Guitarist James Burton, celebrated as one of rock and roll's most influential session and touring musicians, was born 87 years ago today, on 21 August 1939, near Minden, Louisiana. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, Burton was praised by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards as the "Master of the Telecaster" and has played on recordings by artists including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Ricky Nelson, making him a hugely significant, if often uncredited, figure in American popular music.

Entirely self-taught, Burton received his first guitar, a Fender Telecaster, at 13 and was performing professionally by 14, later developing his distinctive "chicken-pickin'" style using a fingerpick and altered banjo strings. He composed the melody for "Susie Q" in 1957, though he never received songwriting credit or royalties, before moving to Los Angeles to join Ricky Nelson's band and later working with Johnny Cash's Shindig, Elvis Presley's TCB Band from 1969 until Presley's death in 1977, Emmylou Harris's Hot Band, and John Denver.