ERIC BURDON WAS the lead singer in the Animals, a British band of the 1960s whose biggest hits you still might hear occasionally wafting through the air today--the song named in this memoir's title, for instance, or "It's My Life," "Don't Bring Me Down," "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," or especially their version of "House of the Rising Sun," with its arpeggiated guitar intro, bluesy organ, and Burdon's vocal, moving from ominously quiet to searing howl over three minutes.
I don't think Burdon had a hit after "Spill the Wine" in 1970 (with a different group, War), but he remained a live draw over most of the world for quite a while. He lived a lot of different places and met a lot of interesting people and has a lot of good stories, so the book is a good read if you are interested in the British rock explosion of the 1960s.
Lots of drugs, lots of sex, lots of touring--not to mention bad management, troubles with the law, "musical differences," and disappearing money--so it's understandable that the book's chronology is fuzzy and some episodes are just swallowed in the mist. For instance, I was curious how the original Animals of "House of the Rising Sun" turned into the later Animals who played Monterrey Pop and had hits with "Sky Pilot" and "San Francisco Nights," but we don't find out. Perhaps Burdon doesn't actually remember that precisely.
What he does remember vividly is Jimi Hendrix. They were friends and shared a stage on Hendrix's last night alive--Burdon was one of the first people to know Hendrix had passed. Even if you are not that interested in the Animals, Chapter 7 is worth a look for its up-close view on one of the 20th century's most remarkable musicians.
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