Eric Is Here

by Bruce EderDuring the months after Eric Burdon and the remaining members of the original Animals split, the singer cut this album backed by an orchestra and doing songs by Randy Newman, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and other pop-music fixtures -- quite a turnaround for the blues purist Burdon, and also very effective as mainstream pop music, including the U.S. hit "Help Me Girl." To add to the general confusion surrounding this material, some of it seems to have been recorded with the original Animals, or at sessions conducted while they were still together. Several songs, including "Help Me Girl," show up on Sequel Records' Inside Looking Out.