The Animals: Animalism

The Animals: The Primal Force of British Invasion Rhythm and Blues

The Animals stand out as one of the most vital, intense, and uncompromisingly authentic bands to emerge from the 1960s British Invasion. While many of their contemporary UK groups specialized in clean-cut pop melodies, this powerhouse outfit brought a gritty, working-class edge that was steeped heavily in the raw traditions of American electric blues and rhythm and blues. Driven by a legendary vocal delivery that possessed an unforgettable growl and backed by a pioneering keyboard style, they reshaped the rock landscape. Their pioneering arrangements of traditional folklore and fierce, socially conscious anthems established a permanent standard for transatlantic roots rock.

The Animals, led by singer Eric Burdon, were part of the British invasion of the sixties. The Animals were among the finest of the blues-based rock bands to emerge from Britain in the sixties.

Burdon, organist Alan Price, and drummer John Steel started out in a Newcastle band called the Kansas City Five. In 1962, with the additions of guitarist Hilton Valentine and bassist Chas Chandler, the band eventually became known as the Animals.

The band landed a regular gig at the Crawdaddy Club in London. Record producer Mickie Most got them signed to EMI on the strength of their live performances, and the label released their first singles, “Baby Let Me Take You Home” and “House of the Rising Sun,” in 1964. The latter song would become a huge hit and transform the band into one of the leading acts of the British Invasion.

The Animals continued recording a slew of hits throughout the sixties with “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “We Got to Get Out Of This Place,” “When I Was Young,” “Monterrey,” and “Sky Pilot.”

After recording several excellent albums, starting with their fine debut release, “The Animals” (1964), the band broke up in 1969.

Among their best albums are the classics "The Animals on Tour" (1965), "Animalization" (1966), "Animalism" (1966), and "Animalisms" (1966).

Technical Catalog Spotlight: The Animals (1964)

This explosive self-titled debut studio album remains a definitive blueprint for the mid-sixties British blues boom. The recording is anchored by their monumental, career-defining rearrangement of the traditional folk ballad House of the Rising Sun, featuring an instantly recognizable circular guitar arpeggio and a sweeping, moody organ framework. The tracking perfectly mirrors the sweaty, high-energy club atmosphere that made them a live sensation, successfully translating regional UK R&B into a global chart-topping phenomenon.

• Released: September 1964
• Label: Columbia Graphophone EMI (UK) / MGM Records (US)
• Producer: Mickie Most
• Core Personnel: Eric Burdon (Vocals), Alan Price (Organ), Hilton Valentine (Guitar), Chas Chandler (Bass), John Steel (Drums)
• Key Tracks: House of the Rising Sun, Baby Let Me Take You Home, I'm Crying

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Animalization (1966)

Widely considered by rock historians to be one of the most cohesive and powerful long-playing records of the group's mid-decade era, this release reflects an evolution toward mature, high-stakes material. The production captures a brilliant transition away from straightforward blues covers into fierce, socially conscious anthems dealing with working-class frustration and the desire for escape. The driving bass hooks and razor-sharp guitar work provide the perfect sonic platform for some of the most intense vocal tracking of the era.

• Released: July 1966
• Label: MGM Records
• Producer: Mickie Most, Tom Wilson
• Core Personnel: Eric Burdon (Vocals), Dave Rowberry (Keyboards), Hilton Valentine (Guitar), Chas Chandler (Bass), John Steel (Drums)
• Key Tracks: We Gotta Get Out of This Place, Don't Bring Me Down, Inside-Looking Out

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Animalism (1966)

Recorded on the West Coast of the United States just as the original core lineup began to splinter, this uncompromising late-era masterpiece leans heavily into extended blues-rock improvisations and primal grooves. Under the guidance of pioneering production staff, the band explores deeper, more hypnotic rhythmic arrangements that heavily anticipated the heavy rock and psychedelic movements of the late sixties. It serves as a potent audio time capsule of the group's sheer instrumental power at its absolute peak.

• Released: November 1966
• Label: MGM Records
• Producer: Tom Wilson
• Core Personnel: Eric Burdon (Vocals), Dave Rowberry (Keyboards), Hilton Valentine (Guitar), Chas Chandler (Bass), Barry Jenkins (Drums)
• Key Tracks: All Night Long, Smoke Stack Lightning, Louisiana Blues

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Them: Here Comes the Night

Them: The Raw and Primal Rhythm of Belfast Blues-Rock

 

Them stands as one of the most ferocious, fiercely authentic, and intensely brilliant bands to emerge from the mid-1960s British blues boom. Hailing from Belfast, they bypassed the polite pop sensibilities of the era, opting instead for a volatile, aggressive approach to rhythm and blues that rivaled the absolute heaviest sounds of the London scene. The band's ultimate weapon was their legendary front man, whose raw vocal power and poetic, improvisational intensity established a completely new template for rock vocalists. Though their classic era was notoriously brief and chaotic, the primal energy and street-level grit of their recordings left a permanent mark on garage rock and alternative music for generations to come.

 

Them were perhaps the best of the British blues-rock bands that emerged during the Sixties. The band covered much of the same blues/R&B terrain as bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds, yet they possessed the best white blues shouter of the era, Van Morrison. 

Them were formed in Belfast, Ireland, in 1964, and the band quickly gained a reputation for its hard drinking and brawling as well as music.

 

The band’s first album, "Here Comes the Night" (1965), was a brilliant debut that combined inspired covers of blues standards and original material. The title track, “Here Comes the Night,” would become a hit. “Mystic Eyes” and “Gloria” are also standout tracks. The band’s sophomore album, "Them Again" (1966), continued in the same rave-up R&B vein with outstanding covers of "Turn On Your Love Light," "I Put a Spell on You," and "I Got a Woman."

 

Van Morrison left the group after Them Again to pursue a solo career, and the band continued without him. Despite the loss of Morrison, Them produced two more solid albums featuring a new psychedelic sound: “Now and Them” (1968) and “Time Out! Time In For Them” (1968). "Complete Them (1964-1967)" is a fine compilation of the band’s work.

 

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Here Comes the Night (1965) 

This explosive debut long-playing record stands out as a definitive cornerstone of mid-sixties garage rock and electric blues. The production perfectly captures the group's frantic, unhinged energy, driven by sharp guitar riffs and a relentless rhythm section. The album holds massive historical importance because it introduced an iconic, three-chord rock anthem that went on to become one of the most covered songs in rock history, showcasing the band's ability to turn basic blues progressions into high-voltage pop-rock gold. 

• Released: September 1965 
• Label: Decca Records (UK) / Parrot Records (US) 
• Producer: Bert Berns, Tommy Scott 
• Core Personnel: Van Morrison (Lead Vocals, Harmonica), Billy Harrison (Lead Guitar), Alan Henderson (Bass), Peter Bardens (Keyboards), John McAuley (Drums) 
• Key Tracks: Gloria, Here Comes the Night, Mystic Eyes 

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Them Again (1966) 

The band's sophomore studio album represents a tighter, more experimental expansion of their gritty R&B sound. Under the guidance of their production team, the tracking seamlessly blends traditional acoustic folk elements with blistering electric blues rave-ups. The record serves as a spectacular platform for some of the most dramatic and uninhibited vocal tracking of the era, illustrating why the band's pioneering sound became an essential structural reference point for the future of underground rock. 

• Released: January 1966 
• Label: Decca Records (UK) / Parrot Records (US) 
• Producer: Tommy Scott 
• Core Personnel: Van Morrison (Lead Vocals), Billy Harrison (Guitar), Alan Henderson (Bass), Ray Elliott (Keyboards, Saxophone), John Wilson (Drums) 
• Key Tracks: It's All Over Now Baby Blue, I Can Only Give You Everything, Turn On Your Love Light 

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Now and Them (1968) 

Following the departure of their iconic lead singer, the remaining members completely transformed the band's sonic architecture to adapt to the late-sixties musical landscape. This fascinating transitional album breaks entirely away from raw Belfast blues, opting instead for a highly complex mixture of garage rock, raga rock, and early psychedelic experimentation. The production utilizes unique instruments like the sitar and features extended, dreamlike tracking that shows off a surprisingly sophisticated progressive rock maturity. 

• Released: January 1968 
• Label: Tower Records 
• Producer: Ray Ruff 
• Core Personnel: Kenny McDowell (Lead Vocals), Ray Elliott (Keyboards, Flute), Alan Henderson (Bass), David Harvey (Drums) 
• Key Tracks: Square Room, Walking In the Queen's Garden, I'm Your Witchdoctor 

 

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The Beatles Biography and Album Guide

The Beatles are almost universally regarded as the greatest act in the history of post-war popular music, and that claim is hard to deny when one considers their status as the biggest-selling musical act in history, their universal critical acclaim, and the never-duplicated hysteria that surrounded the band during the height of “Beatlemania” in the Sixties. The cult of the Beatles is alive and well around the world more than 40 years after the band’s demise.

The group got its start in Liverpool in the fifties as a John Lennon-led skiffle band called the “Quarrymen.” Lennon was a rebellious Liverpool youth who had been introduced to rock and roll music from the recordings brought across the Atlantic and into Liverpool by English merchant sailors. It was from these recordings that Lennon and his generation in England were first introduced to the likes of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Little Richard, Fats Domino, and other early fathers of the music. Eager to emulate his new heroes and make a name for himself, Lennon recruited some schoolmates to join him in his new band. Members would come and go until the band settled with a lineup of Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe, and Pete Best, a drummer.

The band changed their name to the Silver Beetles for a time and then finally settled on “The Beatles.” The band acquired an avid local following in Liverpool and became a fixture at the Cavern Club, where they performed inspired sets regularly. While the band was playing clubs in Hamburg, Germany, Sutcliffe fell in love with a German girl and decided to stay behind, leaving the Beatles a four-man outfit. Sutcliffe would die of a brain hemorrhage at age 21 in 1962.

The group made its first recording as the backing band for singer Tony Sheridan on the single “My Bonnie,” which received airplay in the Liverpool area. The popularity of this record inspired Liverpool record shop owner Brian Epstein to attend one of the Beatles’ Cavern shows, and when Epstein witnessed the wild reaction of the audience, he convinced the group to take him on as their manager. Epstein convinced the band to drop drummer Pete Best from the group in favour of Ringo Starr from a rival Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. The final roster of the Beatles was set with Lennon and Harrison on guitar, Paul McCartney on bass, and Ringo Starr on drums. The group would record the moderately successful single, “Love Me Do,” before the end of 1962.

Epstein then began to search for a record label to sign his band. After numerous rejections, the band was finally signed by the Parlophone label. The Beatles recorded their first album for the label, “Please Please Me,” in 1963. The album was recorded in a single day, apparently to capture as close as possible the immediacy of their live shows. Although Epstein had trouble finding a U.S. label to sign the band, he managed to get the Beatles booked on the Ed Sullivan TV show in April, 1964. New York disc jockey Murray the K hyped the Beatles' upcoming TV appearance, setting the stage for the birth of Beatlemania. The Beatles' appearance on the Sullivan show was a sensation seen by millions of Americans, and the Beatles became international superstars overnight.

The Beatles thus began an exhausting two years of near-constant recording and touring. The early Beatles records were released separately in the U.S. and the U.K., sometimes with different titles. For example, “Please Please Me,” the band’s first U.K. album, was released in the U.S. as “Meet the Beatles.” The names of the albums don’t matter much, as everything this band recorded is essential, and any collection of Beatles music is guaranteed to be of high quality. Titles to look for from the 1964 albums are “With the Beatles,” “Twist and Shout,” “A Hard Day's Night,” “Beatles for Sale,” and “Beatles 65.” The Beatles’ music would soon change from light, poppy love songs to darker and more introspective fare as the group attempted to expand its musical horizons.

With the release of the album “Help” (1965), the Beatles began the process of reinventing themselves. The title track, “Help,” “Yesterday,” and the very Dylanesque “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” saw the group moving into previously uncharted territory. Their songs were still just as catchy, the harmonies still as sweet, but the material had become darker and more intriguing.

This artistic growth continued on the next album, "Rubber Soul" (1965), and for the next five albums. This string of albums represents the Beatles’ best work and some of the best albums of popular music ever recorded. On Rubber Soul, the band begins to experiment musically with the inclusion of sitar on “Norwegian Wood” and several songs, such as “Michelle,” “If I Needed Someone,” and “In My Life,” which could easily be classified as “folk rock.” 

The Beatles’ following studio release, "Revolver" (1966), sees the Beatles at the peak of their powers. Revolver is an astonishing collection of songs representing a myriad of styles from the art rock of “Eleanor Rigby” and “Good Day Sunshine” to the hard rock of “Taxman” and full-blown psychedelic experimentation in “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

The release of Revolver coincided with the band’s retirement from live performances. Free of life on the road, the Beatles would dedicate themselves to experimentation in the recording studio. With the able support of their producer, George Martin, the group would again reach new heights of creativity in the studio with "St. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967). This album’s overt experimentation was an attempt by John Lennon and Paul McCartney to outdo the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, who had raised the studio bar with his work on the Beach Boys’ classic recording, “Pet Sounds,” during the previous year. “Sgt. Pepper,” which is often cited as the Beatles’ magnum opus, is every bit as thrilling as Revolver with epic songs such as “Lovely Rita,” “For the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” “She’s Leaving Home,” and ‘A Day in the Life.”

The Beatles kept rolling with the double album simply titled “The Beatles" (1968). Its unadorned, solid white cover earned it the nickname “The White Album” among fans. The album is amazingly eclectic and contains nary a bad tune amid its myriad of tracks. Among the album’s classic tunes are “Blackbird,” “Mother Nature’s Son,” “Revolution,” “Back in the USSR,” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

In 1969, The Beatles would release their last true studio album, "Abbey Road." Group in-fighting that had lasted for several years was becoming intolerable, and Paul McCartney was tiring of holding things together. McCartney would later signal the demise of the band by releasing his first solo album in 1970. Abbey Road was another brilliant effort that contained classic tracks such as “Come Together,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and, most impressively, the medley of short, connected songs that finishes the album.

“Let It Be," which was recorded before Abbey Road, would be released in 1970 with the title track, “Let It Be,” and Lennon’s “Across the Universe” as standout tracks.

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