Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood by Eric Burdon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Animals, a famous British rock band, was formed in 1962. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Animals were the Big Three bands in the early 1960s rock music, and they made up the first wave of the so-called British Invasion in the U.S. In those times I did not care much about The Beatles, who were too well-behaved, too "nice" for my rebellious teenage soul, I liked only some songs by The Rolling Stones, but I loved The Animals, with their dark, heavy, powerful, bluesy songs like It's My Life, House of the Rising Sun, and Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood. I still have vivid memories of listening to their music for hours and hours in 1965 and 1966.

Eric Burdon was the singer and one of the founders of the early 1960s band, and the book is his autobiography, co-written with J. Marshall Craig. Mr. Burdon has led more than 10 groups since The Animals disbanded in 1966, the most famous being War and the Eric Burdon Band, as well as many reincarnations of The Animals. He also has a distinguished solo career. I am happy to write that as of August of 2024, at the age of 83, he was still active as a singer.

I read the first chapters, which focus on the early 1960s period, with great interest. My interest faded quite a bit as I went on, partly because of the flood of small details, persistent name-dropping, and descriptions of a rock star's heavy lifestyle, including near-permanent drug use. However, there is one motif that captivated my attention. Mr. Burdon describes how he was cheated out of the money he earned by the so-called music industry. I did not count, but I vouch there are at least 20 mentions of the music business people swindling the rightful earnings from the artist. Here's an early quote from the book:

"The nightmare part of the rock 'n' roll dream is the business -- the money. The Beatles got ripped-off, even the savvy Mick Jagger and the Stones got screwed out of royalties in the early 1970s. The rock 'n' roll highway is dotted with little white crosses marking the casualties, some literal, many more financial."


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