The 1960s Recording Artist of the Month

The Animals 

The Animals were a rock 'n roll  band  from England during the 1960s that was part of the British Invasion. Known for their blues sound and deep-voiced lead singer,  Eric Burdon, they were best known by the song "House of the Rising Sun" which became their signature song.

The band underwent numerous personnel changes and emerged as an exponent of psychedelic music before dissolving at the end of the decade.

They were formed in Newcastle, England in 1958 as the Alan Price Combo. The group consisted of Eric Burdon (vocals).  Alan Price (keyboards), Bryan "Chas" Chandler (bass), Hilton Valentine (guitar) and John Steel (drums).  Price left in May 1965, replaced by Dave Rowberry. Steel left in 1966, replaced by Barry Jenkins. The goup disbanded in July 1968.  After a period with War, Eric Burdon and the other orginals reunited in 1983. Chandler died in 1996. 

Their first single was a rocking verison of Baby Let Me Follow You Down, titled Baby Let Me Take You Home. It was followed by the huge hit The House of the Rising Sun, which spent 10 weeks on the U.S. Billboard Top 40 charts and 3 weeks in the No. 1 position in 1964. The group had 14 hits, including The House of the Rising Sun, in the Top 40. The songs reaching the top 40 were; I'm Crying, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, Bring it on Home To Me, We Gotta Get Out of this Place, It's My Life, Inside-Looking Out, Don't Bring me Down, See See Rider, Help Me Girl, When I Was Young, San Francisco Nights, Monterey, and Sky Pilot (Part One). The original Animals were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. 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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