Died On This Date (May 6, 2012) Michael “Iron Man” Burks /Arkansas Blues Man
themusicsover Michael Burks
July 30, 1957 – May 6, 2012
Born in Milwaukee, WI, Michael “Iron Man” Burks was an exceptional electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. By the time he was just five years old, Burks was already making beautiful noise on his guitar standing alongside his father who once played with Sonny Boy Williamson II. During the early ’70s, Burks moved with his family to Camden, Arkansas where his father opened a juke joint. Before he knew it, Burks was fronting the house band who played behind numerous visiting blues greats. After the club closed during the ’80s, Burks all but left the music business altogether to earn a better living at Lockheed. He eventually returned to making music full-time, releasing his debut album, From The Inside Out, in 1997. Over the next two decades, Burk released three more albums for the esteemed Alligator Records while entertaining blues lovers around the world. Upon returning from a European tour on May 6, 2012, Michael “Iron Man” Burks collapsed at the Atlanta International Airport and ultimately died from what was reported to have been a heart attack. He was 54.
What You Should Own
Lloyd Brevett is best remembered as the longtime double bassist for the highly influential Jamaican ska band, the Skatalites. Helping to form the group in 1964, Brevett was there for the early development of ska, a form of Caribbean music that included elements of calypso, mento, American jazz, and R&B that was the foundation of reggae. The Skatalites’ biggest hit was “Guns Of Navarone.” The band broke in 1965 but reformed during the mid-’80s, instantly reclaiming their fandom. Brevett left the group in 2004. Lloyd Brevett suffered a major stroke in March of 2012 and died from complications on May 3, 2012. He was 80.
Charles Pitts was a Memphis guitarist whose style of playing has prompted many sources to include him on the list of the architects of funk and soul guitar. By the time Pitts was just 11 years he had picked up the guitar and was learning on the street corners around his Washington DC neighborhood. One of his early teachers was none other than neighbor,