Still Going Strong At 75
I was a little young for the original Animals and even for the reformed E. Burdon and the Animals, but a good friend of mine turned me on to a lot of his solo work back in the late ’70’s, including Stop with a fantastic cover in the shape of an octagonal red stop sign and the contemporary, very trippy Sun Secrets. I grew to appreciate his gut-bucket vocals, his sincerity sometimes to the point of goofiness, and most of all his genuine rock’n’roll animal nature.
My first chance to see Eric Burdon, which I completely blew, was back in ’83 in Nuremberg, Germany while I was still in the Army. I finally caught him live at Jaxx three time, the first in ’99, the other two times in the early ’00’s. Jaxx was a dive in suburban Northern Virginia whose owner, a rich oaf named Jay Nedry, had a fairly lucrative racket going for a while running the place as a haven for dinosaur bands from the ’60’s and ’70’s. I used to refer to Jaxx as “The Elephants’ Graveyard.” Every time he performed, Burdon put on a solid show backed up by masterful musicians to include Aynsley Dunbar on drums at least twice. A short, solid block of a man, Burdon has his own charisma simply by always being himself with his wild blues shouts and wails more than making up for any deficiencies in altitude or appearance.
Last night I had yet another opportunity to see him and this time I had the good sense to take it. Maybe there are some advantages to getting older after all. With a new album to plug and a tight six piece band to back him, Burdon showed considerable spirit and energy, enough to put much younger men to shame. The obligatory old hits were performed, Don’t Bring Me Down, We Got To Get Out Of This Place, Hold On, I’m Coming, etc. The keyboard player had a three deck arrangement and one was a wooden Farfisa, which gave a great, rolling sound to the songs. Burdon also did tunes from his new album, covers of the Youngbloods’ Darkness, Darkness and a creepy, spooky version of Leadbelly’s cheating woman blues, In The Pines. He performed for an hour and a half including the encore and although his voice showed the strains of age and hard living, occasionally cracking or giving out, still managed to shout, bellow, and moan blues and rock like the dedicated old trouper he is.
I enjoyed myself very much last night even though I knew beforehand the show was going to be an alte kokker fest. I don’t really dig pointed reminders of my own senescent state and imminently approaching mortality. Nothing says rock’n’roll like a couple who have to lean on both each other and a couple of canes to stay upright. I sat behind this kid with his dad who had to be the youngest person there, maybe eleven or twelve. He had the very best time of anyone, rocking like crazy and wildly applauding every number. It’s weird how boomer music keeps on appealing to some folks. Additional attention is also deserved by the fat, bearded guy about six seats down from me who, when he wasn’t shouting out his approbation and love for Eric Burdon, kept continually talking over the music. If you love it so much, you inconsiderate jerk, why don’t you keep quiet so you and the rest of us can enjoy it?
These very minor cavils aside, Eric Burdon and his current version of the Animals put on a terrific show. He’s still on tour and if you get the chance, I highly recommend that you see him, even if you aren’t a wretched, decrepit boomer like me.