Burton Gaar - Blue Eyed Soul (2019)

We made these recordings with Burton Gaar in 1997 and since Black and Tan Records didn’t exist at that time we licensed them to CrossCut Records (One Hundred Pounds Of Trouble). Now is the time to release them on our own label. Besides Burton on vocals and bass the recordings feature Roel Spanjers on keyboards, Frank Bolder on drums and myself on guitar.

The tall Louisiana blues man Burton Gaar started playing bass guitar at age fourteen and at age eighteen Burton started singing on stage. As a young man, Burton was invited to join Slim Harpo’s band as a bass player. In the 60’s Burton and his band (Boogie Kings) were very active in the Louisiana R&B circuit. As the 70’s Burton was forced to take a normal day job for a year. After this experience he was determined to be self supporting as a musician. He joined the band of Rockin’ Sidney and he managed to make ends meet by either backing-up this zydeco superstar or playing with his own band. After recording his first CD “Still Singing The Blues” for Lanor Records Burton became firmly resolved to pursue his number one goal; making a name for himself.He did a few European tours during which he performed in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Norway. Burton passed away in 2011 after a brief battle with cancer. ~Jan Mittendorp