Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the original lineup of the R&B and rock band the Animals and the funk band War. He is currently the lead vocalist of the present day lineup of Eric Burdon & the Animals. Burdon is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, powerful blues-rock voice and is known for his intense stage performances.
In 2008, he was ranked 57th in Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time".
Contents
Early life
Eric Burdon was born in 1941 in Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. His father, Matt, was originally from Tyneside. His mother, René, was originally from Ireland and had moved to Scotland before settling in Newcastle in the 1930s. He had a younger sister, Irene. Burdon's middle name, Victor, resulted from a reward of £25 offered by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne to mothers who gave their newly born children suitably patriotic names.
Burdon was born to a working class family. Burdon describes his early school years as a "dark nightmare" that "should've been penned by Charles Dickens". Due to the river pollution and humidity in Newcastle he suffered asthma attacks daily. During primary school, he was "stuck at the rear of the classroom of around 40 to 50 kids and received constant harassment from kids and teachers alike." He goes on to say his primary school was "jammed between a slaughterhouse and a shipyard on the banks of the Tyne. Some teachers were sadistic – others pretended not to notice – and sexual molestation and regular corporal punishment with a leather strap was the order of the day."
At secondary school, a teacher by the name of Bertie Brown was responsible for getting him into Newcastle College of Art and Industrial Design (now part of Northumbria University) and changing his life forever. It was while studying graphics and photography at the college that he first met John Steel, the original drummer for the Animals. He also met a lot of other "young rebels" who shared his interest in jazz, folk, and movies.
Burdon started his young adult life as one of a group of people who hung out at the local jazz club, The Downbeat. He describes his friends as "like a motorcycle gang ... without the motorcycles" – they were tough, hard-drinking, and listened to American music. Burdon and fellow rocker and guitarist, American Jimi Hendrix, became very close friends in the mid-sixties and remained so up until Hendrix's death in 1970. Burdon was the person Hendrix's girlfriend called when she found him overdosed on drugs.
Burdon was a good friend of John Lennon. Burdon claims he was the eggman in one of Lennon's songs, "I Am the Walrus". Burdon states, "The nickname stuck after a wild experience I'd had at the time with a Jamaican girlfriend called Sylvia. I was up early one morning cooking breakfast, naked except for my socks, and she slid up beside me and slipped an amyl nitrite capsule under my nose. As the fumes set my brain alight and I slid to the kitchen floor, she reached to the counter and grabbed an egg, which she cracked into the pit of my belly. The white and yellow of the egg ran down my naked front and Sylvia began to show me one Jamaican trick after another. I shared the story with John at a party at a Mayfair flat one night with a handful of others." According to Burdon, Lennon, finding the story hilarious, replied, "Go on, go get it, Eggman", incorporating the incident into his song in tribute to the unique experience.
Career
The Animals
Burdon was lead vocalist of the Animals, formed during 1962 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The original band was the Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo, which formed in 1958; they became the Animals shortly after Burdon joined the band. The Animals combined electric blues with rock; in the US they were considered one of the leading bands of the British Invasion. Along with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Hollies, the Dave Clark Five, and the Kinks, the group introduced contemporary British music and fashion to American audiences. Burdon's powerful voice can be heard on the Animals' singles "The House of the Rising Sun", "Baby Let Me Take You Home", "I'm Crying", "Boom Boom", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Bring It On Home to Me", "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "It's My Life", "Don't Bring Me Down", "Inside-Looking Out," "See See Rider", "Help Me Girl", "Monterey", and "Sky Pilot".
The Animals' keyboardist Alan Price left the band in May 1965, and drummer John Steel followed in April 1966. Burdon has often attributed the disintegration of the band to conflict with Price, specifically that Price had claimed sole rights and ownership to "House of the Rising Sun". Burdon and drummer Barry Jenkins reformed the group as Eric Burdon and the Animals. Their first studio album was Eric Is Here, which featured the hit single "Help Me Girl", released in December 1966, in which Burdon and drummer Jenkins teamed up with Animals' keyboardist Dave Rowberry, Animals' original bassist Chas Chandler, and Animals' original guitarist Hilton Valentine, and session musicians arranged and conducted by Horace Ott.
Then followed a more psychedelic incarnation of the group that featured future Family member John Weider and was sometimes called Eric Burdon and the New Animals. Keyboardist Zoot Money joined during 1968 until the band broke up in 1969. This group's hits included the ballad "San Franciscan Nights", the grunge–heavy metal-pioneering "When I Was Young", "Monterey", the anti-Vietnam-war anthem "Sky Pilot", "White Houses" and the progressive cover of "Ring of Fire".
In 1975, the original Animals reunited and recorded a studio album called Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted, released in 1977. In May 1983, the Animals reunited with their original line-up and released the studio album Ark on 16 June 1983, along with the singles "The Night" and "Love Is for All Time". A world tour followed, and the concert at Wembley Arena, London, recorded on 31 December 1983, was released in 1984 as Greatest Hits Live (Rip It to Shreds). Their concert at the Royal Oak Theatre in April 1984 was released in 2008 as Last Live Show; the band members were augmented by Zoot Money, Nippy Noya, Steve Gregory and Steve Grant. The original Animals broke up for the last time at the end of 1984.
War
In 1969, while living in San Francisco, Burdon joined forces with California funk rock band War. In April 1970, the resulting studio album was titled Eric Burdon Declares "War" which produced the singles "Spill the Wine" and "Tobacco Road". A two-disc set entitled The Black-Man's Burdon was released in September 1970. The singles from their double album, "Paint It Black" and "They Can't Take Away Our Music", had moderate success during 1971. During this time Burdon collapsed on the stage during a concert, caused by an asthma attack, and War continued the tour without him.
In 1976, a compilation album, Love Is All Around, released by ABC Records, included recordings of Eric Burdon with War doing a live version of "Paint It Black" and a cover of the Beatles' song "A Day in the Life".
Eric Burdon and War were reunited for the first time in 37 years, to perform an Eric Burdon & War reunion at the concert at the Royal Albert Hall London on 21 April 2008. The concert coincided with a major reissue campaign by Rhino Records (UK), which released all the War albums including Eric Burdon Declares "War" and The Black-Man's Burdon.
The version of the band that performed alongside Burdon in 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall was not the original band but a reformed one led by the only original member, keyboardist Lonnie Jordan. This was due to a court injunction. The remaining surviving members of WAR perform as "The LowRider Band".
Solo career
Burdon began a solo career in 1971 with the Eric Burdon Band, continuing with a hard rock–heavy metal–funk style. In August 1971, he recorded the studio album Guilty!, which featured the blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon and Ike White of the San Quentin Prison Band. In 1973, the band performed at the Reading Festival. At the end of 1974, the band released the album Sun Secrets followed by the album Stop in 1975. Burdon moved to Germany in 1977 and recorded the album Survivor with a line-up including guitarist Alexis Korner and keyboardist Zoot Money; the album also had a line-up of four guitarists and three keyboardists and is known for its interesting album cover, which depicts Burdon screaming. The album was produced by former Animals bassist Chas Chandler. The original release included a booklet of illustrated lyrics done in ink by Burdon himself.
In May 1978, he recorded the studio album Darkness Darkness at the Roundwood House in County Laois, Ireland, using Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio and featuring guitarist and vocalist Bobby Tench from the Jeff Beck Group, who had left Streetwalkers a few months before. The album was eventually released in 1980. During January 1979, Burdon changed his band for a tour taking in Hamburg, Germany and the Netherlands.
On 28 August 1982, the "Eric Burdon Band" including Red Young (keyboards) performed at the Rockpalast Open Air Concert at the Lorelei, Germany. Following this Burdon toured heavily with his solo project from March 1984 to March 1985, taking in UK, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Canada and Australia. In 1986, Burdon published his autobiography titled I Used to Be an Animal, but I'm Alright Now.
In March 1979, he played a concert in Cologne and changed the band's name to Eric Burdon's Fire Department, whose line-up included backing vocalist Jackie Carter of Silver Convention, Bertram Engel of Udo Lindenberg's "Panik Orchester" and Jean-Jaques Kravetz. In mid 1980, they recorded the album The Last Drive. "Eric Burdon's Fire Department" toured Europe with this line-up and Paul Millns and Louisiana Red made special appearances in Spain and Italy. By December 1980, the band had broken up.
In April 1981, Christel Buschmann began to film Comeback with Burdon as the star. They created a new Eric Burdon Band whose line-up included Louisiana Red, Tony Braunagle, John Sterling and Snuffy Walden. This band recorded live tracks in Los Angeles. They also recorded in Berlin with another line-up, the only remaining member being John Sterling. In September 1981, the final scenes of Comeback were shot in the Berlin Metropole and Burdon and his band continued to tour through Australia and North America. A studio album titled Comeback was released in 1982. The 1983 album Power Company also included songs recorded during the Comeback project.
Other associations
In 1991, Burdon and Brian Auger formed the "Eric Burdon – Brian Auger Band" with the following line-up: Eric Burdon – vocals, Brian Auger – keyboards, vocals, Dave Meros – bass guitar, vocals, Don Kirkpatrick – guitar, vocals and Paul Crowder – drums, vocals. By 1992, Larry Wilkins replaced Kirkpatrick and Karma Auger (Brian's son) replaced Crowder and in 1993 they added Richard Reguria (percussion). The live album Access All Areas was then released. In 1994 the "Eric Burdon – Brian Auger Band" disbanded. Burdon then formed the "Eric Burdon's i Band". The line-up included Larry Wilkins, Dean Restum (guitar), Dave Meros (bass) and Mark Craney (drums).
In 1995, Burdon made a guest appearance with Bon Jovi, singing "It's My Life"/"We Gotta Get out of This Place" medley at the Hall of Fame. He also released the album Lost Within the Halls of Fame, with past tracks and re-recordings of some songs from I Used to Be an Animal. In October 1996, Aynsley Dunbar replaced Craney on drums. The Official Live Bootleg was recorded in 1997 and in May that year Larry Wilkins died of cancer. He also released the compilation albums Soldier of Fortune and I'm Ready which featured recordings from the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1996, the lead singer of Brazilian rock band Camisa de Vênus, the vocalist Marcelo Nova worked in partnership with the former lead singer of the Animals. Burdon and Nova composed the song "Black & White World" and sang in a duet on "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on the Camisa de Venus album Quem É Você?, produced by Burdon.
In 2000, he recorded the song "Power to the People" together with Ringo Starr and Billy Preston for the motion picture Steal This Movie!. On 11 May 2001, the Animals were inducted into the Rock Walk of Fame on Burdon's 60th birthday. On 3 March 2002, the live album Live in Seattle was recorded. Ex-War member Lee Oskar made a guest appearance on the album. In 2003 he made a guest appearance on the album Joyous in the City of Fools by the Greek rock band Pyx Lax, singing lead vocals on "Someone Wrote 'Save me' On a Wall".
In 2001, his second critically acclaimed memoir, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, written with author and filmmaker J. Marshall Craig, was released in the US, followed by editions in Greece, Germany and Australia; it covers the British Invasion, moving to Los Angeles and Palm Springs, and various anecdotes about Rock and Roll stardom.
Ownership of "The Animals" name
In 2008, an adjudicator determined that John Steel owned "The Animals" name in Britain by virtue of a trademark registration Steel had made in relation to the name. Eric Burdon had objected to the trademark registration, arguing that Burdon personally embodied any goodwill associated with the Animals name. Burdon's argument was rejected, in part based on the fact that he had billed himself as Eric Burdon and the Animals as early as 1967, thus separating the goodwill associated with his own name from that of the band.
In 2013, Burdon won an appeal, making him a joint owner of the Animals name.
Film career
Burdon wanted to act in the film Blowup (1966). Director Michelangelo Antonioni wanted to use him as a musician in a club scene, but Burdon turned the role down because he had acted in films before in which he sang songs. He disbanded the Animals and went to California, where he met Jim Morrison of the Doors and decided he wanted to go into acting. Later, he turned down major roles in Zabriskie Point and Performance (both 1970).
In 1973, he formed the Eric Burdon Band and recorded the soundtrack for his own film project, Mirage. He spent much money to make this film, produced as a film for Atlantic. The film and the soundtrack were to be released in July 1974, but somehow they never were. The soundtrack was released in 2008.
In 1979, he acted in the TV film The 11th Victim, then in the German film Gibbi Westgermany (1980). In 1982, he starred in another German film, Comeback, again as a singer. In 1991, he made a cameo appearance in The Doors.
In 1998, he played himself in the Greek film My Brother and I, followed by a bigger role in the German film Snow on New Year's Eve (1999).
In the following years, he was credited in many documentaries and in an independent film called Fabulous Shiksa in Distress (2003), along with Ned Romero and Ted Markland.
In 2007, he performed the traditional "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" in the drama festival film The Blue Hour and in a documentary about Joshua Tree, called Nowhere Now (2008).
Personal life
Due to his asthma and need for clean air, from the 1960s Burdon lived in California.
In 1967, Burdon married Angela "Angie" King, an Anglo-Indian hippie and model connected to the music scene. However, she left him the following year.
In 1972, Burdon married Rose Marks, with whom he has a daughter. They divorced in 1978.
In 1999, Burdon married Marianna Proestou, a Greek lawyer who is also his manager.
In 2021, during COVID-19, Burdon relocated to Athens, Greece.
Books
I Used to Be an Animal But I'm All Right Now, Faber and Faber, 1986, 978-0571134922