Eddie Burks (September 17, 1931 – January 27, 2005) was an American blues harmonica player and singer, well known for playing in Maxwell Street Market, Chicago, in the 1960s and 1970s, whose later career included a number of album releases, frequent touring, and work on the festival circuit.
[1] In addition to his steel mill job, Burks was a minister in the Apostolic faith and had a storefront church, but he switched to playing blues full-time after the riots precipitated by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968.
[1] However, Burks remained largely unknown outside Chicago until 1990 when he released his debut album Vampire Woman on Rising Son Records (later renamed Rising Son Blues), a label he founded with his wife Maureen Walker.
[1] Following this, his solo career took off, and he released further albums, toured frequently, and gained steady work on the festival circuit.
[1] After his 70th birthday his health declined as a result of diabetes,[2] but he continued to play in the Chicago clubs until his death in a car accident near Miller, Indiana on January 27, 2005.