Eric Burdon

As the lead singer of the Animals, Eric Burdon was one of the British Invasion's most distinctive vocalists, with a searingly powerful blues-rock voice. When the first lineup of the group fell apart in 1966, Burdon kept the Animals' name going with various players for a few years. Usually billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals, the group was essentially Burdon's vehicle, which he used to purvey a far more psychedelic and less R&B-oriented vision. Occasionally he came up with a good second-division psychedelic hit, like "Sky Pilot"; more often, the music was indulgent, dating it almost immediately. Burdon's real triumphs as a solo artist came at the beginning of the '70s, when he hooked up with a bunch of L.A. journeyman soul/funksters who became his backing band, War. Recording three albums' worth of material in the year or two that they were together, the Burdon/War records could ramble on interminably, and would have benefited from a lot of editing. But they contained some spacy funkadelia of real quality, especially their number three hit single "Spill the Wine," which was almost recorded as an afterthought in the midst of sessions dominated by exploratory jams.

Esoteric Recordings is pleased to announce the release of a new boxed set featuring all of the albums recorded by Eric Burdon & The Animals for the MGM Records label issued between October 1967 and December 1968.
The set features the albums “Wind Of Change” (both stereo and mono versions), “The Twain Shall Meet”, “Everyone Of Us” and “Love Is”, all newly re-mastered from the original master tapes, along with ten bonus tracks drawn from the band’s single releases, including the classic B-sides A Girl Named Sandoz, Ain’t That So and Gratefully Dead, all remastered from recently located original master tapes. Also included is an illustrated booklet with new essay and a replica poster. “When I Was Young: The MGM Recordings” is a fine tribute to the music of Eric Burdon & the Animals…

The debut effort by Eric Burdon and War was an erratic effort that hinted at more potential than it actually delivered. Three of the five tunes are meandering blues-jazz-psychedelic jams, two of which, "Tobacco Road" and "Blues for Memphis Slim," chug along for nearly 15 minutes…