He calls himself a “working bluesman”, with not even a trace of false humility. And that’s because it’s his truth and he means it. But for many music fans over the last half century, Eric Burdon is so much more.
A revolutionary vocalist and legendary songwriter, he was on the vanguard of the so-called British Invasion of the early 1960s as an integral part of the hard-rocking, blues infused, hardscrabble Midlands band, The Animals.
Artistically restless and eager to break new musical ground, by the end of that tumultuous decade, Burdon’s gypsy-like creative spirit led him to create another ground-breaking musical concoction, the psychedelic-funk group entitled simply War.
Later, as a solo artist, he rattled off a string of imaginative, exploratory albums that seemed to satiate his seemingly unending quest for musical challenges, running the gamut of genres and styles, usually to great critical acclaim and leaving his loyal and equally adventurous fan base wanting more.
But there were times over the intervening five decades when the primal call of The Animals brought Burdon back under that banner in a variety of configurations, but with his raspy growl always at the forefront. He has also been featured in more than two dozen films and has penned two autobiographies.
An epic career indeed.
In more recent years, he has continued to play numerous live shows around the world, and will be hitting the stage at Casino Rama near Orillia, ON under the moniker Eric Burdon & The Animals on Friday, June 10, and the following evening at The Colosseum at Caesar’s Windsor. The shows are his only ones scheduled for Canada at this time and, at 74 years of age, Burdon said he is trying to cut down on his touring pace, even though there is a seemingly limitless demand for his musical services.
“We do big festivals and, of course, nowadays the casinos are solid venues across the U.S. and Canada. I just returned from a successful sold-out tour of Australia where we did it all: big theatres, festivals, casinos and more intimate clubs. All the gigs were equally exciting. We play in historic venues as well, such as Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, the Olympia in Paris to name a few. But my favourite places to play are the more intimate clubs where everyone is close together, feeling the sweat and the kick drum right in their chest,” Burdon told Music Life Magazine, adding that he always enjoys playing in Canada.
“I do perform in Canada pretty regularly. The Canadian audiences are amazing. The people and the venues there treat me very well.”
Burdon’s ballsy, bluesy and unbridled vocal delivery and more aggressive musical philosophy set The Animals apart from many of their more pop-oriented contemporaries like The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers and even bad boys like The Who and Rolling Stones.
But the songs that were crafted by Burdon and The Animals have proved to be just as culturally iconic, particularly House of the Rising Sun, We Gotta Get Out of This Place, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, It’s My Life and See See Rider.
Many of these songs, and loads of others, are still staples of classic rock radio (terrestrial and satellite) and have been passed down through a couple of generations of music lovers via TV shows, films, video games and by more organic methods.
“The songs are still vital, in part because the themes are universal and timeless. They speak of loss and redemption and all the things that we experience as human beings. Plus – they rock. [And} it’s not only that as song is used in a film or on TV, but the way that it’s used. We’ve Gotta Get Out of This Place was used very well in the Vietnam film Hamburger Hill and again in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. House of the Rising Sun was in American Horror Story, more recently. Quentin Tarantino, for example, does an amazing job of featuring great songs at pivotal moments in his films. But sometimes you don’t have control over that. You may end up with your song advertising something you would never personally endorse,” Burdon explained, adding that the younger generations are sometimes introduced to his early music by older family members.
“I see all ages at my shows. The original fans have kids and grandkids and they bring them along. Then there’s just the younger ones who discover the music on their own, more or less. I know that when I was young I was seeking out the elders of the blues and now that I’m one of the elders. There are a lot of kids out there, just like me, searching for their roots.”
It’s his humble manner of referring to himself as that “working bluesman who earns his living by performing” that has kept Burdon on the road for more than 50 years.
“I keep it fresh for myself and for my audience by switching up the material; doing things a little differently. I’m really excited to be working with a great young group of musicians who bring a lot of fresh enthusiasm to the older songs and even surprise me with some from my catalogue that I’d forgotten about. There are some songs that I think I’m tired of doing but as soon as I hear the opening notes, I’m back inside the song and it’s as if I’m singing it for the first time again,” he explained.
That band includes Davey Allen, Johnzo West, Dustin Koester, Justin Andres, Ruben Salinas and Evan Mackey.
Besides the ever broadening demographic makeup of his live audiences, Burdon said he is also heartened to hear of the resurgence of vinyl, which is being spearheaded by younger music lovers seeking a more significant valuable music purchasing experience.
“It’s not surprising to me. Who doesn’t love opening up a big 12-inch record and dropping the needle? People are desperately looking for something authentic, after being inundated with so much that feels false. The kids have just discovered that the richness of sound they get from vinyl can’t be replicated on a download or a CD. I recently got a new turntable and have been going through tons of my records and rebuilding my long lost library,” he said.
Although the term British Invasion is used far and wide in pop culture – including a couple of times already in this article – Burdon said it wasn’t necessarily a term that The Animals or their contemporaries used themselves in those heady days.
“It was a pretty remarkable time to be at the centre of it all, with so many great bands around: the fashion, the sexual freedom and the mind-expanding drugs. There was a feeling of changing the world. Is it romanticized? Maybe, but it also was a renaissance that hasn’t been seen since. A youth movement was really happening and the music held it all together,” he said.
“I always though the term British Invasion was a corny marketing ploy dreamed up by some DJ in the US. However after a little research I discovered to my surprise the terminology British Invasion was first mentioned in the media by CBS newsman Walter Cronkite. Regardless, what we felt a part of, if anything, was a bunch of British bands who were getting a chance to visit the place where the blues was born and bring it home and reintroduce it to the American audiences.
“And there was more camaraderie than competition, at least from my point of view. All of us loved the same music and that was our common bond. In the beginning, there were not many venues available to bands like us, so we would trade places with bands from other parts of England and help each other get gigs. We were all on the same circuit. We would send songs to each other that had been sent to us from abroad. If we felt it was suitable for another band, like Herman’s Hermits for example, we would gladly pass it along. The Beatles were the ones to make it to the top first. They had moved to Hamburg, lived together, ate together, wrote songs together, played together day in and day out and returned to England as conquering heroes, well-rehearsed and ready for the world. They sort of pointed out the way for the rest of us.”
The reason why he calls himself a “bluesman” as opposed to a pop or rock artist is because blues music forms the fundamental, foundational musical underpinnings of everything Burdon has created over his impressive career, naming the likes of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Bo Diddly as his early – and continuing – inspirations.
“It’s true that many of the black artists whom we revered were having a hard time making a living in the U.S., so many of them came to England where the youth was ready to give them the respect they deserved. The US still had a lot of racial tension. Radio was trying to sell the white acts such as Pat Boone, so we were the lucky recipients of people like Little Richard, Muddy Waters, Louis Armstrong etc. Having grown up in post-World War Britain, we could relate to the blues artists, perhaps better than the white kids in the U.S. could. We were honoured to be able to play that music in the place where it had been created,” Burdon said of the many American tours he took first with The Animals, and later with War.
As with touring, Burdon has also never stopped writing, recording and releasing new material. His most recent album was ‘Til Your River Runs Dry, which came out in 2013, and he is considering releasing a new record soon, although he hasn’t decided as to whether it will be new studio material or a live album.
“I’ve been touring with my new band. They’re young, energetic and have tons of enthusiasm. As I mentioned, we just did a tour of Australia and we recorded all of the shows, so maybe a live album will be out soon. For sure we’ll go back into the studio for more recording when we get off the road. There are a lot of great ideas happening, so I’m not sure what we’ll do first,” he said, adding that he still writes songs in much the same manner as he did in the House of the Rising Sun days.
“I used the modern technique of speaking into a little recording device, but mostly I use a pen and a pad of paper. I write almost every day, whether it’s for my [next] book or new song ideas or just my thoughts.”
For more information on the Eric Burdon and The Animals show at Casino Rama on June 10, visit https://www.casinorama.com/Live/Artist/Eric-Burdon.aspx
For more information on Burdon and his various shows and projects, visit http://www.ericburdon.com/
* Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTbvJ-bYPh8
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