The Animals

The Animals were a British Invasion band from Newcastle upon Tyne, led by vocalist Eric Burdon and organist Alan Price, whose blues-drenched sound was among the rawest and most authentic of the British groups. Their 1964 recording of 'The House of the Rising Sun' (a traditional blues arranged in a sweeping, organ-driven style) was a worldwide number one hit and one of the defining recordings of the British Invasion. Their repertoire drew heavily from the American blues and R&B traditions, covering John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Nina Simone, and Ray Charles. Burdon's gravelly, impassioned vocal style was more deeply rooted in the blues than most of his British contemporaries.