Dorsey Burnette - The Rock and Roll Trio

The Rock and Roll Trio

For economic reasons, in 1956, the three young men moved to New York, where they managed to get an audition with the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour. They won the competition three times in a row, which gained them a place in the finals, a recording contract with Coral Records and they officially became The Rock and Roll Trio. Promotional appearances were arranged on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, Steve Allen's Tonight Show and Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall, together with a summer tour with Carl Perkins and Gene Vincent. On September 9, 1956, they appeared as finalists in the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour at Madison Square Garden. Despite all of this activity, however, the three singles, which were released over this period failed to make the national charts.

In order to cover their living expenses, the Trio was forced to go on the road, completing what seemed to be an endless stream of one night stands. This exhausting regime led to squabbles, which were exacerbated in Dorsey's case by Jerome's use of the name Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio on records and live dates. Things finally came to a head at a gig in Niagara Falls in the fall of 1956, when, as a result of a fight, Dorsey quit the group a week before they were to appear in Alan Freed's film, Rock, Rock, Rock. Johnny Burnette and Paul Burlison recruited Johnny Black, the brother of Elvis's bassist Bill Black to fill Dorsey's place and the Trio were duly completed their spot in the film. Despite the film appearance and three more single releases and one LP release, the group failed to achieve any chart success and the Trio officially disbanded in the fall of 1957.