Published on Aug 21, 2000
Eric Burdon was most famous with his group The Animals. Burdon
left the Animals at the end of the 1960s, and helped form a band
named War, who would later find fame after he left. (“Cisco Kid,”
“The World Is A Ghetto,” “Low Rider,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends.”)
Burdon & War’s second album together,
The Black Man’s Burdon, defines rock with a mix of jazz, a
sound unheard of in the music of The Animals.
Take the case of the opening track, the near-15 minute jam,
“Paint It Black Medley”. The Rolling Stones favorite is here;
however, it is set to a latin-jazz beat, where even Carlos Santana
may have recorded this song back in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Part of the medley continues the latin-jazz sound with other songs
in this medley: “Laurel & Hardy / Pintello Negro / P.C. 3 /
Blackbird.” All in all, this song is a true great jam, much
different that the Rolling Stones version.
“Spirit” combines soul with jazz. A near-10 minute jam, it also
is impressive. “Beautiful New Born Child” is rock, however it
doesn’t catch the excitement as the first two songs; it kind of
drags, being just over five minutes in length.
Another quite impressive remake is the Moody Blues’ “Nights In
White Satin I.” It’s much slower, and mysterious. It merges into
the next two songs, “The Bird And The Squirrel” and “Nuts, Seeds
And Life.” These songs mix latin-jazz and some very impressive bass
playing by B.B. Dickerson.
Like Burdon & War’s previous hit from their first album,
“Spill The Wine,” a story is being told in “Out Of Nowhere.” In it,
Burdon recites how his world is seen. This song then merges into
“Nights In White Satin II.” So we have another very interesting
medley, like the “Paint It Black Medley.”
Another long-length number, the ten-minute “Sun/Moon” truly
defines slow-jazz with blues. “Pretty Colors” is a groovy, snappy
jazzy number. “Gun” has a tropical jazz sound, mixed with the
blues, as it merges into “Jingo,” another upbeat jazz/blues
song.
Having a somewhat boogie-woogie John Lee Hooker/ZZ Top sound,
“Bare Back Ride” gets the head a-boppin’. “Home Cookin'” is
definitely rock blues with some cool harmonica, as this song could
easily have been recorded by The J. Geils Band. “You Can’t Take
Away Our Music” is soul-inspired, as in many of the early 1970s
soul artists/groups.
The Black Man’s Burdon defines a different sound than what
we had normally heard from Eric Burdon and The Animals. Jazz, Soul
and Blues are easily mixed on this 2-CD set. Burdon & War would
team up for one last album together,
Love Is All Around; afterwards, War would strike out on
their own, and develop their own soul sound, and become just as
popular as the many groups of the 1970s. This was the beginning
roots of War, and with a veteran blues singer such as Eric Burdon,
it was a great start.