Known for their gritty, bluesy sound, they balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm-and-blues-oriented album material and were part of the British Invasion of the US. They underwent numerous personnel changes in the mids, and suffered from poor business management, leading the original incarnation to split up in Burdon then assembled a mostly new lineup of musicians under the name Eric Burdon and the Animals; the much-changed act moved to California and achieved commercial success as a psychedelic and progressive rock band with hits such as " San Franciscan Nights ", " When I Was Young " and " Sky Pilot " before disbanding at the end of the decade.
The original lineup of Burdon, Price, Chandler, Valentine and Steel reunited for a one-off benefit concert in Newcastle in They later launched brief comebacks in and Several partial regroupings of the original-era members have occurred since then under various names. Originally formed as the Alan Price Combo, [ 1 ] they changed their name to the Animals. They were supposedly dubbed "animals" because of their wild stage act, and the name stuck.
The Animals performed fiery versions of the staple rhythm-and-blues repertoire, covering songs by artists such as Jimmy Reed , John Lee Hooker , and Nina Simone. Burdon's vocals and the particular arrangement, featuring Price's haunting organ riffs, created perhaps the first folk-rock hit.
They were transported from the airport into Manhattan in a motorcade consisting of Sunbeam Alpine Series IV top-down convertibles with fashion models riding along. By May , the group was starting to feel internal pressures. Price left because of personal and musical differences, as well as his fear of flying while on tour.
Mick Gallagher filled in for Price on keyboards [ 13 ] for a short time until Dave Rowberry replaced Gallagher. Many of the Animals' hits originated from Brill Building songwriters recruited by Mickie Most, but the group, and Burdon in particular, felt this to be too creatively restrictive. They also ended their association with Most and began to work with MGM Records producer Tom Wilson , who allowed them more artistic freedom.
