12/24/2020
This is a warning not to look into the song Spill the Wine by War and Eric Burdon. When you find out why Eric quit the band War and what the song really meant, you will be unhappy with it. Before I had seen Eric Burdon perform the song in 1970 on You Tube I had a much higher opinion of the song. His performance is lazy and sloppy. He is not focused on giving his best performance. Later when he is old he is naturally even worse of a performer. It was not so much that his voice is old, but he goes into a rap that he made up about Mexico and riding a Burro. A very thin woman dances near him to create a distraction for his weak performance. Considering his career in the 60’s with The Animals Burdon had a lot of promise but he burned out early or maybe he just gave up trying? However, this was War’s break out hit and they went on (without Burdon) to have many more great hits such as Low Rider, Cisco Kid and Why Can’t We Be Friends.
I always imaged someone who looked like Jimi Hendrix singing the song before I knew how Eric Burdon actually looked. It turns out Eric Burdon and Jimi Hendrix were close friends. I can picture Jimi Hendrix standing in a field based on the photos of him that were taken when he was alive with soft natural backgrounds. With is guitar over his shoulder he settles down to play a bit and falls asleep and he has this dream about different girls. Jimi liked a lot of different girls, he had many hook ups. Hendrix’s hippy image fits the song, but by the time the song came out in 1970 Hendrix had already died.
Macy Makes Magic 