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, O. V. Wright, and Marquise Knox.

[2] The Allmusic journalist, 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.

He continued to play at local clubs and music festivals, until 1997, when he recorded and produced his debut album, From the Inside Out.

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.

He was shortly after pronounced dead from a heart attack, at a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, aged 54.