Comments on: THE ANIMALS - “House Of The Rising Sun”

By: Mark G

Mark G — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:15:05 +0000

So where does Miriam Makeba’s version fit in with this linear tale?

By: lonepilgrim

lonepilgrim — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:23:45 +0000

there’s a great tale from Dave Van Ronk, in the ‘No Direction Home’ Dylan doc, about how Bob ‘appropriated’ VRs version of this song for his first LP. VR had to stop playing it because he was accused of ripping off Bob. When the Animals released this version (based on Bob’s LP performance) Bob had to stop playing it because he was accused of ripping off the Animals.

By: Adam Bruneau

Adam Bruneau — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:40:29 +0000

This just came on the oldies radio last weekend and I have to agree with you about the last half. When Price’s solo comes in, it is quite possibly the most devastating rock organ moment in an era which had plenty!

By: wichita lineman

wichita lineman — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:43:33 +0000

It’s never quite made it for me, either, possibly because of Burdon’s voice which absolutely reflects Nik Cohn’s description. I haven’t tried but it sounds impossible to dance to.

We’ve Got To Get Out Of This Place builds like an avalanche (can’t think of a shipbuilding analogy there) only to fall flat on the chorus where it sounds like half the instruments, notably the guitar, drop out of the mix. This might be sacrilege, but maybe Mickie Most didn’t serve their too well.

The two singles they released on Decca in ‘66 before they split fulfil the soot’n'dust-toughened promise for me: the one-chord Inside Looking Out (sung from a prisoner’s perspective) and Goffin/King’s fuzzed-up psychodrama Don’t Bring Me Down. Both decent sized hits but totally forgotten by radio.

Then again, my downer on the Alan Price Animals might be influenced by Alfie Darling, the 1975 film I watched last night with Price reprising Michael Caine’s role. He’s a truck driver criss crossing Europe. Dalliances? There are many (Rula Lenska as a French truckstop owner’s wife!). And that’s it. Beyond dismal.

By: rosie

rosie — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:06:20 +0000

Have I mentioned before - perhaps in the Haloscan era - that this was my absolute seminal pop experience? My Sex Pistols moment, if you like? Me being only 9 years old when it hit the top, and I dare say an odd sort of song for a 9-year-old to be besotted with. But then I was an odd sort of 9-year-old, and loving this put one over on Cliff-besotted (well, Paul McCartney- besotted by this time I think) Big Sister?

In my early days of following Popular I was quietly tipping this as Tom’s first 10, and I was disappointed, nay outraged, by a piddling 6! This is a record to thrill, and no mistake. Nor does it sound one little bit stale 44 years on.

By: Lena

Lena — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:41:30 +0000

I like “We’ve Gotta Get Out of This Place” more than this one, but its intensity (complete with the ‘hog-calling’ voice of Burdon [Lester Bangs in Rolling Stone History of Rock 'n' Roll]) keeps it on the oldies show I listen to, and I always listen to it, as Burdon & Price & Co. lose themselves in the song.

By: bramble

bramble — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 21:13:42 +0000

It is usually Eric Burdon that people remember as the key one of the Animals but Alan Price, though jumping ship fairly early, was a crucial part of their sound, and his replacement Dave Rowberry never had the same skill. If you listen to Alan Price’s post-Animals work with the Alan Price Set, Georgie Fame and on his own (Lucky Man, Jarrow Song), it stands up far more today than anything done by Eric Burdon or the New Animals.