Albert Austin “Sonny” Burgess (born May 28, 1931 on a farm near Newport, Arkansas, to Albert and Esta Burgess) is an American rockabilly guitarist and singer. In the early 1950s, Burgess played boogie woogie music in dance halls and bars around Newport. Burgess, Kern Kennedy, Johnny Ray Hubbard, and Gerald Jackson formed a boogie woogie band called the Rocky Road Ramblers. In 1954, following a stint in the U.S. Army (1951–53), Burgess reformed the band, calling them the Moonlighters after the Silver Moon Club in Newport, where they performed regularly. After advice from record producer Sam Phillips, the group expanded to form the Pacers.
