12-4-12 Eric Burdon – Starportrait 
Chris Hillman (of The Byrds) born 1942; on 12-4-71 Led Zeppelin “IV” LP was No. 1 in England. 12-4-71 Yes “Fragile” LP charts at No. 7 in England.
Polydor Germany released gorgeous 2LP boxed sets in the early 70’s for artists that they owned outright. I have seen Bee Gees, Jimi Hendrix, Julie Driscoll, James Last… and Eric Burdon boxed sets, which was MGM Germany 2LP 2619 001. The cover art plays on the “Sky Pilot” theme, with “war” imagery.
Side 1
Good Times (A-Side)
Sky Pilot (A-Side) long version
We Love You Lil
Hey Gyp
Side 2
San Franciscan Nights (A-Side)
Paint It Black
When I Was Young (A-Side)
See See Rider (A-Side)
Ring Of Fire (A-Side, but only in the UK)
Side 3
River Deep, Mountain High (A-Side) long version
True Love (Comes Only Once In A Lifetime)
Inside Looking Out (A-Side)
I’m An Animal (B-Side)
Side 4
Monterey (A-Side) LP version has an “intro” not on the 45
To Love Somebody
Anything (A-Side in the US, B-Side in the UK)
I’m Dying (Or Am I?)
Nothing too unusual here, unfortunately. I can only guess that Polydor Germany did not get the rights to “Help Me Girl” at this time. The discography of The Animals / Eric Burdon is rather confusing, as MGM in the US had them from the very beginning; but in England, it’s split between EMI/Columbia, Decca and MGM, with “Help me Girl” on Decca in the UK, and hence not licensed to Polydor Germany in the early 70’s.
This set clearly relies heavily on 45 A-Sides, yet includes the long versions of both “Sky Pilot” and “River Deep, Mountain High” – for “Sky Pilot”, they took the LP version, which was broken into 2 parts for the 45 release; as far as I know, “River Deep, Mountain High” always clocked in at 7:30, whether on 45 or LP.
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