The Animals

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This article is about the musical group. For information about the biological kingdom of living organisms see animal.

The Animals were a British rock and roll band of the 1960s, formed in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Comprising Eric Burdon (vocals), Alan Price (organ and keyboards), Hilton Valentine (guitar), John Steel (drums), and Bryan "Chas" Chandler (bass).

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History

Formed during 1962 and 1963 when Burdon joined the existing Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo, the Animals' moderate success in their hometown and a connection with Yardbirds manager Giorgio Gomelsky motivated them to move to London in 1964, in time to be grouped with the British Invasion. They performed fiery versions of the staple rhythm and blues repertoire (Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, Nina Simone, etc). A rocking version of the standard "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" (retitled "Baby Let Me Take You Home") was their first single.

It was followed in June 1964 by the huge transatlantic hit "House of the Rising Sun". Burdon's howling vocals and Price's dramatic arrangement created arguably the first folk rock hit. (Whether the arrangement was inspired by Bob Dylan's version of the song or by blues singer Josh White's [who recorded it twice in 1944 and 1949] remains a subject of dispute, as does whether all five Animals deserved credit for the arrangement and not just Price.)

The Animals' two-year chart career, masterminded by producer Mickie Most, featured singles that were intense, gritty pop covers such as "Bring It On Home To Me" (a hit for Sam Cooke) and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (from Nina Simone). In contrast their album tracks stayed with rhythm and blues, with Hooker's "Boom Boom" and Ray Charles' "I Believe to My Soul" being notable examples. Burdon's powerful, deep voice and the use of keyboards as much or more than guitars were two elements that made the Animals' sound stand out.

By May 1965 the group was starting to feel internal pressures. Price left due to personal and musical differences as well as a fear of flying on tour; he went on to a successful career as a solo artist and with the Alan Price Set. Dave Rowberry replaced him and was on hand for the hit working-class anthems "We've Gotta Get Out Of This Place" (an iconic song which was used in Dennis Potter's Stand Up, Nigel Barton and in Our Friends in the North, adopted as an anthem by American troops in Vietnam and later used, applied to the Iraq War, in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11) and "It's My Life". In February 1966 Steel left and was replaced by Barry Jenkins; a cover of Goffin-King's "Don't Bring Me Down" was the last hit as the Animals.

By this time their business affairs "were in a total shambles," according to Chandler (who would go on to manage Jimi Hendrix), and the group disbanded. Even by the standards of the day, when artists tended to be financially naïve, the Animals made very little money from their successes, eventually claiming mismanagement and theft on the part of their manager Mike Jeffery.

A group with Burdon, Jenkins, and new sidemen John Weider (guitar/violin/bass), Vic Briggs (guitar/piano), and Danny McCulloch (bass) was formed under the name Eric Burdon and the New Animals (or sometimes just Eric Burdon and the Animals) in October 1966, and changed direction. The hard-driving blues was transformed into Burdon's version of psychedelia, as the former heavy-drinking Geordie (who later said he could never get used to Newcastle, "where the rain comes at you sideways") relocated to California and became a spokesman for the Love Generation. Some of their hits included "San Franciscan Nights" (containing the line "warm San Franciscan night," curious in that nighttime weather in San Francisco—even in mid-summer—seldom exceeds 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 degrees Celsius), "Monterey" (a tribute to the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival), and the anti-war "Sky Pilot". There were further changes to this line-up: Zoot Money (keyboards) was added in April 1968, and in July 1968 Andy Somers [sic] (guitar)—later of The Police—replaced Briggs and McCulloch.

By 1969 these Animals had dissolved, and Eric Burdon joined forces with a Latin group from Long Beach, California called War.

The original Animals line-up briefly reunited for an album in 1977 and for an album and tour (supplemented by other players, including Zoot Money) in 1983. Chandler died in 1996.

In the 2000s Burdon has toured with a new set of musicians under the name "Eric Burdon and the Animals". Periodically during the 1990s and 2000s Valentine, Steel, and Rowberry toured under the name "(Hilton Valentine's) The Animals" and Valentine and Steel under the name "Animals II". Rowberry died in 2003.

The original Animals were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Their influence can be heard in artists as varied as Bruce Springsteen, David Johansen, and Fine Young Cannibals.

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Discography

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Albums

Animals album releases varied significantly between the UK and the US; even those with the same or similar names had different contents. In addition countless compilation and repackaging releases have been made over the years.

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UK albums

  • The Animals (October/1964) 
  1.Story of Bo Diddley
  2.Bury My Body
  3.Dimples
  4.I've Been Around
  5.I'm In Love Again
  6.The Girl Can't Help It
  7.I'm Mad Again
  8.She Said Yeah
  9.The Right Time
 10.Memphis Tennessee
 11.Boom Boom
 12.Around and Around
  • Animal Tracks (May/1965) 
  1.Mess Around
  2.How You've Changed
  3.Hallelujah I Love Her So
  4.I Believe To My Soul
  5.Worried Life Blues
  6.Roberta
  7.I Ain't Got You
  8.Bright Lights, Big City
  9.Let The Good Times Roll
 10.For Miss Caulker
 11.Roadrunner
  • Animalisms (June/1966) 
  1.One Monkey Don't Stop No Show
  2.Maudie
  3.Outcast
  4.Sweet Little Sixteen
  5.You're On My Mind
  6.Clapping
  7.Gin House Blues
  8.Squeeze Her, Tease Her
  9.What Am I Living For
 10.I Put A Spell On You
 11.That's All I Am To You
 12.She'll Return It
  • Winds of Change (1967) (now Eric Burdon and the New Animals) 
  1.Winds Of Change
  2.Poem By The Sea
  3.Paint It Black
  4.The Black Plague
  5.Yes I'm Experienced
  6.San Franciscan Nights
  7.Man - Woman
  8.Hotel Hell
  9.Good Times
 10.Anything
 11.It's All Meat
  • The Twain Shall Meet (1968) 
  1.Monterey
  2.Just The Thought
  3.Closer To The Truth
  4.No Self Pity
  5.Oranges And Red Beans
  6.Sky Pilot
  7.We Love You Lil
  8.All Is One
  • Love Is (1968) 
  1.River Deep, Mountain High
  2.I'm An Animal
  3.I'm Dying, Or Am I
  4.Ring Of Fire
  5.Colored Rain
  6.To Love Somebody
  7.As The Years Go Passing By
  8.Gemini - The Madman
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US albums

  • The Animals (September/1964) 
  1.The House Of The Rising Sun
  2.Blue Feeling
  3.The Girl Can't Help It
  4.Baby Let Me Take You Home
  5.The Right Time
  6.Talkin' 'Bout You
  7.Around and Around
  8.I'm In Love Again
  9.Gonna Send You Back To Walker
 10.Memphis Tennessee
 11.I'm Mad Again
 12.I've Been Around
  • The Animals on Tour (March/1965) (not live) 
  1.Boom Boom
  2.How You've Changed
  3.I Believe To My Soul
  4.Mess Around
  5.Bright Lights, Big City
  6.Worried Life Blues
  7.Let The Good Times Roll
  8.I Ain't Got You
  9.Hallelujah I Love Her So
 10.I'm Crying
 11.Dimples
 12.She Said Yeah
  • Animal Tracks (September/1965) 
  1.We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
  2.Take It Easy
  3.Bring It On Home To Me
  4.Roberta
  5.Story Of Bo Diddley
  6.I Can't Believe It
  7.For Miss Caulker
  8.Club A Go-Go
  9.Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
 10.Bury My Body
  • British Go Go (January/1965)
  • In the Beginning (Live, 1965)
  • Animalization (August/1966) 
  1.Don't Bring Me Down
  2.One Monkey Don't Stop No Show
  3.You're On My Mind
  4.She'll Return It
  5.Cheating
  6.Inside Looking Out
  7.See See Rider
  8.Gin House Blues
  9.Maudie
 10.What Am I Living For
 11.Sweet Little Sixteen
 12.I Put A Spell On You
  • Animalism (December/1966) 
  1.All Night Long
  2.Shake
  3.The Other Side Of This Life
  4.Rock Me Baby
  5.Lucille
  6.Smoke Stack Lightning
  7.Hey Gyp
  8.Hit The Road Jack
  9.Outcast
 10.Louisiana Blues
 11.That's All I Am To You
 12.Going Down Slow
  • Eric Is Here (1967) (now Eric Burdon and the New Animals) 
  1.In The Night
  2.Mama Told Me Not To Come
  3.I Think It's Gonna Rain Today
  4.On This Side Of Goodbye
  5.That Ain't Where It's At
  6.True Love (Comes Only Once In A Lifetime)
  7.Help Me Girl
  8.Wait Till Next Year
  9.Losin' Control
 10.It's Not Easy
 11.The Biggest Bundle Of Them All
 12.It's Been A Long Time Comin'
  • Every One of Us (1968) 
  1.White House
  2.Uppers And Downers
  3.Serenade To A Sweet Lady
  4.The Immigrant Lad
  5.Year Of The Guru
  6.St. James Infirmary
  7.New York 1963 - America 1968
  • Love Is (October/1968) 
  1.River Deep, Mountain High
  2.I'm An Animal
  3.I'm Dying, Or Am I
  4.Ring Of Fire
  5.Colored Rain
  6.To Love Somebody
  7.As The Years Go Passing By
  8.Gemini - The Madman
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Reunion and later albums

  • Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted (1977) 
  1.Brother Hill (The Last Clean Shirt)
  2.It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
  3.Fire On The Sun
  4.As The Crow Flies
  5.Please Send Me Someone To Love
  6.Many Rivers To Cross
  7.Just A Little Bit
  8.Riverside County
  9.Lonely Avenue
 10.The Fool
  • Ark (1983) 
  1.Loose Change
  2.Love Is For All Time
  3.My Favourite Enemy
  4.Prisoner Of The Light
  5.Being There
  6.Hard Times
  7.The Night
  8.Trying To Get You
  9.Just Can't Get Enough
 10.Melt Down
 11.Gotta Get Back To You
 12.Crystal Nights
 13.No John No
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Singles

Highest position reached in UK and US singles charts
Year Title UK US
The Animals
1964 "Baby Let Me Take You Home" 21 -
1964 "House of the Rising Sun" 1 1
1964 "I'm Crying" 8 19
1965 "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" 3 15
1965 "Bring It On Home To Me" 7 32
1965 "We've Got to Get Out of This Place" 2 13
1965 "It's My Life" 7 23
1966 "Inside Looking Out" 12 34
1966 "Don't Bring Me Down" 6 12
Eric Burdon and the New Animals
1966 "See See Rider" - 10
1966 "Help Me Girl" 14 29
1967 "When I Was Young" 45 15
1967 "Good Times" 20 -
1967 "San Franciscan Nights" 7 9
1967 "Monterey" - 15
1968 "Sky Pilot" 40 14
1969 "Ring of Fire" 35 -
1969 "River Deep, Mountain High" - -


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Today

The Animals are still active, even though there is only one original member left. They frequently play gigs at Color Line, a ship that travels between Scandinavia and Germany.

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References

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See also

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External links

es:The Animals fr:The Animals it:The Animals nl:The Animals ja:アニマルズ no:The Animals pl:The Animals pt:The Animals fi:The Animals sv:The Animals

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