| Guilty! | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1971 | |||
| Recorded | July – September 1971 | |||
| Studio |
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| Length | 45:31 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
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| Eric Burdon and Jimmy Witherspoon chronology | ||||
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Guilty! (called Black & White Blues in re-releases) is a 1971 album by Eric Burdon and Jimmy Witherspoon. It was the first release by Burdon after he left War.
In September 1970, Jimi Hendrix died after a jam session with Eric Burdon & War at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. After that, Burdon often broke down on stage. On 5 February 1971 he finally left the band in the middle of their European tour, allegedly due to exhaustion. After returning home and taking time off, the bulk of the album was recorded in summer with Witherspoon. The backing band, called Tovarish, [1] consisted mainly of members from War.
"Going Down Slow" was recorded live in May 1971 in the San Quentin State Prison, with backing from Ike White and the San Quentin Prison Band. [2] "Home Dream" was taken from Eric Burdon & War's back catalog; the song's title refers to the John Phillips Studios in Los Angeles. "Soledad" was released as a single. [3] It was inspired by Burdon's experience driving down the freeway nearby Soledad State Prison. "There were blue skies and I was feeling good -- maybe I was high", he recounted. "Then I saw all that barbed wire and walls. I knew nothing about Angela Davis or the Soledad Brothers, but that doesn't matter. I just stopped at the nearest cafe and wrote the way it hit me, the way I felt." He further explained the song as a reflection of his horror, that "anyone can be driving down the freeway, listening to their stereo tapes, smoking dope and be free when, on the other side of the wire, there are guys who are being beaten up and treated like animals for doing the same thing". [4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B [5] |
Guilty! was released in 1971 to poor sales. [6] In a contemporary review for The Village Voice , Robert Christgau gave it a B-plus grade and found it "good in the casual dumb Burdon way, with sloppy interpretation balanced out by brilliant song choice (Chuck Berry's 'Have Mercy, Judge'), sloppy arrangements saved by a brilliant young guitarist (John Sterling)." [7]
The album was re-released as Black & White Blues in 1976. Remastered CD issues, also with the alternate album title, were made in 1995 by MCA and in 2003 by BMG.[ citation needed ]
The Italian e-zine Viceversa ranked Guilty! number 97 on their top 100 albums of all time. [8]
The Animals are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The Animals are known for their deep-voiced frontman Eric Burdon and for their gritty, bluesy sound, exemplified by their signature song and transatlantic number-one hit single "The House of the Rising Sun" as well as by hits such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "It's My Life", "Don't Bring Me Down", "I'm Crying", "See See Rider" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". They balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm-and-blues-oriented album material and were part of the British Invasion of the US.
James Witherspoon was an American jump blues singer.
George Lester Jackson was an American author, activist and convicted felon. While serving an indeterminate sentence for stealing $70 from a gas station in 1961, Jackson became involved in revolutionary activity and co-founded the prison gang Black Guerrilla Family.
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the R&B and rock band the Animals and the funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, powerful blues-rock voice. Burdon is also known for his intense stage performances.
Lowell Fulson was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most important figure in West Coast blues in the 1940s and 1950s.
Soledad, Spanish for "solitude", often refers to María de la Soledad, a title of Mary the mother of Jesus in Roman Catholic tradition and a form of devotion.
Animalism is the fifth American album by the Animals, released in November 1966. The album includes the band's usual repertoire of blues and R&B covers, while Frank Zappa contributed a song and played bass on two tracks. It was the last album recorded by the original incarnation of the Animals prior to their disbandment, after which singer Eric Burdon would assemble a mostly new lineup under the name "Eric Burdon and the Animals". This new version of the group was already touring when Animalism released.
Michael William Hugh Vernon is an English music executive studio owner, and record producer from Harrow, Middlesex. He produced albums for British blues artists and groups in the 1960s, working with the Bluesbreakers, David Bowie, Duster Bennett, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Climax Blues Band, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, John Mayall, Christine McVie and Ten Years After amongst others.
Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted is a 1977 reunion album by the Animals. They are billed on the cover as the Original Animals.
Winds of Change is the debut album by British-American band Eric Burdon & the Animals, released in October 1967 by MGM Records. The album was recorded following the 1966 dissolution of the original group the Animals and singer Eric Burdon's move to San Francisco, where he and drummer Barry Jenkins formed the new Animals lineup with musicians Vic Briggs, Danny McCulloch and John Weider. The album was produced by Tom Wilson and arranged by Briggs in sessions that spanned several months.
Ark is an album by the original members of the Animals. Released in 1983 by I.R.S. Records, it peaked at #66 on the Billboard Top 200. Ark was the second and last reunion attempt of the band's initial lineup, and the album was subsequently followed by a tour by the band.
"George Jackson" is a song by Bob Dylan, written in 1971, in tribute to the Black Panther leader George Jackson, who had been shot and killed by guards at San Quentin Prison during an attempted escape on August 21, 1971. The event indirectly provoked the Attica Prison riot.
Eric Burdon was a lead vocalist with The Animals, War, and other bands.
The Most of the Animals is the title of a number of different compilation albums by the British blues rock group the Animals. Although track listing varies, all feature only songs from 1964 and 1965. The title is derived from the name of their then producer Mickie Most.
Wild & Wicked is a 2006 compilation album by Eric Burdon.
Love Is All Around is a studio album by Eric Burdon and War. Released in 1976 on ABC Records, it contains tracks recorded during the band's brief existence from 1969 to 1971, but not found on their two albums from 1970. Many years later it was reissued on CD by Avenue Records; this edition restores the original group name, Eric Burdon and War.
Power Company is an album by the Eric Burdon Band, released in 1983. It features recordings from the Comeback project. It also features live recordings.
Sun Secrets is an album by the Eric Burdon Band recorded in 1973 and released in December 1974.
Stop is a hard rock / R&B album by the first incarnation of the Eric Burdon Band, whose line-up consisted of Burdon, John Sterling, Kim Kesterson and Terry Ryan.
Reggie McBride is an American bass player.
