#music, Great British Bands, Chapter 3: «The Animals»

When I first heard «The House of the Rising Sun» I thought it was the coolest song in the world, and I was a wee lad then. And I remember that all the kids loved it, and since we were in a Catholic, parochial, school we were not supposed to be mentioning songs like that one. After all the song was about a whore-house… But the song was powerful and fitting for a band that called themselves «Animals».

Ok, so these guys, The Animals, hailed from Newcastle and did not really get any notoriety until 1964, even though they did form in 1962. They did become famous with «The House of the Rising Sun«, curiously enough a sort of folk song from the United States whose author is unknown. But they had many other hits as well, like «It’s My Life«, «Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood» and «We Gotta Get Out of this Place«. Some think they were part of the «British invasion», but in truth I think they sort of missed it.

The band went through several personnel changes throughout the 1960’s. They even re-located to San Francisco and became somewhat of a psychedelic rock band. They still had hits like «San Franciscan Nights» and «Sky Pilot«. The Animals were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

It was 1963 when Eric Burdon joined the group Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo and changed its name to The Animals. The band originally was: Eric Burdon (lead singer), Alan Price (keyboards), Hilton Valentine (guitar), John Steel (drums) and Chas Chandler (bass). They played the blues, covering songs of John Lee Hooker, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Nina Simone and others.

Well, The Animals are still around…

Hope you liked it and tell me what you think about this classic, phenomenal band.

CHEERS