| The
Review |
Having fronted the legendary Animals and then War for
a brief period, Eric Burdon is probably one of the best white
bluesman of all time. It is quite a shame that his solo career
that has been spent into obscurity, shadowed by "The House
of the Rising Sun," but nevertheless, Burdon really shows
has always been able to show that his roots are far deeper
than the British Invasion. ***
Soul of a Man is a record of deep emotion, forging delta
blues boogie with funkified New Orleans swagger; add some
hard rock fodder of Gary Moore's blued riddled material and
you have a record that exposes the connotations to what it's
title is. ***
Opening up with the gospel influenced title track, the
record immediately shows no weakness of any kind, it's definitely
not an album that is designed to "cash in" so to speak. Following
up with the horn driven "Kingsize Jones," the Robert Cray-ish
"Feeling Blue," the barroom shuffle of "44 Blues," and resonator
guitar riddled "Don't Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down;" Soul
of a Man offers up some of the Jack Daniels soaked rock and
roll in the vein of the Stone's Exile on Main Street and some
of Stevie Ray Vaughan's material. ***
With the Hammonds, slide guitar, gospels tinged harmonies,
and occasional horns, this record exposes real soul music,
even though it might be "blue eyed," Burdon has always been
able to sing with the utmost of feeling, and his voice still
holds out to this day. His influence on the rock and roll
world is probably one of the most important when it comes
to fusing R&B with rock. ***
Tommy Hash
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