Styles: Modern Electric Blues, Soul-Blues, Blues-Rock

Biography
<… Read Full Bio ↴Styles: Modern Electric Blues, Soul-Blues, Blues-Rock

Biography

Born in Milwaukee in 1957, blues guitarist Michael Burks began learning his instrument at an early age -- inspired by his musical family (his father played bass and often performed alongside harmonica legend Sonny Boy Williamson II, while his grandfather was a Delta-style bluesman from Camden, AR). By the age of five, he was playing along with his father, and picked up a thing or two from his parent's record collection -- his father would often give his young son incentive to learn songs by offering him a dollar for each tune he could successfully figure out from beginning to end (a year later he made his performance debut in front of an audience, when he joined a cousin's band on stage). In the early '70s, Burks' father moved his family to Arkansas, and opened up the Bradley Ferry Country Club (a 300-seat juke joint), as Burks was hired as the leader of the house band, backing numerous blues and R&B greats that played the venue.

By the time the club closed in the mid-'80s, Burks briefly put his love of blues on the backburner, as he supported himself by taking a job as a mechanical technician for Lockheed Martin, although he still managed to play clubs and regional festivals. In 1997, Burks issued his very first album, From the Inside Out, producing the entire record himself, which immediately racked up impressive reviews from several esteemed blues publications (Blues Access raved the debut was "the most impressive indie in recent memory," while Living Blues named it one of "the best debut discs of the year"). 2001 saw Burks' debut recording for the Alligator label, Make It Rain, produced in Memphis by Jim Gaines (Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan) and Bruce Iglauer (Albert Collins, Johnny Winter). Two years later, I Smell Smoke was released followed by Iron Man in 2008, both on Alligator. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guidehttp://music.msn.com/music/artist-biography/michael-burks/

Monday, May 7, 2012

Bluesman Michael Burks dies

Chicago's Alligator Records reports that guitarist, vocalist, songwriter Michael "Iron Man" Burks died in Atlanta on Sunday, May 6, 2012. Burks, who was born July 30, 1957, was 54 years old. He was returning from a tour of Europe and collapsed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. He was rushed to South Fulton Medical Center where he could not be revived. The preliminary diagnosis for cause of death was a heart attack.

Burks won the 2004 Living Blues magazine Critics' Award for Best Guitarist and received a nomination for the 2012 Blues Music Award for Best Guitarist.

Burks released three albums on Alligator. GuitarOne named his debut album, "Make It Rain," one of the Top 200 greatest guitar recordings of all time. Burks had just finished recording his fourth Alligator CD, which is due for release at the end of July.

RIP Michael.

Fire and Water
Michael Burks Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Every single day
I got a heartache comin' my way
I don't wanna say goodbye
But look at the tears in my eyes
I don't wanna say goodbye
But look at the way you made me cry
Every way that's nice
You got a heart that's made of ice

Fire and water must have made you their daugther
You got what it takes
To make a poor man heart breaks
Woman, you turn me on
But quick as a flash, you love is gone
Woman, I got to leave you now
But I try to make you greave somehow
Fire and water must have made you their daugther
You got what it takes
To make a poor man heart breaks
I dont wanna say goodbye
But look at the way you made me cry
Every way thats nice you show
You got a heart made of ice
Fire and water must hace made you their daughter

You got what it takes
To make a poor man hearts break

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Michael Burks's song Fire and Water reflect the singer's misery and heartache from a relationship gone wrong. The song speaks of the daily pain the singer feels, as if he knows that heartache is a consistent part of his life now. Despite his love for the woman, he can't ignore the tears in his eyes, which demonstrate the pain she has caused him. She has a heart made of ice, and every nice thing she does shows that she is not capable of true emotions. She makes poor men's hearts break, and the singer compares her to a combination of fire and water, elements that are contradictory and can harm him in different ways.

The song is a metaphor for the unpredictability of relationships and the difficulty of understanding our partners when they don't show their true emotions. The singer's pain is palpable, and the repetition of the phrase "I don't wanna say goodbye" shows his reluctance to move on. However, he ultimately decides that he has to leave her, even though he knows that it will hurt him even more. The last lines of the song are a plea for the woman to feel remorse for the way she treated him, but it's unclear whether she ever will.

Line by Line Meaning

Every single day
On a daily basis

I got a heartache comin' my way
I'm anticipating emotional pain

I don't wanna say goodbye
I don't want to end our relationship

But look at the tears in my eyes
My emotions are overwhelming me

But look at the way you made me cry
You're the one causing my emotional pain

Every way that's nice
All the good things you do

You got a heart that's made of ice
Your emotions are cold

Fire and water must have made you their daugther
You possess qualities of both heat and coldness

You got what it takes
You have the ability

To make a poor man heart breaks
You can cause emotional pain to a financially disadvantaged man

Woman, you turn me on
You inspire me in a passionate way