Artist:The Animals
Song:House Of The Rising Sun
Album:Best Of The Animals
Like a lot of the better British Invasion groups of the 60s, The Animals were heavily influenced by America R & B of the 50s. They came out of two groups from Newcastle. The Kansas City Five featured Alan Price on piano, John Steel on drums & Eric Burdon on vocals. Price left to join Chas Chandler's group The Kontours and in 1963 Steel & Burdon would join him in what was then called the Alan Price R & B Combo. Guitarist Hilton Valentine was added and the group name was changed to The Animals. Their first EP led them to manager Giorgio Gomelsky and producer Mickie Most. House Of The Rising Sun was their first big hit in 1964. Alan Price reworked this traditional blues song. His organ solo still sounds great today. The song was also huge in the US after MGM picked them up. They had several follow up hits. Alan Price left the group in 1965 reportedly over a fear of flying. Actually he wasn't getting along with Burdon. Then they split with Most in 1966 as they thought he was taking the band in a more pop oriented direction. This comp has a lot of their hits from the mid 60s. The Animals split up in 1966 but Burdon reformed them and still tours with a version of The Animals today. Price has never gone after commercial success as a solo artist but he's still active in England. The Animals' best songs are still great today and here they are performing House Of The Rising Sun in 1964.
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