"THE ANIMALS - ALL ABOUT THE ANIMALS" (JAPANESE RELEASE UK 1966)

One of the most important bands originating from England's R and B scene during the early '60s, "The Animals" were second only to "The Rolling Stones" in influence among R and B-based bands in the first wave of the British Invasion.
"The Animals" had their origins in a Newcastle-based group called the "Kansas City Five", whose membership included pianist "Alan Price", drummer "John Steel", and vocalist "Eric Burdon".


"Alan Price" exited to join "The Kontours" in 1962, while "Eric Burdon" went off to London.
"The Kontours", whose membership included "Bryan 'Chas' Chandler", eventually were transmuted into the "Alan Price R and B Combo", with "John Steel" joining on drums.

"Eric Burdon"'s return to Newcastle in early 1963 heralded his return to the lineup.
The final member of the combo, guitarist "Hilton Valentine", joined just in time for the recording of a self-produced EP under the band's new name, "The Animals".
That record alerted "Graham Bond" to "The Animals"; he was likely responsible for pointing impresario "Giorgio Gomelsky" to the group.
"Giorgio Gomelsky" booked the band into his Crawdaddy Club in London.
A studio session in February 1964 yielded their Columbia Records debut single, "Baby Let Me Take You Home" / "Gonna Send You Back To Walker", Columbia ‎– DB 7247 (adapted from "Baby Let Me Follow You Down"), which rose to number 21 on the British charts.
The song — given a new guitar riff by "Hilton Valentine" and a soulful organ accompaniment devised by "Alan Price" — shot to the top of the UK and US charts early that summer.
This success led to a follow-up session that summer, yielding their first long-playing record, "The Animals". Their third single, "I'm Crying" / "Take It Easy" Columbia ‎– DB 7354, rose to number eight on the British charts.
The group compiled an enviable record of Top Ten successes, including "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "We've Gotta Get Out Of This Place", along with a second album, "Animal Tracks" (Columbia ‎– 33SX 1708) .
In May of 1965, immediately after recording "We've Gotta Get Out Of This Place", "Alan Price" left the band, citing fear of flying as the reason; subsequent biographies of the band have indicated that the reasons were less psychological.
When "House of the Rising Sun" was recorded, using what was essentially a group arrangement, the management persuaded the band to put one person's name down as arranger.
"Alan Price" came up the lucky one, supposedly with the intention that the money from the arranger credit would be divided later on.
The money was never divided, however, and as soon as it began rolling in, "Alan Price" suddenly developed his fear of flying and exited the band.
Others cite the increasing contentiousness between "Eric Burdon" and "Alan Price" over leadership of the group as the latter's reason for leaving.
In any case, a replacement was recruited in the person of "Dave Rowberry".

The Animals: "House Of The Rising Sun" / "Talkin' About You", Japan 1964 Odeon OR-1146

In the meantime, not only were the majority of these songs much too commercial for their taste, but they represented a false image of the band, even if many were successful. "It's My Life", a number seven British hit and a similar smash in US, caused "The Animals" to terminate their association with "EMI Records".
They moved over to Decca/London Records and came up with a more forceful, powerful sound on their first album for the new label, "Animalisms" (Decca ‎– LK 4797).
The lineup shifts continued, however: "John Steel" exited in 1966, after recording "Animalisms", and was replaced by "Barry Jenkins", formerly of "The Nashville Teens".