''Guilty!'' (called ''Black & White Blues'' in re-releases) is a 1971 album by

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

and

Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues and jazz singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, an ...

. It was the first release by Burdon after he left

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

Background and recording

In September 1970,

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

died after a jam session with Eric Burdon & War at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. After that, Burdon often broke down on stage. On 5 February 1971 he finally left the band in the middle of their European tour, allegedly due to exhaustion. After returning home and taking time off, the bulk of the album was recorded in summer with Witherspoon. The backing band, called Tovarish, consisted mainly of members from War. " Going Down Slow" was recorded live in May 1971 in the

San Quentin State Prison San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated area, unincorporated place ...

, with backing from Ike White and the San Quentin Prison Band. "Home Dream" was taken from Eric Burdon & War's back catalog; the song's title refers to the John Phillips Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. "Soledad" was released as a single. It was inspired by Burdon's experience driving down the freeway nearby Soledad State Prison. "There were blue skies and I was feeling good -- maybe I was high", he recounted. "Then I saw all that barbed wire and walls. I knew nothing about

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American Marxist and feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness at the University of ...

or the

Soledad Brothers The Soledad Brothers were three inmates charged with the murder of a prison guard, John Vincent Mills, at California's Soledad State Prison on January 16, 1970. George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Clutchette were alleged to have murdered M ...

, but that doesn't matter. I just stopped at the nearest cafe and wrote the way it hit me, the way I felt." He further explained the song as a reflection of his horror, that "anyone can be driving down the freeway, listening to their stereo tapes, smoking dope and be free when, on the other side of the wire, there are guys who are being beaten up and treated like animals for doing the same thing".

Release and reception

''Guilty!'' was released in 1971 to poor sales. In a contemporary review for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

gave it a B-plus grade and found it "good in the casual dumb Burdon way, with sloppy interpretation balanced out by brilliant song choice (Chuck Berry's 'Have Mercy, Judge'), sloppy arrangements saved by a brilliant young guitarist (John Sterling)." The album was re-released as ''Black & White Blues'' in 1976. Remastered CD issues, also with the alternate album title, were made in 1995 by MCA and in 2003 by BMG. The Italian e-zine ''Viceversa'' ranked ''Guilty!'' number 97 on their top 100 albums of all time.

Track listing

# "I've Been Driftin' / Once Upon a Time" (

) # " Steam Roller" (

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

) # "The Laws Must Change" (

John Mayall John Brumwell Mayall (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and Rock music, rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of ...

) # "Have Mercy Judge" (

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

) # " Going Down Slow" (Live) ( St. Louis Jimmy Oden) # "Soledad" (Burdon, John Sterling) # "Home Dream" (Burdon) # "Wicked, Wicked Man" (Burdon) # "Headin' for Home" (Burdon, John Sterling, Kim Kesterson) # "The Time Has Come" (Witherspoon,

Teddy Edwards Theodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Edwards was born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. He learned to play at a very early age, first on alto saxophone ...

)

Personnel

*Eric Burdon – vocals, design *Jimmy Witherspoon – vocals *Howard Scott, John Sterling – guitar *B.B. Dickerson, Kim Kesterson – bass *Lonnie Jordan, Terry Ryan – piano, organ *George Suranovich, Harold Brown – drums *Papa Dee Allen – congas *Bob Mercereau, Lee Oskar – harmonica *Charles Miller – tenor saxophone *Chris Huston, George Koch, Richard Moore, Stan Agol – engineers

References

External links

Album Cover Guilty!

{{Authority control 1971 collaborative albums Eric Burdon albums United Artists Records albums MCA Records albums Jimmy Witherspoon albums MGM Records albums Albums produced by Jerry Goldstein (producer)