Eric burdon the animals biography

Born May 11, 1941 (one source says April 5, 1941), in Newcastle upon Tyne, England; immigrated to the United States, mid-1960s; returned to England, 1983. Education: Attended Newcastle College of Art.

Addresses: Record company--Raven, P.O. Box 26811, Richmond, VA 23261.

Sometimes referred to as a "black singer trapped inside a white skin," Eric Burdon achieved international fame by belting out bluesy rock numbers with the Animals in the mid-1960s.

His raw, hard-edged vocals were a key ingredient in a number of hits for the band in their native United Kingdom and abroad. After the original Animals disbanded, Burdon made his mark as a vocalist with the black band War.

While growing up in Newcastle upon Tyne, a port city just south of England's border with Scotland, Burdon had no burning desire to be a singer.

His first exposure to the music that would hook him came at about age 12, when a merchant seaman who lived in his building let him listen to records he had brought home fro