Mirage - Eric Burdon

In 1973, Eric Burdon was asked to write the soundtrack for a projected film, Mirage. Entering the Record Plant studio in San Francisco with his group the Eric Burdon Band, the singer/songwriter set to work recording, and the soundtrack was already complete when United Artist pulled the plug on the movie project. The proposed double-LP soundtrack similarly ended up gathering dust on the shelf...until now. Although purportedly themed around the then still ongoing Vietnam War, only the opening track, "Dragon Lady," even obliquely refers to the conflict, while the other great societal divisions of the day are, if anything, even more veiled. Intriguingly, the issues best addressed are Britain's own Troubles, and one wonders how "Mind Arc" would have fit into the film at all. Counterintuitively, that song is pure Delta blues; "Jim Crow," which seems to have little lyrically to do with the shameful southern institution, is a rocker infused with a Native American rhythm, while "Driftin'/Geronimo's Last Stand" is a laid-back jazzy blues/rock fusion, and the "Dragon Lady" gets her kicks from funk, rock, and R&B. Relieved of the burden of writing an actual album, Burdon used the soundtrack to explore a vast variety of styles, most notably on the title track, in which the singer incorporated lyrics written by friend Jimi Hendrix the night he died. The music is a tribute to him as well, while the psyched-out "Stole My Heart Away (First Sight)" also bears Hendrix's influence. The hard rocking "River of Blood," arguably the most creative track on the set, meanwhile, has hints of War, whilst also inspired by native American rhythms. And the full-throated rocker of a road song "Highway Mover" is a celebration of boogie, as is the R&B gala "Cum." But, as diverse as the music is, Burdon's fabulously enthusiastic performances pull it all together, and whether he's in spoken word mode or crying out his fury against the white man ("Geronimo"), the singer is never less than sensational. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide