Search - The Animals :: The Animals (The Singles+)

Animals - 'The Singles Plus' (BR Music)

Mike Reed | USA | 11/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Two CD's, total of 41 tracks of, what I assume are all the singles The Animals had ever put out. Many of you should remember most of these killer British Invasion tunes, like "House Of The Rising Sun", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", their anthem (sort of?) "It's My Life", "When I Was Young" (my personal Animals favorite), "A Girl Named Sandoz" and "San Franciscan Nights". Let's not forget their unbeatable covers, such as Bo Diddley's "Roadrunner", two Ray Charles numbers "Talkin' About You" and their superbly done "Mess Around" and Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire". Sound quality is excellent, I must say. An absolute must-have!"

Best Kept Secret In The CD World

09/14/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Considering that this excellent 2-CD set was first issued in 1999, and that mine is the initial review posted for it, has to make this one of - if not THE - best kept secrets of the CD world.



ric Burdon & The Animals fans should be climbing over one another to get a copy of this release by BR Music of Holland, especially at the bargain price listed. Because, not only is the sound quality excellent, and the insert filled with a discography of the contents and informative liner notes ny Skip Voogd, but you get all 18 of their Billboard Pop Hot 100 hits, registered on MGM from 1964 to 1983, along with most (14 to be exact) of the B-sides, as well as their last hit in 1983 for the I.R.S. label! And, in addition to the vintage photo on the front, you get the boys in much the same pose on the reverse in their later years.



First formed in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England in 1958 as The Alan Price Combo, the original group consisted of vocalist Eric Burdon, keyboardist Alan Price, Bryan "Chas" Chandler on bass, guitarist Hilton Valentine, and drummer John Steel.



This set starts off with their first hit, when they were billed simply as The Animals, the classic The House Of The Rising Sun, which soared to # 1 in late summer 1964 (and stayed there for 3 weeks) b/w Talkin' 'Bout You. The follow-up Gonna Send You Back To Walker (Gonna Send You Back To Georgia) was a bit of a disappointment, only reachibg # 57 in September b/w Baby Let Me Take You Home, which also registered as # 102 Hot 100 "bubble under."



In October, however, I'm Crying made it to # 19 b/w with the wonderful Take It Easy Baby (shown at track 11 on disc 1 under its alternate title Take It Easy. Then came their cover of the John Lee Hooker classic Boom Boom, which just missed the Top 40, settling in at # 43 in December b/w Blue Feeling. Early in 1965, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood topped out at # 15 b/w one of my favorite Animals cuts, Club A-GoGo, followed in May by their cover of Sam Cooke's Bring It On Home To Me, a # 32 b/w For Miss Caulker (not here). It was around this time that Price left the group and was replaced by Dave Rowberry.



They then returned to the Top 20 in late summer when We Gotta Get Out Of This Place reached # 13 b/w I Can't Believe It (also omitted here), and late that year It's My Life got to the # 23 slot b/w I'm Going To Change The World (also omitted). All the previous four hits were culled from their LP Animal Tracks and were produced by Mickie Most. In March 1966, Inside-Looking Out hit the Top 40 at # 34 b/w You're On My Mind, and in early summer the last hit under the billing The Animals was Don't Bring Me Down, a solid # 12 b/w Cheating. This was the year too that Chandler, who decided to pursue a management career, also discovered Jimi Hendrix (Chandler would die from a heart attack at age 57 on July 17, 1996). Steel also left the group this year, being replaced by former NAshville Teen Barry Jenkins.



When their next Top 10 hit the charts that fall the re-organized group was billed as Eric Burdon & The Animals, and their cover of the immortal Ma Rainey 1925 hit, See See Rider, a # 10 b/w She'll Return It. They then closed out 1966 with the # 29 Help Me Girl b/w That Ain't Where It's At. In May 1967 When I Was Young rose to # 15 b/w A Girl Named Sandoz, followed in August by San Franciscan Nights, their second-best hit ever at # 9 b/w Good Times. Then, late in the year their tune Monterey about the Monterey International Pop Festival which ran from June 16 to 18 that year, reached # 15 early in 1968 b/w Ain't It So (not here).



There then followed a major drop-off when Anything could only manage a # 80 in April 1968 b/w It's All Meat, but they rebounded to # 14 in June/July with Sky Pilot (Part One) b/w Part 2. All their hit from Inside-Looking Out to this point were produced by Tom Wilson. Late in 1968, by which time the group had disbanded, White Houses could only manage a weak # 67 b/w their cover of the Ike & Tina Turner classic River Deep, Mountain High. Burdon would then join the funk group War and produce a couple of notable albums as well as two hit singles in 1970.



A reunion in 1976 produced no hits, but in 1983 they banded together again and this time had The Night - billed once more as The Animals - reach # 48 Hot 100 in late summer b/w No John No (not here). In 1994 they were inducted into the R&R Hall Of Fame.



Just a classic box-set that should not be missed if you liked their music.



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