Search - Animals :: Best of the Animals

Sixties R+B from Newcastle

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 02/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Animals, a group that included Eric Burdon and Alan Price, were the first major pop stars to emerge from Newcastle, a city located about 300 miles north of London, therefore far removed from where most talent scouts were searching. It is fortunate for us all that the Animals were discovered because they recorded some of the best R+B music to come out of the UK in the sixties.



Their biggest hit was House of the rising sun, a re-working of a folk song (apparently inspired by Josh White's version of the song) that gave them a transatlantic number one hit. They had five other top ten UK hits with Mickie Most as their producer, these being I'm crying, Don't let me be misunderstood (a cover of a Nina Simone song), Bring it on home to me (a Sam Cooke cover), We gotta get out of this place (the version included here is the UK version - a markedly different recording was released in America but was unavailable for inclusion in this set) and It's my life.



Apart from their singles, the Animals recorded many other covers including Boom boom, Dimples, I'm mad again (all John Lee Hooker), Talking about you and I believe to my soul (both Ray Charles). These covers clearly demonstrate what some of their main influences were, but they also wrote some of their own songs.



The Animals split with their produce, Mickie Most, and switched to another record label (Decca), where they had some success using the name Eric Burdon and the Animals, including another UK top ten hit (Don't bring me down,) and one that just missed the UK top en (Inside looking out).



All the tracks mentioned so far are included, but thy changed labels again (to MGM). The MGM tracks, notably San Franciscan nights, are not included here. Nevertheless, this is a great introduction to the music of the Animals. You can easily find San Franciscan nights elsewhere."