Animals, the

▪ British rock group

      five-piece rock group from northeastern England whose driving sound influenced Bob Dylan (Dylan, Bob)'s decision, in 1965, to begin working with musicians playing electric instruments. The principal members were Eric Burdon (b. May 11, 1941, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, Eng.), Alan Price (b. April 19, 1942, Fatfield, Durham), Hilton Valentine (b. May 21, 1943, North Shields, Tyne and Wear), Chas Chandler (byname of Bryan Chandler; b. Dec. 18, 1938, Heaton, Tyne and Wear—d. July 17, 1996), and John Steel (b. Feb. 4, 1941, Gateshead, Durham).

      Released in 1964, the group's first single was a version of Eric Von Schmidt's folk-blues song “Baby Let Me Follow You Down,” which had appeared on Dylan's first album. Retitled “Baby Let Me Take You Home,” it featured Burdon's hoarse rhythm-and-blues (rhythm and blues)-inflected singing. Their second single, the traditional “House of the Rising Sun,” was brilliantly rearranged to feature Price's electric organ and Valentine's guitar, playing ornate arpeggios beneath Burdon's dramatic vocal. A number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic, this was the record that persuaded Dylan to take the plunge into electric music. The group's later hits, such as “I'm Crying,” “We Gotta Get out of This Place,” and “It's My Life,” developed a formula of tough, dramatic, hard-driving rock shaped by an awareness of folk music and the blues, but the departure of Price in 1965 and Burdon a year later put a premature end to the story. Both pursued solo careers, whereas Chandler went on to manage Jimi Hendrix (Hendrix, Jimi) and Slade.

Richard Williams

 

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