Paul Burlison (February 4, 1929 – September 27, 2003) was an American rockabilly guitarist and a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio.
After a stint in the United States Military, Burlison teamed up with Johnny and Dorsey Burnette to form The Rock and Roll Trio.
There he started his own electrical subcontracting business which he ran faithfully for twenty years, taking a break when the trio reunited in the early 1980s.
As well as learning Brooks' Country influenced techniques, he also drew inspiration from watching Jesse Lee and Juanita Denson perform.
While he was still in high school, he would travel to the outskirts of West Memphis, Arkansas, to watch Chester Burnett ("Howlin' Wolf") play.
Burlison also developed an interest in boxing and began training at the Dave Wells Community Center under the instruction of trainer, Jim Denson.
After his discharge, Burlison returned to Memphis, where he would subsequently begin a daytime job at Crown Electric Company as an electrician.
He also found work playing with Clyde Leoppard and the Snearly Ranch Boys and he was also heard on the radio with Don Paul.
For a few months he and band-mate Smokey Joe Baugh also performed with Howlin' Wolf on radio KWEM in West Memphis, Arkansas.
These were the days of the jitterbug and bop, and to keep the honkytonk managers happy without the big band, and to keep the patrons on the dance floor, the group would play an upbeat version of blues and country called rockabilly.
Despite promotional appearances on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, Steve Allen's Tonight Show and Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall, these singles failed to make the charts.
After a brief trip to California to join the Burnette Brothers, Burlison returned to Memphis and retired from the music business to start a family.
The album featured such guest artists as Rocky Burnette (Johnny's son), Billy Burnette (Dorsey's son) of Fleetwood Mac, Rick Danko and Levon Helm of The Band, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, and Conrad Lozano of Los Lobos, Mavis Staples of The Staple Singers, and Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Additionally, The Beatles, The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith have played cover versions of The Rock and Roll Trio's hits, often with special emphasis on Burlison's guitar riffs.
Burlison was also a mentor to the Rockabilly band The Dempseys (Brad Birkedahl, "Slick" Joe Fick and Ron Perrone Jr).