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Wednesday, December 11, 2019

The Animals - Animalism (1966 uk, essential rhythm 'n' blues roots rock, 2014 remaster and expanded)



As with many of their 1960s contemporaries, the Animals were beholden to blues, gospel, and r&b;, even as they combined those rhythms with prevailing rock sounds. Like the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds, they idolized Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley, among other black American performers, and the Animals even shared a stage with Sonny Boy Williamson. Singer Eric Burdon also had the voice to sell the sound: sandpaper-raw, effortlessly loud, and, like Mick Jagger, intimately lewd, as if every lyric contained some potential double entendre.

On their 1966 album Animalism, they indulge their white-soul jones more heavily than ever before, and the songs-- mostly covers-- volley between the derivative and the inventive. On Animalism, amid near-complete turnover of the original lineup, the Animals play up their r&b; chops on blues and soul covers, and Burdon continues to try to match his heroes by pushing his performance over the top. His voice is undeniably strong-- and this type of approach certainly had a particular appeal 40 years ago-- but his soulman affectations sound practiced, imitative rather than instinctual. 

Burdon oversells these songs, especially on Sam Cooke's "Shake" and the slow, simmering version of "Hit the Road, Jack", and his vocals on "Rock Me Baby" make the song's innuendo all too obvious. Strangely, on "The Other Side of Life" he takes a slightly different tack, aiming for a sound between Elvis and Jim Morrison, but he winds up sounding smaller than the former and smarter than the latter. It should be no surprise that his best performances-- also his most restrained-- are on the originals "Outcast" and "Louisiana Blues". Burdon's vocals sound more spontaneous and individual, perhaps because he doesn't have an example to mimic on these songs-- or maybe because modern listeners have no other examples against which to measure his performance.

Balancing out Burdon's vocals, the Animals prove a powerful band, despite the fact that nearly half of them were new replacements. They're rock solid, but unlike their singer, they rarely showboat. Together they put the real soul in these songs. Hilton Valentine lays down some bluesy riffs on "Smoke Stack Lightning", but he's best when trading off with organist Dave Rowberry on "Rock Me Baby" and "All Night Long", forming a rowdy call and response. It's the rhythm section, however, that shapes the songs and allows the band to move so agilely around Burdon. Bassist Chas Chandler and drummer Barry Jenkins (a sturdy replacement for original member John Steel) put the shake in "Shake", pushing a swampy beat to its breaking point, and Jenkins' high hat and snare drive the up-and-down stomp on "Lucille". This type of playing doesn't go out of style.
by Stephen M. Deusner


Tracks
1. All Night Long (Frank Zappa) - 2:50
2. Shake (Sam Cooke) - 3:16
3. The Other Side Of This Life (Freddie Neil) - 3:31
4. Rock Me Baby (B.B. King, Joe Josea) - 5:26
5. Lucille (Albert Collins, Richard Penniman) - 2:21
6. Smokestack Lightning (Chester Burnett) - 5:13
7. Hey Gyp (Donovan Leitch) - 3:49
8. Hit The Road Jack (Percy Mayfield) - 3:20
9. Outcast (Ernie Johnson, Edgar Campbell) - 2:38
10.Louisiana Blues (McKinley Morganfield) - 2:42
11.That's All I Am To You (Otis Blackwell, Winfield Scott) - 2:12
12.Going Down Slow (James B. Oden) - 6:24
13.C.C. Rider (Ma Rainey, Lena Arant) - 3:56
14.A Love Like Yours (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland, Jr) - 3:00
15.Shake, Rattle And Roll (Charles E. Calhoun) - 3:06
16.Tobacco Road (John D. Loudermilk) - 4:20
17.Roadrunner (Ellas McDaniel) - 2:49
18.When I Was Young (Eric Burdon, Vic Briggs, John Weider, Barry Jenkins, Danny McCulloch) - 3:03
19.A Love Like Yours (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland, Jr.) - 2:44
20.Connection (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) - 2:25
21.It's All Meat (Barrie Ernest Jenkins, Danny Mcculloch, Eric Victor Burdon, John Weider, Victor Briggs) - 2:09
22.San Franciscan Nights (Eric Burdon, Vic Briggs, John Weider, Barry Jenkins, Danny McCulloch) - 3:03
23.All Night Long (Frank Zappa) - 2:40
Tracks 13-17 Live In Germany, Jan 1967
Tracks 18-20 BBC Sessions 30th Jan 1967
Tracks 21-23 BBC Sessions 15th Aug 1967

Personnel
*Eric Burdon - Lead Vocals
*Chas Chandler - Bass Guitar, Vocals
*Dave Rowberry - Organ, Piano
*Hilton Valentine - Guitar
*Barry Jenkins - Drums
*John Steel - Drums
*Frank Zappa - Guitar, Bass
*William Roberts - Harmonica
*Larry Knechtel- Organ
*Don Randi- Piano
*Carol Kaye- Guitar
*John Guerin- Drums
*Vic Briggs - Guitar, Piano
*Danny Mcculloch - Bass Guitar
*John Weider - Guitar, Violin

1964-67  The Animals - The Complete French EP (ten disc edition) 
1967  Eric Is Here
1967  Winds of Change (2013 Double SHM CD)
1968  The Twain Shall Meet (2013 Japan SHM)
1966-68  Roadrunners! Rare Live And Studio Recordings
1974-75  The Eric Burdon Band - Sun Secrets / Stop 

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12 comments:

  1. Thank you Marios for this version. I already have Animalism (& bonus hits),with different bonus tracks.

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  2. Thank you Brain Police, I presume that no other user liked this album, I see no comments here, FYI this is another release no connection to album called "ANIMALISMS" and released the same year with totally different songs ...

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  3. thanks a lot I have a terrible vinyl that I got from my uncle in 1969, some stereo versions on cd but I was looking for mono again thank you

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  4. This is Animalism, not to be confused with Animalisms ...
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animalism_(album)

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  5. Turbobit & hitfile don't work... blocked in my country??

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  6. Thanks for sharing your music. Happy New Year!
    Longaticum

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  7. This is not the UK Animalisms. Notice the "s" at the end. This version is the Uk's. The American version doesn't have the "s" on the end (Animalism).
    I was really hoping this was the album I needed, but alas. In searching for this album, I see quite a few people, making the mistake of the UK version vs the US version.

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  8. I messed up on my comment. Is there no way to edit a comment on here?
    Anyway, I need to correct what I said.

    This album on this page IS the American version. It doesn't have the s on the end (Animalism)
    The UK version DOES have the "s" on the end (Animalisms), and that sadly, is one I came to this page for, and not found.

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  9. Thank you for this share Marios. For the past three days I have worked on my catalog of Animals (correct info, release dates, issue orders, etc.), found that I was missing this US release; Animalism (5th US release, Nov 1966, MGM Records, E-4414 (mono) & SE-4414 (stereo). I rely on your blog when searching for 1960s-70s releases — a big thank you!

    And of course you are correct, other than title, this album shares nothing with the British release; different tracks, different graphics/covers. (3rd UK release, May 1966, Decca, LK 4797, UK).

    I am easily confused (think most neighbors also) by the US business practices of stripping tracks off of British LP releases, reducing content, then bundling those tracks into another "new" album.

    The fourth US studio album, Animalization (US released Aug 1966, MGM Records, E-4384 (mono) & SE-4384 (stereo) is the US release that most closely tracks with the UK Animalisms (1966) release.

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  10. I'm a big fan of this album, thank you for sharing - but I get a prompt to enter a password when unzipping the files. What is the password please?

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  11. Ignore my last post! I've got the password, I didn't read the info properly!
    Thanks again.

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