Burtons recorded about a dozen albums during the 60's and 70's and, even though they experienced several personnel changes through the years, they remained extremely popular in the Greater Cincinnati area, often opening concerts when nationally-known groups came to town.
As you said, this cover shows a degree of humor and creativity. Their vocal arrangements often were very creative, with many people saying The Burtons were ahead of their time. As for the humor aspect, one an earlier album cover, all of the group members were depicted as stick figures, with a head shot pasted on. This was long before photo-shop or computer designing.
You mention the instrumental: Dad loved to play his guitar and with his brother Danny on piano, they were known for their instrumentals as much as for their singing.
I found your blog completely by accident, but what a pleasant surprise! Dad went to Heaven in February of 2010, but he would have appreicated the humor and kind words of your review.
Thank you,
Dennis Burton
Hi Mark, I'm Dennis brother Mark. To fill in this picture: The ladies are Judy Tracy on the left and Linda Dawson on the right. Linda's husband Danny is the middle of the three guys in the tree. Linda passed away a few yrs ago. Don't remember when this one was done, maybe 73 or 74. Our dad, Grady Burton Jr played on many records for other groups locally along w/ his brother Danny throughout the 60s and early 70s.Danny still works as engineer, musician, vocalist, etc locally. BTW, this is the 4th anniv of Dad's passing and it was wonderful to hear him playing on the clip you posted. They did many instrumentals over the yrs, although back them they usually called them musicals.
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