Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood: A Memoir

Rating:
Summary: Everything but the records
Review: A friend bought this book for me in the U.S. because I could not get it here. I never read Burdon's first autobiography, so I start from scratch. This book was longer than I expected, and better than I expected. Many good stories, and many honest assessments of peoples in the music business. I have to say one big disapointment for me was that Burdon is more interested in telling readers about his life outside of music than his life within music. I asked for this book mostly because he recorded 2 of my favorite double LPs ever - Black Man's Burdon, with the band War, and Love Is, with the Animals after he moved to California. He doesn't even mention these albums. It seems almost impossible. How could this be? They were huge, famous music projects, but he doesn't talk about them. This is what disapointed me. The stories he does tell are very good though, and I think an Eric Burdon fan would be happy with the book.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read, by a Great Rock Singer
Review: A nice, fairly long autobiography by the former Animals and War singer. Light on music, recording, songwriting details, but strong on personal anecdotes and thoughts from the inside. A good read for anyone interested in the blues or British "invasions". The book could have used more material though, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable read
Review: Absolute must-have for any Eric Burdon fan. He is a wonderful story teller and keeps you amused and interested all the way through. He's and gives a lot of personal info. as well as sharing some great anecdotes about life on the road etc. After reading his book and learning about all he's been through,(and that's only what he's shared with us) and after seeing him play some 40 years after his start - you can only admire the man !!

Rating:
Summary: Anti-Gravity
Review: Anti-Establishment is a gross misrepresentation of Mr. Burden. Anti-gravity is far more accurate. God forbid this fella ever has an LSD flashback; he'd boomerang so far back he'd be skipping rope with his own DNA chain. Eric took drugs like the rest of us brush our teeth, daily at least once and some times more. The book is a terrific read.Great view from the inside from one of the front stage guys of the times. I picked up this book on Saturday, and put it down finished Sunday! Very, very entertaining. If you want to get away from the real world, without the use of intoxicants, grab on to Eric's shirt tail, its a real trip.

Rating:
Summary: Sex, Drugs, and Just a Little Rock 'n' Roll
Review: Burdon is one of England's best blues singers, and it is unfortunate that his status sometimes rests on a single song. His career went from jazz, to blues, to rock, to psychedelia, to funk, to hard rock, and back to the blues, and it is hard to think of another performer who did this. With this progression and with over 350 pages given him by Thunder's Mouth Press, I would have expected some account of music, singing, performing, and what it means to him. Sadly, he never really does this. Nearly the first half of the book is made up of stories taken from his original autobiography. The first autobiography was much better written, and obviously had a first-rate editorial staff; the same cannot be said for this new book. It was disappointing that 150 pages are devoted to the first 5 or so years of his musical career, and the remaining 150 pages cover the last 30 years of his career. The worst part is that the book really doesn't have much to do with Burdon as a performer, as a singer, as a natural talent, as a lifelong fan of music. Sure, the stories of motorcycle riding with Steve McQueen, fleeing the Japanese mafia, evicting Jim Morrison, and avoiding military conflict in Eastern Europe are all rather interesting. But these things are not what make Mr. Burdon "tick", and they are definitely not the things that made him famous. Imagine an autobiography by a great ballplayer, who only told you about himself in terms of him not playing, practicing, or thinking about baseball. Also imagine he never assessed his own talents, drive, place in the history of the sport, etc. - and never got around to spelling out what baseball means to him, and why he plays baseball instead of some other sport. Since he is a baseball player and not a novelist, you would cut him some slack in his story telling, and probably blame the publisher & editor. I am afraid that is what you would have to do with Mr. Burdon's book. Are the stories fraught with intrigue, drugs, and God-knows what else? Definitely. But, no one made Mr. Burdon analyze what matters, SINGING SONGS, and the book is the worse for it. Although still quite interesting as a wild rip through 30 years of popular culture, when finished you do feel you missed out on something. It is as if you feel you need to go looking for a good interview with Mr. Burdon to learn about him as singer-songwriter, but that is not how you should feel after reading a fresh autobiography. Even with these criticisms, the book would be essential reading for any diehard Animals/Burdon fan; there is no substitute for a first-hand account - and this is often a brutally honest first-hand account. Just don't expect any account of his music and recording projects; he simply presupposes you already know this, which is too bad, as so few people do.

Rating:
Summary: Sex, Drugs, and Just a Little Rock 'n' Roll
Review: Burdon is one of England's best blues singers, and it is unfortunate that his status sometimes rests on a single song. His career went from jazz, to blues, to rock, to psychedelia, to funk, to hard rock, and back to the blues, and it is hard to think of another performer who did this. With this progression and with over 350 pages given him by Thunder's Mouth Press, I would have expected some account of music, singing, performing, and what it means to him. Sadly, he never really does this. Nearly the first half of the book is made up of stories taken from his original autobiography. The first autobiography was much better written, and obviously had a first-rate editorial staff; the same cannot be said for this new book. It was disappointing that 150 pages are devoted to the first 5 or so years of his musical career, and the remaining 150 pages cover the last 30 years of his career. The worst part is that the book really doesn't have much to do with Burdon as a performer, as a singer, as a natural talent, as a lifelong fan of music. Sure, the stories of motorcycle riding with Steve McQueen, fleeing the Japanese mafia, evicting Jim Morrison, and avoiding military conflict in Eastern Europe are all rather interesting. But these things are not what make Mr. Burdon "tick", and they are definitely not the things that made him famous. Imagine an autobiography by a great ballplayer, who only told you about himself in terms of him not playing, practicing, or thinking about baseball. Also imagine he never assessed his own talents, drive, place in the history of the sport, etc. - and never got around to spelling out what baseball means to him, and why he plays baseball instead of some other sport. Since he is a baseball player and not a novelist, you would cut him some slack in his story telling, and probably blame the publisher & editor. I am afraid that is what you would have to do with Mr. Burdon's book. Are the stories fraught with intrigue, drugs, and God-knows what else? Definitely. But, no one made Mr. Burdon analyze what matters, SINGING SONGS, and the book is the worse for it. Although still quite interesting as a wild rip through 30 years of popular culture, when finished you do feel you missed out on something. It is as if you feel you need to go looking for a good interview with Mr. Burdon to learn about him as singer-songwriter, but that is not how you should feel after reading a fresh autobiography. Even with these criticisms, the book would be essential reading for any diehard Animals/Burdon fan; there is no substitute for a first-hand account - and this is often a brutally honest first-hand account. Just don't expect any account of his music and recording projects; he simply presupposes you already know this, which is too bad, as so few people do.

Rating:
Summary: It's His Life
Review: Depending on what you expect from Eric Burdon this book will either grab you or repel you. The previous reviews hit the nail on the head when they said the book lacks info on Eric's recordings and creative process, focusing instead on a mix of impressionistic storytelling about his life and times in the rock and roll wilderness. That said, this tome is a quantam leap from his first bio, I USED TO BE AN ANIMAL BUT I'M ALRIGHT NOW, which was dogged by clumsy prose and way too many sex and drug dazed anecdotes. Here, Eric has the sense to hand his story to ghost writer J. Marshall (Jeff) Craig, though the voice---alternately obnoxious, gauche, witty, bittersweet and generous---never ceases to be Burdon's. There's plenty of dirt here, especially with regard to Alan Price, whom Burdon blames for hoarding the royalties from "House of the Rising Sun," but it's not all spite. He becomes nearly giddy when talking about John Lee Hooker or Jimmy Witherspoon. There are some gripping anectdotes about the shallow, backstabbing and even dangerous nature of the music biz (like the gold record alluded to by other reviewers). Best among these are the chapters on War, his battles with MGM and a scrape with the Yakuza during the final New Animals tour in 1968. I also liked the chapter on his friendship with Steve McQueen. On the downside, Burdon still yammers on way too long and way too obsessively about Jimi Hendrix. (Jimi was awesome, granted, but it's been 31 years now E.B. - get over it.) There are a few decent pictures scattered about too, but the drug and sexcapades still take up way too many pages that should have been devoted to his music. Plus, like Graham Chapman's LIAR'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, this is a tome written by a man who admittedly spent much of his life frying his brain with acid and alcohol. Do you really trust his memory? But please don't think I'm sneering. At the very least this is a highly entertaining book and a must-have for Burdon-ites. For a more balanced appraisal of the man, however, I suggest Animal fans also purchase Sean Egan's excellent ANIMAL TRACKS, which includes commentary from John Steel (who says Eric's stories should "be taken with a grain of salt"), Hilton Valentine, Dave Rowberry, Vic Briggs, John Weider and Zoot Money as well as the Eggman himself.

Rating:
Summary: The rest of this Animals life
Review: Eric Burdon has written a second autobiography. The first was published more than 15 years ago. This new one covers part of the first book, and his life right up to this past summer. He has many crazy stories to tell about his life on tour, and between record albums. As you might guess, he has stories of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. He also has stories of his managers, and politics in general. Often, these are the better stories. One type of story he doesnt tell is about his own songwriting, and the book really should have covered that - unless he plans a 3rd volume someday. The book is not as reflective as the first autobiography, but might be more blunt. It is a must read for diehard Animals fans, but casual fans might wonder why more was not said about making music. He is a decent writer, but he is a much better singer. I give the book 3 stars instead of 5 because I was interested in Eric the singer, and he is not given much attention in this book. But, if you are a fan of this man, you would regret not reading the book.

Rating:
Summary: Eric's Been Misunderstood
Review: Excellent work by one of England's finest-ever blues singers, along with Hollywood author/reporter Jeff Craig. Eric Burden never has achieved his rightful place in rock's pantheon, but was as responsible as anyone for the popularity of British blues and electric folk. His bio is rather self-effacing for a rock star of his stature. He often seems overawed by those he has associated with through the years, neglecting his own importance to the development of the form. This is an important work in the field, a behind the scenes telling of rock's ups an downs from the 60s through the 90s.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read
Review: Informative and well written. Thoroughly enjoyable.