The Gonzo Daily: The house that Eric built

Monday, 3 November 2014

The house that Eric built

Blues artist Eric Burdon will perform at Kingston's Grand Theatre on November 19.

Kingston Heritage

By Mark Bergin

In contrast to blues, jazz and classical artists, many (most?) rock stars do not age well. Probably because it looks so out-of-sync for overweight, rickety, clearly-burnt-out ex-stars to be still prancing around—I use the term loosely—on a stage 40 years after their prime in a what is a heavily youth-oriented genre.

However, one master from the early days of rock, Eric Burdon, is aging like a fine whiskey or wine. One of his early bands, The Animals, was part of the original British Invasion of the 1960s, which comprised the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and Gerry and the Pacemakers. Mind you, he's not prancing around the stage trying to act like an energy-filled 20-something he was in the Sixties. He didn't even prance then.

Born in England in 1941, Burdon was the vocalist for The Animals, formed in 1962, whose first claim to fame was the traditional blues song The House of the Rising Sun.

While the Beatles and the Stones rocked up old blues and R&B tunes, The Animals didn't so much imitate the blues as remain truthful to its roots. It's easy to understand, given that Eric Burdon was a bit older than some of the rockers. Born in 1941, he'd grown up and lived through air raid sirens and bombings on his home town during the Second World War. If you look at images of Newcastle upon Tyne, you don't see much hope in the 1940s. Lots of bombed-out buildings reduced to structural shells or leveled to the ground. They are scenes asking for blues songs to highlight them.

In the 1950s, Eric Burdon attended the Newcastle College of Art. In the late 1950s he played trombone and provided vocals, performing in a jazz band called The Pagan Jazzmen.

In the early 1960s, prior to The Animals, Burdon was the vocalist for Blues Incorporated, performing alongside Alexis Korner, Charlie Watts (soon recruited by the Rolling Stones), Jack Bruce (who would go on to play with Cream) and Cyril Davies. Now that's a supergroup. Over a few years, Burdon played with several bands; members from each would eventually congeal. The Animals favored songs by John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Bo Diddley and Nina Simone.

There first mega-hit, The House of the Rising Sun, was hardly standard rock fare.

In fact, The Animals used the song to clearly indicate that their genre was not related to classic rock music of the day in any form. They ended many shows with the song, which they recorded in one take in 1964. Burdon gave many blues artists a run for their money with his gutsy, wailing rendition. The guitar in the song is recognizable from the first note: straight up, no chaser. Pure, clean notes. Sadness that opens in A minor. The song clung to traditional roots. Even its length broke the rules of rock and commercial radio. At more than four minutes long, The Animals had made a blues classic their own.

That same year, they played Wembley Stadium in London and L'Olympia in Paris. The following year, they had half a dozen songs in the top of the pop charts. Still, they remained faithful to the heavy jazz and blues roots, ending 1965 performing at the 5th Annual British Jazz and Blues Festival. In 1966, they even recorded with Frank Zappa. At times, it seemed that this band had few limits in experimentation.

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