Tony Burrows: One-Hit Wonderman

You’ve heard of the Funk Brothers and the Wrecking Crew. These genius session players were the backbone of Motown, the Beach Boys, the Monkees, Sinatra, Herb Alpert, and so many more. Their skills were (pardon the pun) instrumental to the success of their biggest hits, yet, as individual talents, they remained largely anonymous.

Backing singers suffer the same fate. The 2013 documentary, 20 Feet from Stardom, looks at the memorable voices that backed up name artists like the Stones and Elton John. One such voice belongs to Tony Burrows, who sang harmony on “Tiny Dancer” and “Levon.”

But Burrows has had one of the most unusual careers, a little closer to the front of the stage. He’s been part of 20 different groups that charted five Top 15 hits between 1970 and ’74.

He’s the only artist to perform on the BBC’s Top of the Pops, fronting three different acts in a single show.

With that kind of versatility and talent, you’d think he was set for an amazing solo career, but sadly, not so much. After a hot streak in 1970, he released a track under his own name. It barely reached #87 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. It seems as if being a session singer with a group was Burrow’s destiny.

Born in England in 1942, Burrow and his mates Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook formed the 50’s group, The Kestrels. As a group, they went nowhere, but they still had the hit-making goods; Cook went on to write “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” for the Hollies and “You’ve Got Your Troubles” for the Fortunes.

In the summer of 1970, Burrows called upon his old bandmates to join a new group, White Plains. Together, they created “My Baby Loves Lovin’,” which reached #13. Throughout that entire year, Burrows rode high on the charts with “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” as part of Edison Lighthouse.

With Brotherhood of Man, it was “United We Stand.”

As part of the Pipkins, he sang on the novelty song, “Gimme Dat Ding”

In 1974, he returned to the charts again with the First Class and “Beach Baby.”

It’s a mystery why some session players, like Glen Campbell and Billy Preston, can leave the background for a big solo career, and others like Burrows don’t quite cut it. They’re one of those essential “parts” that make the whole greater than each bit.

But apparently, for Tony Burrows, his stamp on such a variety of enduring pop hits gives him a peculiar status that will always stand out – even if he didn’t.

-Cindy Grogan

Photo: Tony Burrows, 1967 via Wikimedia Commons
(Ron Kroon for Anefo)