Edwin Leo Burks Jr. was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 21, 1932, and grew up in West Helena, Phillips County, Arkansas.
Burks played live music on KFFA Radio in Helena starting in the 1940s and later worked there as a radio announcer. He served in the US Navy during the Korean War and then attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville where he formed the band The Tee Cups. Burks was an early member of the band Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks and performed with them on many occasions including their 1959 American Bandstand appearance. He has traveled nationally and internationally, performing solo and with bands such as The Eccentrics and The Four Score over the course of his musical career.
Burks was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2003.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Ed Burks and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Ed Burks's grandfather, Jay "Pink" Burks (holding violin), with band members, Monticello, Arkansas; March 15, 1891
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Ed Burks's grandfather, Jay "Pink" Burks, with the Monticello K of H Band
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Ed Burks's mother, Mary Katherine Clark, age 2
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Ed Burks's father, Edwin Burks (holding football), with the Helena High School football team
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Ed Burks's father, Edwin Burks (third from right), with the Helena High School track team
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Ed Burks with his grandfather and sister, Sarah Katherine Burks
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Ed Burks with his sister, Sarah Katherine Burks
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Ed Burks's childhood home, "The Dogwoods," 19 Denison Drive, Helena, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Ed Burks, freshman photo in the Hendrix College yearbook, The Troubadour, 1951
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: US Navy ship, the USS LST-611
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Ed Burks, freshman at the University of Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Ed Burks, sophomore photo in the University of Arkansas yearbook, The Razorback, 1955
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Ed Burks (back to camera) with (from left) Jimmy Evans (bass), Fred Carter (guitar), Levon Helm (drums), Ronnie Hawkins, and Jimmy Ray "Luke" Paulman (guitar); Brass Rail, London, Ontario, Canada
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Ed Burks with his girlfriend at the Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tennessee; December 21, 1964
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Ed Burks, C.W. Gatlin, and Jerry Nolan of Eddy and the Storms; publicity photo to promote the ARKLA Gas Show at the Catholic Club in Helena, Arkansas, February 1966
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Ed Burks (top row, left); publicity photo of his band, The Executive Suite
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Ed Burks (third from left); publicity photo of The Eccentrics with their instruments: hollow body electric guitar, flute, saxaphone, clarinet, and electric bass guitar
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Ed Burks (left); publicity photo of The Eccentrics; Bellerive Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Ed Burks (right); publicity photo of The Eccentrics; Bellerive Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Ed Burks, publicity photo
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Ed Burks
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Stereo 8-track tape label for Ed Burks's self-produced album release
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Ed Burks (left); publicity photo of The Four Score
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Ed Burks and his son, Daron
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: Ed Burks's father, Ed Burks Sr., 1980
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#27: Print of negative strips of Ed Burks with Levon Helm performing in a classroom
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#28: Ed Burks with Levon Helm performing in a classroom
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: Ed Burks at the Magnolia Inn, Little Rock, Arkansas, 1983
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#30: Ed Burks at Cajun's Wharf in Nashville, Tennessee; written on back of photo: "Ed, 'Moses,' 'Bubba' Last of the 'Original Rockers'"; April 1983
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#31: Ed Burks and Ronnie Hawkins; Nashville, Tennesee, April 1983
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#32: Ed Burks, publicity photo, Little Rock, Arkansas
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#33: Ed Burks at Luther and Joyce Lieblong's home in Forrest City, Arkansas; May 2003
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#34: Ed Burks with his sister, Martha Paynter
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#35: Ed Burks's certificate of induction into the Internet's Rockabilly Hall of Fame
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#36: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Ed Burks at the Delta Cultural Center; Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#37: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Ed Burks at the Delta Cultural Center; Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#38: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Ed Burks at the Delta Cultural Center; Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
