Eddie Kirkland

American blues guitarist, harmonicist, singer and songwriter.
Played with : John Lee Hooker, King Curtis, Otis Redding (soul), Muddy Waters, Honeyboy Edwards and others.

Born :October 10, 1927, Headland, Henry County, adjacent to Dothan's Houston County, USA
Died : February 27, 2011 in Crystal River, Florida. (car accident)

He began as a second guitar for John Lee Hooker in Detroit in 1948. From 1962, he became Otis Redding's guitarist and harmonica player then as a part of his show. He also recorded for King.

Bob EagleThe Real Blues Forum

Eddie Kirkland claimed in later years to have been born in Jamaica. He cited his birth date as 16 August 1928, although his grave stone shows 16 August 1923. Eddie, like a number of other blues singers, had a vivid imagination - or an inadequate memory - and some of his tales beggar belief. One story that has been verified by official records is his 1949 marriage to Ida Mae Shoulders (ed by the fact that her sister Elise sang with Eddie in 1962). The marriage certificate shows us that his mother's name was Dixie Rainey, although she appears in virtually no other official records. However, here is one of them: it confirms his birth in Alabama - Hetland is an error for Headland, Henry County, adjacent to Dothan's Houston County. But it introduces a previously unreported birthdate of 10 October 1927. I suggest it should be adopted because presumably it was vetted by his mother, despite it stating 'No proof of birth'. He said he had served in the Armed Forces by putting his age up, which may explain the quoted 1923 birth year.