THE ANIMALS

“It's my life and I'll do what I want

It's my mind and I'll think like I want”

 

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"D+"

Main Dacade: 60’s

Main Eras:

Rock & Roll II, Early Sixties: The English Invasion (1960-1966)

Psychedelia (1966-1969)

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Key Members:

Eric Burdon – Vocalist

Alan Price – Keyboards

Chas Chandler – Bass

Hilton Valentine - Guitar

John Steel – Drums

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Key Songs:

The House Of The Risin’ Sun, Sky Pilot, San Franciscan Nights, It’s My Life, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, When I Was Young, Boom Boom, Monterey, Don’t Bring Me Down, I Believe To My Soul, I'm Mad Again, Year of the Guru, Inside-Looking Out, Baby Let Me Take You Home, See See Rider, Roadrunner.

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I'm going to do something completely unusual for this intro.

 

I'm not going to write it.

 

While doing my homework to start writing it, I made the mistake of rereading George Starostin's introduction, which you can find at the following link:​ http://starling.rinet.ru/music/animals.htm

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The thing is, Starostin says almost everything I was going to say better than I ever could have. And it's true, I often find myself agreeing with him and other critics and bloggers on many points of view. Basically, everything there is to say about bands has already been said or written, but I always find a way to add something of my own. In this case, writing my own introduction would be plagiarism, since there's very little I can add, so I give all the credit to George Starostin, and in an unusual move, I'll simply be translating and paraphrasing what this brilliant Russian critic says, and if I add anything of my own, I'll make it clear.

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The Animals are an unjustly forgotten band. Everyone recognizes them as icons of the British Invasion; everyone knows their versions of "The House of the Risin' Sun," "Sky Pilot," or "San Franciscan Nights," but that's about it. Maybe three or four other songs, but few have delved into the discography of the band's two phases. I'd add that it's true not all their material is good, but hey, they had about 20 hit singles on both sides of the Atlantic! And after all, even if they didn't have perfect albums, the Beach Boys also included massive amounts of filler on their LPs.

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The Animals' signature sound isn't entirely due to Eric, but rather to Alan Price's tremendous skill as a keyboardist. At the time, he was a revolutionary of the instrument and of the way rock was made in the first half of the 60s. Well, along with Rod Argent of the Zombies, but that band had more pop influences than R&B. Both laid the groundwork for using the keyboard as the foundation of psychedelic sound, and paved the way for art rock. Alan Price was one of the first musicians to steer rock away from the cliché of being guitar-driven, introducing the world to the bright sound of the Hammond organ. His sound was fundamental in giving the Animals their unique personality, and at times, through it, they achieved greater power than even the Rolling Stones or the Yardbirds in the same R&B realm. Hilton Valentine isn't a bad guitarist, but at times he sounds almost amateurish by the standards of a lead guitarist of the era. He's more of a rhythm guitarist. And one wonders if they didn't seek out a better guitarist precisely to avoid overshadowing Price. John Steel is merely adequate on drums, keeping the rhythm but without much creativity.

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Eric Burdon's incredibly deep voice is also a distinctive feature, of course. It has a lascivious touch, a certain Black tinge, a dark twist, combined with his tremendous growls, making it unique in the universe, and it was one of the best, if not the best, voices of the British Invasion. In a world that was only just timidly opening up to R&B through bands of white boys, Eric was never afraid to get closer to the Black feeling, through those roars he unleashed in his songs. Definitely in 1964-65 there was no one on the rock scene who came close to him, and perhaps that's why Burdon is still highly respected in the Black blues, R&B, and soul scene, breaking down that stupid ethnic barrier of white blues vs. Black blues.

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I should add something that George doesn't seem to grasp here. Chas Chandler might seem simple and generic today. However, in 1964-65 he was a tremendous bassist. Not because he played with incredible speed and technique, but because he was brutally creative, crafting excellent bass lines that provided great support to the songs. In a way, he was one of the first to start creating his own riffs, separate from the guitar, crafting solo arrangements on the four strings, giving the bass an unusual role for the time. Soon the McCartneys, the Wilsons, and the Entwhistles would come along and overshadow him, but I think he was fundamental in the beginning of the bass's evolution, and this goes practically unnoticed by the world. He's not as important as Price and Burdon, but I think he's also fundamental to the band's sound, and he carried the group on his shoulders, especially after Price left.

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Let's take a moment to review their brief history: The Animals formed in Newcastle, England, in 1962. Initially, they were called the Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo, with Eric Burdon on vocals, Alan Price on keyboards, Bryan "Chas" Chandler on bass, Hilton Valentine on guitar, and John Steel on drums. They soon earned the nickname "Animals" due to the ferocity of their live performances, and the name stuck. Giorgio Gomelsky, manager of the Yardbirds and the Rolling Stones' first manager, heard them one night and immediately saw their potential. Gomelsky may be one of the worst producers in history, but you have to give him credit for his incredible eye for talent! He took the band to London in early 1964, at the height of Beatlemania, and they immediately rode the wave of the British Invasion.

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The Animals' repertoire in their early days consisted mainly of covers, as they didn't have a strong songwriter. They began building an audience with covers of songs by John Lee Hooker, Nina Simone, Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, and Fats Domino, among others. The thing is, despite being covers, they almost completely reworked them, giving them their own unique stamp through the superb arrangements of Alan, Chas, and Eric. Soon the clubs where they played were too small, and it wasn't uncommon to see members of the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, or the Beatles in the audience. They signed with Columbia Records, and their first single, "Baby Let Me Take You Home," was relatively well-received.

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The turning point came in June. Alan began working on the arrangement of an old, anonymous folk-blues song called "The House of the Risin' Sun," which had previously been recorded by Bob Dylan on his debut album, Dave Van Ronk, Josh White, and Nina Simone. The song found its definitive version with the Animals. Burdon delivers the performance of his life with a tremendous, unparalleled vocal display, while the dramatic keyboard arrangements are intoxicating, lending a touch of psychedelia to the album in 1964. Many consider it the first folk-rock song, released a year before the Byrds' debut.

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In mid-1964, they traveled to the USA to capitalize on the single's success. They appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and achieved a level of popularity almost comparable to that of the Beatles on American soil. They soon released other singles that shot to the top of the charts, all covers, such as Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me," John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom," Ray Charles' "I Believe To My Soul," Chuck Berry's "Around And Around," and Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." Their debut LP was released first in the USA in September, and later in October in its UK version, with different tracks. Animal Tracks was released in May 1965. By this time, the band was having problems, as Burdon's enormous ego made him feel bigger than Lennon and Jagger combined in Swinging London. This caused internal friction. Furthermore, Alan Price had an irrational fear of flying, and another tour was coming up soon. So Price quit, dealing a major blow to the band. However, they replaced him with Dave Rowberry, with whom they recorded the singles "It's My Life" and "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," where the guitar took center stage for the first time, and the bass lines were spectacular, carrying the songs on their shoulders. The tracks were a success, but not thanks to the keyboards.

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In February 1966, Steel left the group and was replaced by Barry Jenkins, who brought a bit more creativity to the drumming. Suddenly, they realized they were broke. Partly because they weren't earning royalties since they were only playing covers, it was still clear they weren't making money like the other Invasion bands, and they realized their manager, Michael Jeffery, was ripping them off big time. They fired him and changed record labels, signing with Decca. Their first single with the label was "Don't Bring Me Down," the last one released as The Animals. By mid-1966, they would release the LP Animalisms, also with different songs in the US and UK, but basically a compilation of singles. Shortly after, they released the single "See See Rider," their first under the name Eric Burdon and The Animals, which would be the final straw and precipitate their definitive breakup. By September, the original lineup had completely fractured.

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Returning to Starostin, Burdon spent the following years tarnishing the band's name. Since the name was his only asset and he was in financial trouble, Eric formed a new band and renamed it Eric Burdon & The Animals, also known as The New Animals. In fact, at the end of '66 he had released a solo album called Eric Is Here, which wasn't very well received, so, frankly, it was the only option left to get him out of his financial hole. Also, since R&B hadn't been profitable, he changed direction, moving to California and abandoning other people's blues for his own hippie-ish songs. The new band consisted of Burdon, Jenkins on drums, John Weider on guitar, violin, and bass, Vic Briggs on guitar and piano, and Danny McCulloch on bass, which allowed them to rotate instruments. Back in San Francisco, Buirdon proclaimed himself a psychedelic guru and began doing what he'd never done before: writing songs! Most of them were bland, unimaginative jokes that fell into every conceivable cliché of the Summer of Love. But to be fair, he also managed a few immortal gems that are second only to "Risin' Sun," such as "Sky Pilot" and "San Franciscan Nights," and a handful more of relatively good quality.

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But the band was far from owning the songs the way the original lineup had, even though they were originals. More lineup changes would follow. In April of '68, McCulloch left and was replaced by Zoot Money. In July, Briggs also had enough and left the failing group, to be replaced by a certain Andy Summers on guitar (Yes! That Andy Summers guy!). In December of that year, they toured Japan. No one knows what really happened, but apparently they were kidnapped by the Yakuza, who took all the money they could and returned in haste, leaving their sound equipment behind. That would be the official end of the band. Money and Summers would continue to be involved in music and various bands.

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Burdon would join the psychedelic funk band WAR. He would later release solo albums with varying degrees of success, and there were sporadic reunions with the original Animals in the mid-70s, in '83, and in the early '90s. Chas Chandler died in 1996, ending any possibility of reunions of the founding Animals.

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I couldn't agree more with George on the following: The reality is that, no matter how many ups and downs they had, nothing matters when it comes to listening to, enjoying, and reviewing the gems they recorded between 1964 and '65. Tracks like “House of the Risin’ Sun,” “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” and “I Believe to My Soul” deserve to be considered musical treasures of the 60s, or of white R&B. Or indeed, of R&B in general, racial distinctions be damned. And I would add the hippie anthems “Sky Pilot” and “San Franciscan Nights,” and to a lesser extent, the songs listed at the beginning of the intro, plus any others I may have missed.

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What I disagree with is the rating. Despite their twenty Top 10 hits, despite the fact that "House of the Risin' Sun" could be a strong contender for the most representative song of the British Invasion, despite Burdon's booming voice, Price's revolutionary keyboard work, Chas's brilliant bass lines, despite their influence (ultimately questionable)... and above all, despite the fact that I myself had them rated C in my overall band rankings, I now realize that it would be overvaluing The Animals' name. Giving them a C would be a bit of an overestimation. "It's not much different from the Beach Boys' twenty good singles," some might say. Well, true, with the difference that the Californians released 15 albums in the '60s, including none other than Pet Sounds. The Animals, as much as we like them, didn't release an album of that magnitude; they were always more of a singles band, and not just any singles, either. In fact, the D+ I'm giving them seems perhaps a little high, compared to The Zombies, for example, who at least achieved a tremendous cult album. For now, though, it seems the fairest rating, considering the role they played in the history of rock and the musical quality they gave us, especially in their early days.

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By Corvan 

May/6/2013

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