BIRTHDAYS : Happy 84th birthday to Eric Burdon!

Happy birthday to Eric Burdon, born in Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne on this day in 1941. 

Photo by Michael Putland

Did you know what was going on in other parts of England when you were growing up? Were you aware of the other bands that were around?

Eric Burdon- 

"It was real magical on that level. We were convinced up in Newcastle that we were the only people. I used to hitch-hike to Paris to buy imported American records. I had a guy who was in the merchant navy who was my neighbor. He would bring me back records from the States. It became like a secret little club within the art school I went to. We firmly believed that we were the only people that were doing it. Then I made friends with Alexis Koerner who was like a godfather of the British blues movement and spent time with him in London. He had a club in Ealing, just outside of London and that's where I first ran into Keith Richards, Mick, Brian Jones and several other up and coming guys like Eric Clapton and of course The Beatles out of Liverpool, and we realized that in a way, this was quite magical that guys from different towns, from different ends of the United Kingdom, at the same time all into the same thing. It grew into what was termed as the British Invasion. But, it was nothing more than English kids going out of our way to save from destruction and oblivion, the one thing we believed was America's true art form, blues, rhythm and blues and jazz. "

Gary James Interview

Newcastle Gigs - The Animals - Gonna Send You Back To Walker 1964 Tyne Tees TV - City Road