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The Animals

The Animals (also billed as Animals & Friends and Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The Animals are known for their deep-voiced frontman Eric Burdon and for their gritty, bluesy sound, exemplified by their signature song and transatlantic number-one hit single "The House of the Rising Sun" as well as by hits such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "It's My Life", "Don't Bring Me Down", "I'm Crying", "See See Rider" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". They balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm-and-blues-oriented album material and were part of the British Invasion of the US.

For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation).

The Animals

  • The Alan Price Combo[1]
  • Eric Burdon and the Animals (1966–1969, 2003–2008, 2016–present)
  • Valentine's Animals
  • Animals II
  • Animals & Friends

Newcastle upon Tyne, England

  • 1963–1969
  • 1975–1976
  • 1983
  • 1992–present

Eric Burdon and the Animals:
Eric Burdon
Johnzo West
Davey Allen
Dustin Koester
Justin Andres
Ruben Salinas
Evan Mackey
Animals and Friends:
John Steel
Norman Helm
Danny Handley
Barney Williams

Hilton Valentine
Alan Price
Chas Chandler
Mick Gallagher
Dave Rowberry
Barry Jenkins
John Weider
Vic Briggs
Danny McCulloch
Zoot Money
Andy Summers

The Animals underwent numerous personnel changes in the mid-1960s, and suffered from poor business management, leading the original incarnation to split up in 1966. Burdon assembled a mostly new lineup of musicians under the name Eric Burdon and The Animals; the much-changed act moved to California and achieved commercial success as a psychedelic and progressive rock band with hits such as "San Franciscan Nights", "When I Was Young" and "Sky Pilot" before disbanding at the end of the decade.[3] Altogether, the group had 10 top-20 hits in both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100.


The original lineup of Burdon, Alan Price, Chas Chandler, Hilton Valentine and John Steel reunited for a one-off benefit concert in Newcastle in 1968. They later launched brief comebacks in 1975 and 1983. Several partial regroupings of the original-era members have occurred since then under various names. The Animals were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

In the 1990s, Danny McCulloch, from the later-1960s Animals, released several albums as The Animals. The albums contained covers of some original Animals songs, as well as new ones written by McCulloch.

[27]

In 1992, Barry Jenkins joined a reconstituted version of The Animals, including "New Animals" members Vic Briggs and Danny McCulloch along with new percussionist Jack McCulloch and instead of Eric Burdon on lead vocals. The band played the first rock concert held in Red Square, Moscow, as part of a benefit concert for the victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.[28]

Phil Ryan

Also in 1992, Hilton Valentine formed The Animals II from a local North East band he was playing with called The Alligators featuring Joss Elliott on Bass and George Fearon on Guitar, and was joined by Steel in 1994 and Rowberry in 1999. Other members of this version of the band include Robert Kane (now vocalist with ), Steve Hutchinson, Steve Dawson (now guitarist with Geordie) and Martin Bland. From 1999 until Valentine's departure in 2001, the band toured as The Animals. This version featured Tony Liddle on lead vocals backed by Valentine, Steel, Rowberry and Jim Rodford. Chris Allen occasionally depped for Rodford, who was also playing with The Zombies on bass and backing vocals. Steve Farrell contributed backing vocals and hand percussion.

Dr. Feelgood

After Valentine left this line up in Summer 2001, Steel and Rowberry continued with Steve Dawson, who returned to replace Valentine until the Winter of 2002. The band then morphed into Animals and Friends, with Peter Barton on vocals, Rodford, and John E. Williamson on guitar. When Rowberry died in 2003, he was replaced by Mick Gallagher (who had briefly replaced Price in 1965). Danny Handley joined the band in 2009, initially as lead guitarist, but replaced Barton on lead vocals when Barton retired in 2012. Scott Whitley had a brief tenure in the band before Roberto "Bobby" Ruiz took over on bass. This successful lineup continues to tour the world with guests such as and Spencer Davis.

Steve Cropper

Burdon formed a new backing band in 1998 that was billed as Eric Burdon and the New Animals. This was actually just a renaming of an existing band with whom he had been touring in various forms since 1990. Members of this new group included Dean Restum, , Neal Morse and Aynsley Dunbar. Martin Gerschwitz replaced Morse in 1999 after Ryo Okumoto's brief three-week stint, and Dunbar was replaced by Bernie Pershey in 2001. In 2003, the band started touring as Eric Burdon and The Animals. After the lineup changed in 2006, original guitarist Valentine joined the group for its 2007 and 2008 tours. The group also included Red Young, Paula O'Rourke and Tony Braunagle. After Burdon lost the rights to the name, he formed a new band with different musicians.

Dave Meros

In 2016, Burdon formed the current lineup of The Animals, including Johnzo West (guitar/vocals), Davey Allen (keys/vocals), Dustin Koester (drums/vocals), Justin Andres (bass guitar/vocals), Ruben Salinas (sax/flute) and Evan Mackey (trombone).

[29]

(1964; US) / The Animals (1964; UK)

The Animals

(1965; US)

The Animals on Tour

(1965; UK) / Animal Tracks (1965; US)

Animal Tracks

(1966; UK) / Animalization (1966; US)

Animalisms

(1966; US)

Animalism

As Eric Burdon and the Animals


As the Animals

– vocals (1963–1968, 1975–1976, 1983)

Eric Burdon

– guitar, backing vocals (1963–1966, 1975–1976, 1983; died 2021)

Hilton Valentine

– bass, vocals (1963–1966, 1975–1976, 1983; died 1996)

Chas Chandler

– keyboards, backing vocals (1963–1965, 1975–1976, 1983)

Alan Price

– drums (1963–1966, 1975–1976, 1983)

John Steel

Monterey Pop Festival

Burdon, Eric. I Used to Be an Animal, but I'm All Right Now. Faber and Faber, 1986.  0-571-13492-0.

ISBN

The Last Poet: The Story of Eric Burdon. Witan Books, 1989. ISBN 0-9508981-2-0.

Kent, Jeff.

Egan, Sean. Animal Tracks: Updated and Expanded: The Story of The Animals, Newcastle's Rising Sons. Askill Publishing, 2012.  978-0-9545750-4-5.

ISBN

Burdon, Eric (with J. Marshall Craig). Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood: A Memoir. Thunder's Mouth Press, 2001.  1-56025-330-4.

ISBN

Payne, Philip. Eric Burdon:Rebel Without a Pause. Tyne Bridge Publishing, 2015.  9780993195600

ISBN

– January 2009 interview with Eric Burdon

Soul of a Man: The Story of Eric Burdon

by Sally Kempton for the Village Voice 17 September 1964

The Animals in NY

interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)

The Animals

. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"The Animals"