This week sees Eric Burdon's 70th birthday. He was born on 11 May 1941, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. He's a War Baby (me too.) He now lives in California, he says the very dry climate there helps his asthma.
I can't, with hand on heart, profess to having been a fan of his, or of his band, The Animals, back in the 1960s and 70s. I was familiar with their biggest hits - anyone who listened to the radio in the mornings before heading out to work couldn't miss them: House of the Rising Sun, Tobacco Road, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, Don't Bring Me Down.....etc.
Regarding Don't Bring Me Down, written by Carol King and Gerry Goffin, in an interview Burdon surprisingly admitted:
The Animals, 1964.
Burdon with the band WAR 1969.
Burdon aimed for a blues-oriented sound, rather darker and less pop-friendly than that of The Beatles, The Kinks and others of that so-called British Invasion. From a few videos at YouTube it's clear that his style, as he has matured, reflects his interest in jazz. He claims that a love of blues and jazz stems from listening in his youth to American records brought for him, from the USA by a neighbour of his who was a merchant seaman.
He has continued to sing, tour and record through the decades, 1960s to the present, solo or fronting a variety of bands. Though he retains a loyal brigade of fans, he has never managed to match his early successes. Few who survived the 1960s have managed to do so - even icons like McCartney. I bet Lennon would still be making himself felt though.
Speaking of Lennon, another War Baby, brings to mind anti-war songs. I wondered how Burdon feels about war, and peace, and politics, so read through a few interviews. Just last month, when asked about what inspires him he replied:
And in an interview last year, when asked about his hopes for world peace:
It's a pity Burdon hasn't written more songs on this theme. His Sky Pilot is the only one I can find. ~ Link to video SKY PILOT
NATAL CHART
Wow! He has a whole lot of Taurus goin' on! Six planets between 18 and 26 degrees of Taurus! Moon opposing some of them from Scorpio, depending on his exact time of birth. Unless he was born after 10 PM Moon would be mid to late Scorpio, if later than 10PM, Moon would be in the first degrees of Sagittarius.
UPDATECommenter Louise (see below) has kindly let me know that Astrodatabank has a time of birth for Eric Burdon: 12 midnight. See Astrodatabank page and chart:
http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Burdon,_Eric. This birth time gives Moon at 15 Scorpio and Sagittarius rising - Sagittarius brings in a welcome Mutable sign to balance his Fixedness.
So - is he a poster-boy for Taurus, I wonder? Stubborn to the nth degree? That we cannot know, but I'd bet on it. Earthy, gritty - from his music style, definitely!
Venus, planet of the arts, including music, is ruler of Taurus, and Venus sits in the midst of that stellium (cluster of planets). Anyone with this much Taurus in their chart would simply have to be involved in, or at least inspired by, and interested in, one of the arts - painting, dance, music, writing.
Taurus is alleged to connect to love of possessions and property. From what I've read about Burdon this isn't too good a fit, but I don't know enough to be sure.
The only personal planet, other than Moon, not in Taurus is Mars in Aquarius....and it's squaring (challenging) that huge stellium of Taurus planets, as well as his Moon, forming what astrologers term a T-Square. This reflects a constant state of tension, and here, because the signs involved are Fixed signs, excessive obstinacy - a person unlikely to let things go, one who would never give up but keep fighting whatever the dispute. In this chart the T-Square seems extra potent because of the large number of planets involved at one point - the Taurus point.
There's one very good harmonious aspect as well, a trine linking Neptune in Virgo to that Taurus stellium - Neptune represents, among other things, creativity.
Sun and Uranus (planet of the rebel)are conjoined within the Taurus stellium, and square to Mars in the sign ruled by Uranus : Aquarius. This link, though between Fixed signs, tends to lend a looser, more free and open-minded feel. Had Uranus and Mars been elsewhere, I suspect Eric Burdon might not have coped so well, and for so long, with the vagaries and challenges of a music star's life.
Embedding is disabled on most videos of recent performances - here's a link to a good live 2006 version of him with House of the Rising Sun:
House of the Rising Sun 2006
I can't, with hand on heart, profess to having been a fan of his, or of his band, The Animals, back in the 1960s and 70s. I was familiar with their biggest hits - anyone who listened to the radio in the mornings before heading out to work couldn't miss them: House of the Rising Sun, Tobacco Road, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, Don't Bring Me Down.....etc.
Regarding Don't Bring Me Down, written by Carol King and Gerry Goffin, in an interview Burdon surprisingly admitted:I didn't realize that it was a Goffin, King song until I was in a doctor's office in Beverly Hills and Ms. King came in and sat next to me. I didn't know it was her, I was just reading a magazine and she turned to me and said, "You know, I hated what you did to my song." I didn't know what to say, so all I said was, "well, sorry." and then as she got up to go into the doctor's office, she turned around and said, "but I got used to it."How a performer can possibly sing a song in public without finding out who wrote it seems very odd to me!
The Animals, 1964.
Burdon with the band WAR 1969.Burdon aimed for a blues-oriented sound, rather darker and less pop-friendly than that of The Beatles, The Kinks and others of that so-called British Invasion. From a few videos at YouTube it's clear that his style, as he has matured, reflects his interest in jazz. He claims that a love of blues and jazz stems from listening in his youth to American records brought for him, from the USA by a neighbour of his who was a merchant seaman.
He has continued to sing, tour and record through the decades, 1960s to the present, solo or fronting a variety of bands. Though he retains a loyal brigade of fans, he has never managed to match his early successes. Few who survived the 1960s have managed to do so - even icons like McCartney. I bet Lennon would still be making himself felt though.
Speaking of Lennon, another War Baby, brings to mind anti-war songs. I wondered how Burdon feels about war, and peace, and politics, so read through a few interviews. Just last month, when asked about what inspires him he replied:
I draw inspiration from everything around me. For instance, at this very moment, I’m drawing inspiration from the revolution that is happening. Finally, the word revolution means something again.
And in an interview last year, when asked about his hopes for world peace:
Peace of mind is, for sure, a possibility and I am a long way from that. I found in my life, which is just a drop in a large pool of humanity, that the democratic system enemy in order to ‘keep order.’ I was born in a world at war…It hasn’t changed…but for me, I’ve survived without encountering personally very much violence. Not that I haven’t been a witness to violence. So, where does that leave me? Believing everything is an illusion. Does this mean I’m deluded or just lucky? I know where to find it; I know how to avoid it. To be able to debate peace is probably as close as we can get in today’s world. Every “ism” in the world needs an enemy to exist. The need to argue this is an imperative. More civilians are killed today than combatants. I survived the war and somehow managed to survive the peace. Two of my closest friends did not.”
It's a pity Burdon hasn't written more songs on this theme. His Sky Pilot is the only one I can find. ~ Link to video SKY PILOT
NATAL CHART
Wow! He has a whole lot of Taurus goin' on! Six planets between 18 and 26 degrees of Taurus! Moon opposing some of them from Scorpio, depending on his exact time of birth. Unless he was born after 10 PM Moon would be mid to late Scorpio, if later than 10PM, Moon would be in the first degrees of Sagittarius.
UPDATECommenter Louise (see below) has kindly let me know that Astrodatabank has a time of birth for Eric Burdon: 12 midnight. See Astrodatabank page and chart:
http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Burdon,_Eric. This birth time gives Moon at 15 Scorpio and Sagittarius rising - Sagittarius brings in a welcome Mutable sign to balance his Fixedness.
So - is he a poster-boy for Taurus, I wonder? Stubborn to the nth degree? That we cannot know, but I'd bet on it. Earthy, gritty - from his music style, definitely!
Venus, planet of the arts, including music, is ruler of Taurus, and Venus sits in the midst of that stellium (cluster of planets). Anyone with this much Taurus in their chart would simply have to be involved in, or at least inspired by, and interested in, one of the arts - painting, dance, music, writing.
Taurus is alleged to connect to love of possessions and property. From what I've read about Burdon this isn't too good a fit, but I don't know enough to be sure.
The only personal planet, other than Moon, not in Taurus is Mars in Aquarius....and it's squaring (challenging) that huge stellium of Taurus planets, as well as his Moon, forming what astrologers term a T-Square. This reflects a constant state of tension, and here, because the signs involved are Fixed signs, excessive obstinacy - a person unlikely to let things go, one who would never give up but keep fighting whatever the dispute. In this chart the T-Square seems extra potent because of the large number of planets involved at one point - the Taurus point.
There's one very good harmonious aspect as well, a trine linking Neptune in Virgo to that Taurus stellium - Neptune represents, among other things, creativity.
Sun and Uranus (planet of the rebel)are conjoined within the Taurus stellium, and square to Mars in the sign ruled by Uranus : Aquarius. This link, though between Fixed signs, tends to lend a looser, more free and open-minded feel. Had Uranus and Mars been elsewhere, I suspect Eric Burdon might not have coped so well, and for so long, with the vagaries and challenges of a music star's life.
Tobacco Road from the 1960s
Embedding is disabled on most videos of recent performances - here's a link to a good live 2006 version of him with House of the Rising Sun:
House of the Rising Sun 2006
