| Trevor Burton | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Trevor Ireson |
| Born | 9 March 1949 |
| Origin | Birmingham, England |
| Genres | Rock, Blues |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar, Bass |
| Associated acts | The Move Steve Gibbons Band |
Trevor Burton (born Trevor Ireson, 9 March 1949,[1] Aston, Birmingham, England[2]) is a British guitarist and was one of the original members of The Move.
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Burton started playing guitar at a young age and was leading his own group called The Everglades by 1963. In 1964 he joined Danny King & The Mayfair Set, along with Keith Smart (drums, formerly of The Everglades), Roger Harris (keyboards), Denis Ball (bass) and vocalist King. The band cut a couple of singles but could not break outside the Birmingham area. Burton accepted an invitation from other Birmingham musicians to form The Move in January 1966, remaining with them until February 1969.[3]
Burton was originally rumoured to be forming a new group with Noel Redding from The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Nothing came of this although Burton and Redding did share an apartment in London at that time. Burton then teamed up with Steve Gibbons who fronted the long-established Birmingham group The Uglys. Burton and Gibbons, along with Uglys' rhythm section Keith Smart and Dave Morgan, plus the keyboardist Richard Tandy created a new Birmingham supergroup to be named Balls.[3] It is rumoured that Brian Jones had been involved before his death.
Balls was managed by one-time Moody Blues/Move manager Tony Secunda. Following in the trend of Chris Blackwell's Traffic, Secunda arranged for the new group to "get it together" in the country at a rented cottage on the Berkshire Downs and also hired Traffic's record producer Jimmy Miller for the group's recording sessions. With Secunda arranging a large Malcolm McLaren style cash advance from the record company, the group started to compose and record new material while playing a few local gigs. Morgan left during the summer of 1969, to be replaced by Denny Laine, ex-singer/guitarist of The Moody Blues. But Balls split at the end of 1969, with Tandy joining The Move (for live gigs only), then Electric Light Orchestra, and Smart eventually joining Wizzard. Balls reconvened as a quartet the following summer, with Laine, Burton, former Plastic Ono Band drummer Alan White and vocalist Jackie Lomax. Lomax was soon replaced by the returning Gibbons, and ex-Spooky Tooth drummer Mike Kellie replaced White in January 1971.[3]
Despite the obvious potential of the group, it was unfortunate that the only record release was a solitary single that did not come out until September 1971, by which time Balls had ceased to exist. The song "Fight For My Country" was a spirited anti-war anthem, composed and sung by Burton, and also included backing vocals from Steve Gibbons and Denny Laine, who played bass guitar on the track.
Burton worked with Birmingham vocalist Ray Froggatt until 1975. He also guested with the Pink Fairies during this period.[3]
After Balls, Steve Gibbons joined the Birmingham group The Idle Race which eventually became the Steve Gibbons Band. Burton joined in April 1975, and the group enjoyed a hit single in 1976 with the Chuck Berry song, "Tulane" as well as touring America extensively.[3]
Burton left Steve Gibbons in 1983 to form his own band. They started performing twice weekly at the Red Lion in Kings Heath, Birmingham with a line-up including sax player Steve Ajao. In 1985 the band recorded an album entitled Double Zero (BARLP1), now a collectors item, featuring Stuart Ford (slide guitar), Crumpy (bass), Tony Baylis (drums) and Ben Annon (percussion). The band has gone through a number of iterations: perhaps the most famous member was the former Uglys/Balls/Move/ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy. By this time, they also had a new drummer, Bill Jefferson and bass player, Pez Connor.
Former Move drummer Bev Bevan had been touring as "Bev Bevan's Move" since 2004, augmented on occasion by Trevor Burton. Burton joined permanently in 2007. The Autumn 2007 tour is billed as "The Move featuring Trevor Burton and Bev Bevan".[4]
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