[ T H O U G H T S : m i n e ]

One thing that impresses me about Eric is his attitude. One, he has a lot of it and two, it has served him well. Sure, he's made mistakes, but he has persevered and, ultimately, that's what's important.

what is this man's appeal anyway?

I think to many, Eric Burdon is appealing because he never hesitates to try something new. More importantly, he doesn't care if he looks like an ass doing it. He always seems to succeed even when all the cards are stacked against him. In his 1982 big-screen debut, Eric plays a burned-out rock star who becomes disillusioned with the 'politics' of rock-n-Roll. He sets forth on a path of self-discovery by going back to his roots which are firmly entrenched in the blues of the American South (yet found in West Berlin...). His performance, while admirable and well done, was not exactly Oscar material, nor was the weak-plotted movie. Thanks to Eric, though, the score was outstanding. Who couldn't admire such courageous efforts?

Think about the lyrics he wrote for Spill the Wine-

"...the fact that me, an overfed, long-haired leaping gnome
should be the star of a Hollywood movie..."

How far was that from the truth? Eric has the innate ability to parody himself without batting an eye. He allows us to identify with him as a human being, not as an egocentric celebrity.

rock-n-roll legend?

It has been said that if the original Animals line-up had endured, they would have shared equal time with such rock legends as The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. True. In my opinion the Animals were the best of their genre, which I define would define as 'white R&B'. Not because Eric has the most melodic vocals but because of the force with which he uses them. Listening to his music as a child, his hoarse, blues vocals made me almost forget to breathe. He forced me to listen (a feat even my parents couldn't accomplish). Eric's dynamic stage presence and enigmatic personality, tends to force his band mates into the background and I feel that to be a primary reason why the original Animals did not endure. Also, Eric likes to be in control which is hard to be when ego's are clashing, his in particular. Those who did endure such as The Beatles, the Stones and The Who, had a fairly even distribution of charismatic individuals in their lineups which I suspect kept them well grounded.

originality may not be his strongsuit...

Eric certainly didn't hesitate to try different genre's of music, from the raw blue's shouting that made him famous to the hard-edged blues-rock sound he's known for today. Trend-wise, he has gone with the flow, rolled with the punches so-to-speak. Who else but Eric would have even attempted such ballsy transitions as those from classic R&B to Psychedelic to Funk to just damn good rock-n-roll? Not only did he make those transitions but he made them successfully and more importantly, he never lost sight of his classic blues roots.

You gotta admire that...

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© 2001, aimee harrison for this book of burdon