Eric Burdon will always be associated with the British R&B band The Animals. Coming out of Newcastle in the early sixties, the band burst onto the music scene with an incredible version of The House Of The Rising Sun. The song reached number one all over the world and the band embarked on three years of intensive touring and recording, which would include the hit songs We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, It’s My Life and Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood. Of all the bands that broke through in the sixties it was The Animals who were considered to be the true purveyors of authentic R&B and the main reason for that was Eric Burdon’s voice.
After the original British Invasion subsided in America the original Animals broke up and Burdon, inspired by what he had seen on the West Coast of America, formed The New Animals, which had a more psychedelic vision. Whilst being a million miles removed from the R&B of the original band, The New Animals were very successful and more hits such as San Franciscan Nights, Sky Pilot and When I Was Young followed.
By the time the seventies dawned Eric had joined up with the band War and with them recorded three albums as Eric Burdon and War.
Eric Burdon continued through the seventies and eighties with a succession of bands in support of a solo career and even re-formed The Animals on a number of occasions.
At the time of this film he was working with another veteran of the British R&B scene, Brian Auger.
This film is an excellent primer covering the career of Eric Burdon and contains a number of interviews with some of the musicians who worked with him over the years, including former members of The Animals (John Steel and Hilton Valentine) and the New Animals (Zoot Money).
There are also interviews with Eric Burdon himself and Brian Auger who were working together in a band at the time. The film also includes clips from Eric Burdon’s career, which takes in rare clips from The Animals, The New Animals and Eric Burdon and War.
