On November 18, ABKCO Records will release, for the first time, a vinyl edition of Retrospective, the definitive 22-track collection spanning the years 1964-1970 from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Animals. Originally released in 2004 on CD and SACD formats, the 180-gram black 2-LP set gathers all fourteen US top 40 hits by The Animals and late ‘60s lineup Eric Burdon & The Animals, including “See See Rider,” “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “San Franciscan Nights” and the transatlantic number one “House Of The Rising Sun.” The set is capped by the 1970 smash hit “Spill The Wine” by Eric Burdon & War. An exclusive edition pressed on 180g orange vinyl is available at Target.
Formed in Newcastle, England in the early 1960s out of the ashes of The Alan Price Rhythm & Blues Combo, The Animals moved to London in ‘64 and were signed to EMI’s Columbia label by the visionary independent producer Mickie Most. Influenced by folk, blues, jazz, R&B, and early rock and roll, The Animals and front man Eric Burdon seemed tougher and more brooding than their British Invasion peers The Beatles and even The Rolling Stones. An international sensation almost out of the gate, the band toured and recorded non-stop until the end of 1968, going through several lineup changes and parting ways with Mickie Most in ’66 to work with producer Tom Wilson (Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Mothers of Invention). After disbanding, Burdon joined forces in the early 1970s with Los Angeles funk band War for two albums and scored a Billboard number three (Cashbox number one) hit with “Spill the Wine,” which featured the spoken-word style that he effectively employed on many of the latter Animals albums.
The Animals’ approach to music was three-pronged. There were the “Animalized” covers of folk and blues songs like the traditional “House of the Rising Sun,” blues great John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom,” and “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” originally recorded by Nina Simone. Then there were tunes written for the band by Brill Building songwriters such as “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place,” by Mann and Weil (which became an unofficial anthem for disgruntled American forces in Vietnam), the Gerry Goffin/Carole King-penned “Don’t Bring Me Down,” and “Baby Let Me Take You Home” by Bert Berns and Wes Farrell. Lastly, The Animals had original compositions that they leaned towards in the later years. The thinly veiled ode to LSD “A Girl Named Sandoz” (named after the company that chemist Albert Hofmann worked for when he synthesized the drug). It was covered decades later by Smashing Pumpkins. “Sky Pilot,” the epic, cinematic anti-war masterpiece, and the contemplative “When I Was Young” helped define The Animals’ second wind in the flower power era.
“We were the ultimate club band,” concludes Burdon in Jim Bessman’s Retrospective liner notes. “We had our differences and sometimes came to blows, but we all stood together when anybody attacked us from the outside.”
The Animals Retrospective 2-LP
Side 1
1) House Of The Rising Sun 4:29
2) I’m Crying 2:47
3) Baby Let Me Take You Home 2:20
4) Gonna Send You Back To Walker 2:27
5) Boom Boom 3:49
6) Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood 2:29
Side 2
7) Bring It On Home To Me 2:42
8) We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (U.S. single version) 3:16
9) It’s My Life 3:08
10) Don’t Bring Me Down 3:17
11) See See Rider 4:01
12) Inside-Looking Out 3:49
Side 3
13) Hey Gyp 3:50
14) Help Me Girl 2:43 *
15) When I Was Young 3:01 *
16) A Girl Named Sandoz 3:07 *
17) San Franciscan Nights 3:20 *
18) Monterey 4:18 *
Side 4
19) Anything 3:20 *
20) Sky Pilot 7:27 *
21) White Houses 4:43 *
22) Spill The Wine 4:03 **
* Eric Burdon & The Animals
** Eric Burdon & War
