Aron Burton has long enjoyed recognition for his dependable skills on bass as well as his work as a master landscaper with the Chicago Park District. In recent years he has directed greater attention toward his singing. The 1993 Earwig album Past, Present and Future highlighted both of these abilities and established him as a bandleader rather than a supporting musician. Burton moved from Mississippi to Chicago in 1955. By the late ’50s he was performing as a singer and bassist with Freddy King at Walton’s Corner on the West side, where King supplied him with his first bass. Drafted in 1961, he completed four years of service and then resumed playing with rock acts such as Baby Huey & the Babysitters and blues groups led by Junior Wells and Fenton Robinson. Session work followed with Wild Child Butler, Jackie Ross, and Carey Bell, along with his own 45 on Eddy Clearwater’s Cleartone imprint titled “Garbage Man.” Yet it was his role as a charter member of Albert Collins’ Icebreakers in 1978—his brother Larry serving as the band’s rhythm guitarist—that brought him wider attention. Burton appeared on Collins’ landmark Alligator LP Ice Pickin’ and toured extensively with the Master of the Telecaster before restlessness prompted his departure. Further sessions with Johnny Littlejohn, James Cotton, and Fenton Robinson preceded a three-year European hiatus in the late ’80s. While abroad he recorded his debut LP, Usual Dangerous Guy, with Champion Jack Dupree contributing piano. Since returning to Chicago, Burton has focused on vocals, bass, and leading his own band instead of backing other artists.
