The Black-Man's Burdon

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "The Black-Man's Burdon" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Black-Man's Burdon
Studio album by Eric Burdon and War
Released	December 1970
Recorded	1970
Studio	Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco
Genre	Funk rock[1] psychedelic funk[2] psychedelic rock[3]
Length	90:08
Label	MGM
Producer	Jerry Goldstein
Eric Burdon chronology
Eric Burdon Declares "War" (1970) The Black-Man's Burdon (1970) Guilty (1971)
War chronology
Eric Burdon Declares "War" (1970) The Black-Man's Burdon (1970) War (1971)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
The Village Voice	D+[4]

The Black-Man's Burdon is a double album by American band Eric Burdon and War, released in December 1970 on MGM Records. It was the last album by the group before Burdon left and the remaining band continued as War.

The title is a pun on The Black Man's Burden, an expression which refers to black slavery, used as the title of a book by E. D. Morel (1920) in response to the poem, "The White Man's Burden" (1899) by Rudyard Kipling, which refers to (and champions) western imperialism (including its history of slavery).

The album includes two suites based on songs by other artists: "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones, and "Nights in White Satin" by The Moody Blues, augmented by additional sections composed by the group. (Two similar suites appeared on the group's first album.) The extra material is mostly instrumental, except for "P.C. 3" (P.C. referring to Police Constable, a common abbreviation used in the United Kingdom), a risqué poem recited (and probably written) by Burdon over the music. Two other songs include a gospel-style chorus credited as Sharon Scott and the Beautiful New Born Children of Southern California. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic says the album is "Composed mostly of sprawling psychedelic funk jams" and "it does find War mapping out much of the jazz/Latin/soul grooves...".

One single from the album was released: "They Can't Take Away Our Music" backed with "Home Cookin'".