Legendary Bands - The Animals Posters

If you're old enough to remember hearing "House Of The Rising Sun" on AM radio, you've got to recall how scary and powerful it sounded. This wasn't one of those nice, clean pop records; that singer was some kind of maniac. We're glad to report that Eric Burdon still is one, even if his initial career with the Animals lasted only a couple of years. But in their heyday, the Animals managed to do the impossible by making the Rolling Stones look respectable.

Like the Yardbirds, the Animals were a blues band that hit the American charts with pop-oriented hit-factory material, though they apparently had fewer qualms about crossing over. They still put plenty of blues on their albums, but their hit singles were undeniably stellar--"It's My Life," "Don't Bring Me Down" and the eternal statement of teen suburban angst, "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place." (The latter was recorded twice, as a U.K. album track and a U.S. single; but only the former, tamer version remains in print).

With the possible exception of Alan Price's rootsy keyboards, there were no instrumental heroics in this band; they were too punk to develop any excess virtuosity. The group splintered by 1967, in part because Burdon and Price hated each other, and also because bassist Chas Chandler wanted to manage a newly-discovered American guitarist by the name of Jimi Hendrix.

Depending on your perspective, that's where the story either ends or gets really interesting. Giving himself top billing, Burdon formed a new Animals (the last lineup of which included future Police guitarist Andy Summers) and released some peace 'n' love-oriented singles ("San Franciscan Nights", "Monterey") and a few albums' worth of unmitigated, but very entertaining, psychedelic excess.

Their cover of "River Deep Mountain High" (from Love Is), with its salacious chanting of Tina Turner's name, has to be heard to be believed. Burdon packed that up in 1970 and made a brief link-up with War, releasing three highly funky and highly eccentric albums. The original Animals reunited twice (the last reunion, in 1983, yielded a hot live album). Chandler died in 1996, while Price's solo career, which at first suggested a British Randy Newman, never lived up to expectations. But Burdon, bless his heart, still shows no signs of calming down.