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Post by martin53 on Mar 4, 2011 2:32:06 GMT -5
This would be great, John! Take your time. Thank you.
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Post by bamajohn1 on Mar 5, 2011 1:03:56 GMT -5
THE ANIMALSI now will turn my attention to the British Invasion band that gets plenty of love on the forum and thus should need little 'review'; I'm talking about The Animals! FIRST PHASE - THE ANIMALSThe Animals were first formed in England in 1958 as The Alan Price Combo, consisting of vocalist Eric Burdon, keyboardist Alan Price, Bryan "Chas" Chandler on bass, guitarist Hilton Valentine, and drummer John Steel. The classic incarnation of the Animals scored their first Top 40 US hit when 'The House of the Rising Sun' rocketed to #1 in 1964. This original version of the Animals would score a total of 9 consecutive Top 45 hits (8 Top 40) by 1966, including 'We Gotta Get Out of This Place' (#13), 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' (#15), and 'Don't Bring Me Down' (#12). I think it is fair to say that the Animals were the second most successful of the truly r & b based rock n roll bands of the British Invasion; behind only the Rolling Stones! SECOND PHASE - ERIC BURDON & THE ANIMALSA new version of the group was formed in late 1966 and consisted of Burdon, Barry Jenkins, and new sidemen John Weider (guitar/violin/bass), Vic Briggs (guitar/piano), and Danny McCulloch (bass) and were sometimes billed as Eric Burdon and the New Animals. The musical direction of the group changed as the prior hard driving blues was transformed into Burdon's version of psychedelia. In late 1966, the first single credited to Eric Burdon & The Animals was released in the US! Their cover of Ma Rainey's 'See See Rider' climbed to #10 on the US charts, making it the second biggest hit so far attributed to The Animals in the US! Their next single, 'Help Me Girl' rose to #29. This second phase of the band would place 6 total tunes in the US Top 40 by 1968, including the second biggest hit in the career of the band with 'San Franciscan Nights'. NOTE FROM AUTHOR I will recommend 2 career spanning sets that cover both phases of this great band; a single disc collection and a very well put together but not well known 2 cd set! RETROSPECTIVEThe best single disc set spanning the career of The Animals is Retrospective, released in 2004! Abkco Records handled the SACD/Hybrid reissues of the Rolling Stones and The Animals that came out 7 to 8 years ago! Retrospective was originally released as a SACD/Hybrid, which meant it had a normal cd layer that plays on a regular cd player and another layer that could be played on SACD equipment! I've never actually played an SACD but it is supposed to have a much higher fidelity than a normal cd! Apparently, this Hybrid/SACD layer is not included on more recent versions of the cd but is instead a DSD, which plays on normal players! Regardless, the remastering is generally considered excellent for Retrospective! This amazing cd contains all 18 US Hot 100 Hits of the Animals from the 60s and is only missing their comeback hit from 1983, 'The Night' which hit #48. It contains key album/non single/charting US tracks such as 'Baby Let Me Take You Home' and it has the special bonus of containing Eric Burdon's smash #3 collaboration with the band War on 1970s' 'Spill The Wine'. This cd simply contains the cream of the crop of the career of The Animals for anyone just seeking 1 go to Animals disc! An excellent 13 page essay and 6 pages of discographical information is included in this top notch package! The Singles Plus (2CD version- Br Music Holland Records)
This 2CD, 41 track set is one of the most well kept secrets in the music cd world! It contains all 18 of the Animals original Hot 100 US hits and the comeback hit 'The Night' from 1983. You also get 3 additional chart hits in the UK, 'Baby Let Me Take You Home', 'Good Times', and their cover of the Johnny Cash classic 'Ring of Fire'. Thus, you get all the UK and US chart hits from this outstanding band! And there are still 19 other excellent tracks for your listening pleasure! A nice, but short 1 page essay by Skip Voogd is included with discographical info for each song. An index with chart action for the US, UK, Belgium, and two other countries is included! FINAL EVALUATIONBoth of these sets are outstanding! I owned the Singles Plus set first, but still jumped at the chance to get the definitive single disc set, Retrospective. If forced to choose, I'd say there is no way to pass up the jam packed 2CD set, Singles Plus!
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Post by martin53 on Mar 5, 2011 3:14:47 GMT -5
John, thank you for having taken your time and having written an excellent essay about this incredible group of the 60'. I need to check what I have. Everybody is invited to visit the great music thread "The Animals" in the "Other Artist" section.
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Post by bamajohn1 on Mar 5, 2011 3:21:08 GMT -5
You're welcome Martin! Yes, Martin has an extensive Animals 'set' right here under the Other Artists board! It's presence and sustained popularity inspired me to finally write an essay and recommendation for the Animals! I was going for the one stop, career spanning approach; but I know there are sets that cover certain periods more thoroughly!
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Post by monsieurarmand on Mar 5, 2011 7:37:03 GMT -5
Well founded and detailed recommendation, John! Thanks.
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Post by HollyH on Mar 5, 2011 10:44:22 GMT -5
Now, John, as a (practically) lifelong Animals fan, I'd like to add a bit. Personally I never liked the later incarnations of the Animals -- that's a matter of my own taste -- so for me, the end of the Animals came when Alan Price left the band in May 1965. His amazing organ riffs were so much a sound of the band for me, and as Eric Burdon's ego began to take over, I became uninterested in their sound. So I'd like to mention my own favorite Animals anthology, The Complete Animals.
Released around 1990 by EMI, it has 41 tracks, everything that they recorded with producer Mickie Most. This takes them up through their last hit with the (nearly) original line-up, the great "It's My Life." Of course it also has the original "House of the Rising Sun," "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," and "Baby Let Me Take You Home." But there's also a ton of unreleased material here, much of it deeply blues-influenced, which was the Animals' original sound. Most had a more pop sound in mind for them (remember that he also produced Herman's Hermits) and rejected these bluesier tracks when he put together their first two albums in 1964 and 1965.
To me this is the definite Animals collection, at least for purists.
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Post by martin53 on Mar 5, 2011 11:01:00 GMT -5
“The Complete Animals”
This double CD only includes the complete sessions that The Animals recorded with their producer Mickie Most in 1964 and 1965. The 40 songs capture the band at their peak. After they hit the mark, though, The Animals produced some great album tracks that have been mostly forgotten by time, such as "I'm Mad Again" (originally by John Lee Hooker), "Worried Life Blues" and "Bury My Body." After leaving Mickie Most, the group would maintain their peak for another year or so (this period is represented on the fine import collection “Inside Looking Out: The 1965 - 1966 sessions") despite the departure of one of rock's all-time finest organists, Alan Price.
This compilation has everything that Alan Price recorded with the group, including four previously unreleased cuts and the non-LP Eric Burdon original on the B-side of "It's My Life," "I'm Gonna Change the World."
The set was released in 1990 on the EMI label and is still available.
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Post by bamajohn1 on Mar 5, 2011 11:53:10 GMT -5
Thanks Monsiuer, Holly, and Martin! Holly, I actually expected for you and Martin to recommend The Complete Animals set. I was looking forward to it! Thanks! I do appreciate the later Animals but much prefer the classic Animals! Singles Plus covers both phases fairly in-depthly; probably too much so for the later period for many though ! If I make another Animals purchase; I've picked up a few other Animals cds over the years like The Animals with Sonny Boy Williamson; I'll definitely get The Complete Animals! It would be great to hear 'all' of the Alan Price material! I aslo thought it would be a good chance to do some research and maybe add a little knowledge and attention to the later Animals which is music some are not as aware of! And I'm definitely thinking about picking up The Complete Animals; I had it on my list back when I got Retrospective. I'll add it back!
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Post by sleepwalker24 on Mar 5, 2011 14:13:05 GMT -5
Thankyou for the excellent piece you did on The Animals, John! You must have done a lot of research to have written it! Thanks for including Eric Burden & The Animals in your essay, I don't know much about them. I think I've mentioned to you before that I have The Singles Plus, but sadly it is only a 1 disc version I could do with upgrading it! I would like to hear more so perhaps I need to add this to my wish list And thankyou to Holly and Martin for the additional recommendations/information, you all did a great job!
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Post by martin53 on Mar 5, 2011 14:26:30 GMT -5
Thank you, Sleepwalker, you're very welcome!
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Post by bamajohn1 on Mar 5, 2011 22:19:48 GMT -5
Thankyou for the excellent piece you did on The Animals, John! You must have done a lot of research to have written it! Thanks for including Eric Burden & The Animals in your essay, I don't know much about them. I think I've mentioned to you before that I have The Singles Plus, but sadly it is only a 1 disc version I could do with upgrading it! I would like to hear more so perhaps I need to add this to my wish list And thankyou to Holly and Martin for the additional recommendations/information, you all did a great job! Thank you so much for mentioning that I must have done a lot of research sleepwalker! I had a lot of the outline of what I'd say in my mind, but it did take a lot of referencing of sources in order that I be as accurate as possible. I probably sat at the computer an hour or so preparing that essay; and the mouse was acting up, so that was frustrating! The second phase of the Animals is not many's cup of tea, as Holly noted ; but that incarnation had a significant chart and album legacy and fans of psychedelia would find Eric Burdon & The Animals especially appealing. I tried to make a recommendation that would cover their whole career; for novices of the Animals and fans who might not be familiar with their later work! Holly and Martin have given an excellent firsthand account of the wonders of the Complete Animals set and how it covers all the Alan Price era material! I'd probably get both The Complete Animals, and if the finances weren't tight; the Singles Plus 2CD set which covers everything after the Price era very well! Complete Animals and Retrospective (at a later date), would be a good option too! There's nothing but good options here ; lucky us!
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Post by sleepwalker24 on Mar 6, 2011 11:00:33 GMT -5
Your welcome John Its obvious that you an Martin put a lot of effort and research into the pieces you write. I can tell that you haven't just copied and pasted your info from somewhere else, Its obvious that you worked hard on that piece of writing! Sorry about your mouse I hope you can get that sorted out soon I would like to get some of the albums you mentioned but you guessed it - they may have to be added to my wish list for a while!
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Post by bamajohn1 on Mar 6, 2011 19:49:30 GMT -5
Your welcome John Its obvious that you an Martin put a lot of effort and research into the pieces you write. I can tell that you haven't just copied and pasted your info from somewhere else, Its obvious that you worked hard on that piece of writing! Sorry about your mouse I hope you can get that sorted out soon I would like to get some of the albums you mentioned but you guessed it - they may have to be added to my wish list for a while! Thank you so much for your kind words and noticing that a lot or work goes into my reviews and Martin's; cut and paste would be just a waste - of everyone's time! Some things, I have stored substantially in me insane membrane like Cash or Elvis P recommendations; but there is still solid research that went into those. I try to approach it just as if I was making a Kink's recommendation; which would be pretty hard, by the way; although the Picture Book boxset that went out of print quickly here in the States would be a safe bet and solid start! Again, I really appreciate your appreciation sleepwalker!
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Post by sleepwalker24 on Mar 6, 2011 19:57:07 GMT -5
Your welcome John Just thought you and Martin deserved some credit for the obvious effort you put into this thread! I agree that it would be hard to make a comprehensive recommendation for the Kinks too, but yes - Picture Book would be a good place to start. I hope you and Tim managed to get a copy before it went out of print!
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Post by bamajohn1 on Mar 6, 2011 20:57:33 GMT -5
Tim got it, sleepwalker! He doesn't have all their albums like I do!
Oh sleepwalker, what do you think of the acronym CACR , for this thread?
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