Bruce Burton is an analytical guy. He always has been.
Rewind back to the 1970s, in the days when we couldn’t type our questions into computers for our answers, Bruce Burton couldn’t find a single comprehensive source of information that could deeply explain one of his favorite subjects – British Rock N’ Roll.
Burton started with a simple list of names. If he heard a song from a band that was part of popular British rock music, the group made his record. But this list wasn’t just about who was playing on the radio at that moment. Rather, Burton also included the people that influenced British rockers of that time.
“I tried to make it so a novice could take a larger look of British music,” Burton said. “It was based on American blues, rock, jazz and pop, so that was something I could do and keep it under control.”
As he kept adding the names, a shape started forming before his eyes, reminiscent of another familiar way of displaying a record – the Family Tree.
Tree With a Twist
“The family tree has a basic way about it, line to line, group to group,” Burton said. “I didn’t think it had a whole lot of stimulating information. That didn’t quite work as well for music. Eric Clapton played in Cream, The Yardbirds, Derek and the Dominoes and even with John Mayall. Other musicians and groups don’t have those connections happening. So I started extending the branches out.”
The result is a single-framed look at the entire history of a music genre all tied together in one image. Burton’s concept was to put as much relevant information about a topic together on a single page, shown through a single image. Or as Burton puts it, “a one page history book.”
The Burton Tree is a way to put as much relevant information on a single sheet of paper without overwhelming somebody.
A passing glance will catch some of the bigger acts to carry a genre’s torch, such as the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. But looking closer, hundreds of names appear all linked together to form the entire tree. People may not know of certain names included, but they all played a role to make a particular music genre or sports group historically important. Names range in size depending on how much material they released, while also taking into account fewer releases that had a big impact.
Jazz was born when slaves in New Orleans overheard European waltzes with horn sections, while playing African drums and chanting. The two came together and an original art form was born.
With that in mind, Burton also included important influences to a music genre in the tree’s roots and trunk.
In certain themes, such as the decade trees, a pattern has evolved.
“If you line up the decade trees, you’ll see the Beatles are huge,” Burton said. “But in the 1970s they only released one album, so the size was reduced for that decade. Then in the next tree, they are in the roots.”
Revelations
To date, Burton has completed British Rock, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, Blues, American Rock and Heavy Metal music trees. On professional sports, he has produced trees about the Chicago Blackhawks, Bears, Cubs and White Sox, as well as the Green Bay Packers and the Brazil World Cup team. Burton has also made trees about Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern and Notre Dame sports.
The lettering and added images reflect the time or genre, such as thick block letters for Heavy Metal and peace signs for the 1960s.
Burton does a substantial amount of research to decide who becomes a part of the different trees. For music, one step in the research is to scour over dozens of pop culture and music magazines looking for bands that have “made a statement in the music world rather than 15 minutes of fame.”
In doing so, Burton has identified trends that often escape common sources of music information.
“Over the last 10 to 20 years, the largest amount of music produced is heavy metal,” Burton said. “It might not be seen or heard as much as pop stylings, but there’s tons there.”
Ultimately, the goal in designing each tree is to teach.
“I just want to say that all these groups and people existed, and contributed to this art form,” Burton said. “My hope then is people take that information, and then go to a computer or a magazine archive and learn more. Find an artist you love that you’d never have known about otherwise.”
