Michael Burks (July 30, 1957 – May 6, 2012) was an American

electric blues Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

and

soul blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by artists s ...

guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his tracks, "Everybody's Got Their Hand Out", "I Smell Smoke" and "Hard Come, Easy Go", and variously worked with

Johnnie Taylor Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. He was initially suc ...

, O. V. Wright, and Marquise Knox. He was the son of the bassist, Frederick Burks. The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, Tim Sheridan once noted "... while his vocals are not stellar, he has a rich, gritty quality to his singing that is nicely matched to his guitar playing." Burks was known as 'Iron Man' for his energetic and passion filled performances on stage. He was nominated five times for a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

and, in 2004, ''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van ...

'' presented him with the Critics' Award for Best Guitarist.

Life and career

Burks was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, United States, and had a musical heritage. His father played the bass guitar, and performed with

Sonny Boy Williamson II Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp s ...

, while his grandfather had played in a

delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

style. Burks junior had learned to play the guitar by the age of five, and first played on stage in his cousin's band. In the early 1970s, Burks moved with his family to

Camden, Arkansas Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County, Arkansas, Ouachita County in the south-central part of the U.S. state portals, U.S. state of Arkansas. The city is located about 100 miles south of Little Rock. Situated on bluffs overlo ...

. It was there that Burks and his father built a 300-seater

juke joint Juke joint (also jukejoint, jook house, jook, or juke) is the African-American vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African Americans in the southeastern United St ...

named the Bradley Ferry Country Club, where Burks duly led the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

. After the club closed in the mid 1980s, Burks was employed as a mechanic at

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

. He continued to play at local clubs and music festivals, until 1997, when he recorded and produced his debut album, ''From the Inside Out''. The magazine, ''Blues Access'', stated it was "the most impressive indie in recent memory", and ''

'' described it as one of "the best debut discs of the year." In 2001,

Alligator Records Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the '' Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using ...

signed Burks to a recording contract, and he released ''Make It Rain'' with them the same year. ''Make It Rain'' was produced by Jim Gaines and

Bruce Iglauer Bruce Iglauer (born July 10, 1947) is an American businessman and record producer who founded Alligator Records as an independent record label featuring blues music. Early life and career Iglauer was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States ...

. '' I Smell Smoke'' followed in 2003, and five years later Burks issued what turned out to be the final album in his lifetime, ''Iron Man'', named for his long held nickname. Burks was a regular performer at the

King Biscuit Blues Festival The King Biscuit Blues Festival is an annual, multi-day blues festival, held in Helena, Arkansas, United States. History The name of the festival comes from ''King Biscuit Time'', which was the longest running radio show. Sonny Boy Williamson I ...

. He also appeared at

Memphis in May Memphis in May International Festival is a month-long festival held in Memphis, Tennessee. The festival, which is saluting South Korea in 2025, honors a specific foreign country every year and features many events. The ''Beale Street Music Fest ...

in 2004 and 2009. Burks had completed recording his fifth album, which was due to be released in July 2012. On May 6, 2012, upon returning from a tour of Europe, Burks collapsed at

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the primary international airport serving Atlanta and its Metro Atlanta, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is located south of the Down ...

. He was shortly after pronounced dead from a heart attack, at a hospital in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia, aged 54. In 2013, Burks took the

"Contemporary Blues Album of the Year" and "Album of the Year" categories with his posthumous release, ''Show Of Strength''. Another posthumous CD was released in 2016, ''I'm A Bluesman''.

Discography

References

External links

Biography at official websiteBiography at Alligator.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burks, Michael 1957 births 2012 deaths American blues singers American male singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Electric blues musicians American blues rock musicians Soul-blues musicians Singers from Wisconsin Songwriters from Wisconsin Musicians from Milwaukee Guitarists from Wisconsin 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male songwriters

Life and career

Discography

See also

References

External links