(RockAndMetal.com) (03/30/04)

By Michael Bennett

LONDON, UK - For many years, the man who described the merits of a brothel in his world hit 'House Of The Rising Sun' thirty years ago didn't have a permanent address.

ERIC BURDON was a kind of stray wolf, constantly on tour, driven by that inexplicable inner restlessness that to this day keeps him from settling down completely.

Not only his upcoming album, "My Secret Life" (due April 19th via SPV Recordings), but also his tight touring schedule for 2004 prove that the 63-year-old isn't about to fade into retirement.

Despite million-dollar royalties and licenses from his greatest hits, the man still lives almost exactly the way he did 40 years ago.

"I chose this life, and I'm still on my feet," he says proudly.

"Rock 'n' roll is like a drug for me, it's ruthless, cruel, direct, harsh, dirty and uncomfortable -- but I love it. It's like being pushed into a room, a dim light-bulb is burning, there's an old, moldy mattress, an unknown woman is introduced to you and you have exactly 45 minutes to seduce her, with the light staying on the whole time."

"That's rock 'n' roll performance for me. That's what I live for."

"My Secret Life" seduces Burdon's audience again in 12 great new tracks with his unique, expressive voice, presenting him from his soulful ('Once Upon A Time'), his lascivious and almost jazzy ('Motorcycle Girl') or -- driven by a roaring Hammond organ -- his rocky ('Over The Border') side.

'Factory Girl' practically oozes the passion that Burdon feels for this music. All you get to hear is the man himself, his guitar and an ocean of emotion.

At the same time he's aggressive, letting his harmonica yell the roll call, and showing that he still knows how to sing the blues.

The opening line of the title track 'My Secret Life' is also wonderful: "This is my confession, it came to me late last night, I want you to understand baby, you are my secret life."

There's no escaping his voice -- or his charismatic stage performance.

His European tour in February 2004 gave his fans a chance to convince themselves of Burdon's state of health, in other words of the physical well-being of a man who has long become a living legend thanks to songs like 'When I Was Young', 'CC Rider,' 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood', 'Tobacco Road' or 'War.'

The unanimous verdict: like a good wine, Burdon gets better with every year, and the same applies to his band -- drummer Tony Braunagel, guitarist Johnny Lee Schell and bassists Bob Glaub and James 'Hutch' Hutchinson, supported by various organ and piano players (Danny Timms, Mike Finnigan, Martin Gerschwitz, Ivan Neville, Red Young, Jon Cleary), a horn section and the background choir surrounding Marlene Jeter, Valerie Davis and Kudaisan Kai -- who did an amazing job on "My Secret Life."

His sense of humour hasn't left Burdon, and he still likes to play upon his age.

"I'm a wreck," he says, surprising his listeners, adding - with a wink, of course: "I've got bronchitis, asthma, I'm overweight and I'm a slow-motion wreck of a human being."

"I turn into a different person every time I get on stage. I haven't changed and continue to do what I've always done."

Burdon doesn't mourn after his youth.

His philosophy is that every phase of life has its good points, and he likes to recall the times when his political statements still fell on open ears.

For example, when he spoke regarding the deplorable situation of the Native American Indian.

He used to play his number, 'Tobacco Road,' to express sharp criticism of the American government and their reservation concept.

At the same time he denounced the situation of African Americans, of black people all over the world.

Legend has it that Burdon frequently referred to himself as a "white Negro."

"I definitely identified with the black population until 1964, before they killed Malcolm X. What I generally like about black culture is the music, which I really love."

Yet he remains skeptical when it comes to rap.

"Rap wasn't really all that new in the early Nineties. It was a concept from way back."

"In the Forties, Willie Dixon and Champion Jack Dupree's talking blues was what rap is today. There was a kind of alliance between jazz and rap musicians, which gave rap a chance to evolve."

"Rap incorporates many important jazz elements, it's black, sexual, political, socio-critical, it just doesn't have harmonies or melodies."

Burdon himself included rap elements in his music early on.

A number of approaches could be made out in his material even back in the early Seventies, possibly unconscious and to some extend forerunners of the things that were to reach us from the ghettos of American cities later on.

So like often in his life, Burdon was way ahead to the zeitgeist, while remaining a man of the people at the same time.

An underdog and -- unlike David Bowie and Mick Jagger, who lives the sweet life in his home in the South of France -- not a member of the high society.

His explanation is disarmingly simple: "Mick Jagger went to the London School of Economics, he knows how to deal with money."

"I sat at the back of a class-room with 40 pupils, and we didn't have anything better to do than throw things at each other. Plus I was always more thirsty than Mick."

Maybe these are the reasons why Burdon is still making music that comes from the street, undiluted by commercial considerations.

His latest album, "My Secret Life," is as authentic and personal as the title implies.

"My Secret Life" Track Listing:

1. Once Upon A Time
2. Motorcycle Girl
3. Over The Border
4. The Secret
5. Factory Girl
6. Highway 62
7. Jazzman
8. Black And White World
9. Heaven
10. Devilside
11. Broken Records
12. Can't Kill The Boogieman
13. My Secret Life

Upcoming U.S. Tour Dates:

04/23/04 Cass Lake, MN [Palace Casino]
04/24/04 Mount Forest, ONT [Old Roxy Theater]
05/01/04 Mesquite, NV [Casablanca Resort Casino]
05/03/04 Scottsdale, AZ [Casino Arizona]
05/12/04 Amagansett, NY [Stephen Talkhouse]
05/13/04 New York, NY [BB King's]
05/14/04 Uncasville, CT [Mohegan Sun Casino]
05/15/04 Farmingdale, NY [The Downtown]
05/18/04 Orlando, FL [Disney World Resort/Epcot]
05/19/04 Orlando, FL [Disney World Resort/Epcot]
05/20/04 Orlando, FL [Disney World Resort/Epcot]
05/21/04 Orlando, FL [Disney World Resort/Epcot]
05/22/04 Boynton Beach, FL [Links Golf And Country Club]
06/26/04 Boston, MA [The Hatch Shell]
07/03/04 Harriet Island, MN [Taste Of Minnesota/Wabasha Bridge]
07/09/04 Thunder Bay, ONT [Thunder Bay Blues Festival]
07/10/04 Taylor, MI [Heritage Park]
07/30/04 Grand Beach, MAN [Manitoba Classic Rock Festival]
07/31/04 Fresno, CA [Kearney Park Car Show]
08/06/04 Lowell, MA [Lowell Summer Music Series]
08/07/04 Fall River, MA [Fall River Festival]
08/08/04 Scituate, MA [Scituate Harbor Music Festival]
09/18/04 Russellville, AK [Arkansas Tech University]
10/01/04 Lake Tahoe, NV [John Asquaga's Nugget]
10/02/04 Lake Tahoe, NV [John Asquaga's Nugget]

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