James Burton was born in Dubberly, Lousiana on August 21, 1939. He first picked up the guitar at age 13. By the time he was 15, he was recording with Dale Hawkins. He also got a job as the lead guitar player on the Louisiana Hayride, backing artists like George Jones and Johnny Horton. By 18, Burton moved to California to work with Ricky Nelson. With Ricky, he recorded Hello, Mary Lou and other classics.

James became very in demand as a session player and before long he was the most in demand guitarist on the west coast. Johnny Cash asked him to be on a television show called Shindig. Again, James would be on tv every week. His session work allowed him to work with everybody in the business: from Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin to Jan and Dean and the Mamas and the Papas.

In 1969, Burton got a call from Elvis Presley. Elvis was going back to performing live and he needed a good band and asked if James would put it together for him and he did. James stayed with Elvis until Elvis' death in 1977. During his time with Elvis, James recorded with Gram Parsons and also toured with Emmylou Harris and part of her Hot Band after Gram's passing.

After Elvis, James worked with John Denver, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others. In 2001, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2007 into the Musicians Hall of Fame.

Other notable artists Burton has worked with include Nancy Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Elvis Costello, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, The Monkees, The Everly Brothers and many many others.