Boisterous rockabilly singer Sonny Burgess dies at 88

Sonny Burgess, a boisterous rockabilly singer and guitarist who toured with Johnny Cash and counted Bruce Springsteen among his admirers, died Aug. 18 at a hospital in Little Rock. He was 88.

A family friend, Henry Boyce, confirmed the death but did not specify a cause. Burgess had recently been treated for a fall.

Rockabilly historian Colin Escott described Burgess’ 1956 debut record, “Red Headed Woman,” and its flip side, “We Wanna Boogie,” as “punk before punk, thrash before thrash.” It became known as one of the rawest singles of the early rock era.

Though their music was classified as rockabilly, Burgess’ band, the Pacers, owed more to the horn-driven jump R&B of the 1950s than to the more acoustic sounds of the era’s country music.

A trumpet player, Jack Nance, played unison riffs with Burgess’ guitar while pianist Kern Kennedy drove the tempo with his pounding boogie-woogie piano.

Burgess’ singing style — gruff and often growling — recalled such urban blues shouters as Joe Turner and Smiley Lewis.

The Pacers put on a show as wild as their records, forming a human pyramid and often dragging each other across the stage by their instruments. When Burgess attempted to dye his hair blond with peroxide, it turned bright red, enticing him to purchase a new, allred wardrobe.

Albert Austin Burgess was born May 28, 1929, on a farm near Newport, Arkansas. His parents were cotton farmers.

His marriage to Joanne Adams ended in divorce. A son, Payton Burgess, died in 2005. Survivors included his son John Burgess of Little Rock; and a sister.