AMERICAN guitar legend James Burton will be joined by a host of special guests when he returns to Wirral this week for two shows at the Floral Pavilion.
The man - who, in a career spanning more than 50 years has worked with rock and roll legends Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson - is at the riverside venue this Thursday and Friday, July 28 and 29.
Joining James on Thursday is British rock and roll great Marty Wilde, '80s rockabilly band The Jets and his long-standing musical companion Glen D Hardin, a member of Buddy Holly's group The Crickets.
Chas McDevitt will also take the audience back to the days of skiffle.
Sharing the stage with James on Friday are The Merseybeats and The Shakers, Wirral singer/songwriter Don Woods and The Passionettes.
Henry Priestman, from Liverpool band The Christians will open the show.
Compere for the night is Mike McCartney.
James Burton went professional when he was just 14.
He went on to record with the likes of Dean Martin, Bobby Darin and The Everly Brothers.
In 1965, he had a call from Johnny Cash to play on the pilot for TV music show called Shindig.
Three years later he was nominated for the Country Music Award for Best Lead Guitar, but it would take 10 years and seven nominations before Burton finally won the award for Best Guitar Player.
In 1968, he was called by Elvis Presley to be on his comeback television special.
Burton had already turned down an offer by Bob Dylan to go on tour.
Sessions were usually booked three months in advance, so Presley gave Burton a few months to get the band together.
The band would eventually become known to millions as The TCB Band.
In 2001, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Marty Wilde (pictured, below) - who will be special guest for Thursday's show - had many attempts to make it into the UK charts.
His big breakthrough finally came in June 1958 when Endless Sleep entered the UK charts. It reached number four and stayed in the charts for 14 weeks.
His other hits included Teenager in Love and Sea of Love.
Tickets for Burton’s shows at the Floral are from 666 0000
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