1) Albert Austin "Sonny" … Read Full Bio ↴There are two artists named Sonny Burgess:
1) Albert Austin "Sonny" Burgess (May 28, 1931 – August 18, 2017) was an American rockabilly guitarist and singer.
In the early 1950s, Burgess played boogie woogie music in dance halls and bars around Newport. Burgess, Kern Kennedy, Johnny Ray Hubbard, and Gerald Jackson formed a boogie-woogie band they called the Rocky Road Ramblers. In 1954, following a stint in the US Army (1951–53), Burgess re-formed the band, calling them the Moonlighters after the Silver Moon Club in Newport, where they performed regularly. After advice from record producer Sam Phillips, the group expanded to form the Pacers.
The band's first record was "We Wanna Boogie" in 1956 for Sun Records, in Memphis, about 80 miles southeast of his birthplace. The flip side was "Red Headed Woman." Both were written by Burgess. The songs have been described as "among the most raucous, energy-filled recordings released during the first flowering of rock and roll." Their onstage antics in performance were similarly described. Like other artists such as Ray Harris, Hayden Thompson, Billy Lee Riley and Warren Smith, chart success largely eluded him.
Burgess disbanded the group in 1971 but later found a new audience in Europe.
In 1990 (possibly before and afterward), Burgess toured with The Sun Rhythm Section. This group was composed of former session musicians from the Sun Recording Studio. Beside Burgess, band members included Paul Burlison (electric guitar), J.L. "Smoochy" Smith (piano), Stan Kessler (bass), Marcus Van Story (acoustic guitar & lead vocals), and D.J. Fontana on drums. Fontana was a member of Elvis Presley's band (1955-1968).
Burgess was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of Europe in 1999. His group, now called The Legendary Pacers, was a hit that same year in a rockabilly concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. It recorded Still Rockin’ and Rollin’ in 2000, voted the best new album in the country and roots field in Europe. The group was inducted in 2002 into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Sonny Burgess & The Legendary Pacers performed at the 2006 National Folk Festival in Richmond, Virginia to large, enthusiastic audiences.
Burgess hosted a weekly radio program called We Wanna Boogie with co-host June Taylor. The program, named after his first record, aired Sunday nights from 5-7pm Central Time on 91.9FM KASU in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Burgess was born on a farm near Newport, Arkansas to Albert and Esta Burgess. He graduated from Newport High School in 1948. Burgess had two brothers, and three sisters. Burgess was formerly married to Joann Adams starting in 1956, and they have two sons, Peyton and John. Between performances, Burgess lived in Newport until his death in 2017. Burgess died on August 18, 2017 at the age of 86.
2) Sonny Burgess is a country music artist, who released his debut album, When in Texas, in 2001.
We Wanna Boogie
Sonny Burgess Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We wouldn't do nothing, just cattin' around
Just cattin' and a-boogin' all over town
Headin' down Front Street baby, and all over town
Man you oughta see the lights when the sun goes down
Just a-poundin' and a boogin' and a-paintin' that town
Went out to the dance hall and cut a little rug
Just a-poundin' and a-boogin' all over town
Yeah we're gonna pound and we're gonna boogie
Yeah we're gonna pound and we're gonna boogie
Just poundin' and a boogin' all over town
The lyrics of Sonny Burgess's song, We Wanna Boogie, tell the story of a young couple who are out for a night of fun and dancing in their car, which is referred to as a "flivver" in the song. The couple is not interested in doing anything specific, they are simply spending time together "just cattin' around". As they drive down Front Street and around town, they take in the sights and sounds of the city and enjoy the atmosphere. When they arrive at the dance hall, they cut a "little rug", dancing with wild abandon as they enjoy the music and perhaps indulging in some moonshine or "jug".
The lyrics are a celebration of youth, life, and freedom. The couple in the song is living in the moment, enjoying each other's company, and having a great time without any particular goal or purpose in mind. It's an ode to the joy of being young and carefree, and the pleasures of the evening light.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I jumped in my flivver, took my baby to town
I got into my car and drove to town with my partner
We wouldn't do nothing, just cattin' around
We didn't have any specific plans, just wandering around aimlessly
Just cattin' and a-boogin' all over town
We were wandering around town and dancing everywhere we went
Headin' down Front Street baby, and all over town
We went down Front Street and explored the entire town
Man you oughta see the lights when the sun goes down
The city looked beautiful with glowing lights when the sun went down
Just a-poundin' and a boogin' and a-paintin' that town
We were dancing energetically and inspiring others to dance as well
Went out to the dance hall and cut a little rug
We went to a dance hall and danced a little bit
Oh we're runnin' like wildfire and hittin' that jug
We were running around and having a drink or two
Yeah we're gonna pound and we're gonna boogie
We were determined to keep dancing energetically
Just poundin' and a boogin' all over town
We danced energetically everywhere we went
Contributed by Victoria S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@AndrewNguyen374750hwhwjpejh
I wanna boogie!
@Marakesh7
Those Sun Records were amazing and had much better sound than any of today's recordings.
@kajsaarinen6957
Real badass Raw Rockabilly!! Love this😘❤️❤️
@eddiechochran6741
So freaking original!! This was the only rockabilly band that used a trumpet player front and center. So badass!!
@arthurmoore1524
Sonny kinda matches the trumpet vocally
I guess it could be described as a tearing of the voice lol
@stewartfenton7660
It was because of a particular gig he did regularly,where they stipulated a trumpet for some reason.
@Dachshund
Sonny was certainly in his element here.
@mikemorris1280
Great guitar break!
@bogusmogus9551
Rock it!
@Fernando-eb8dy
Great track. Wrong picture