The Animals discography

The discography of The Animals, an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne, contains 20 studio albums, six compilation albums, five EPs and 25 singles. Featuring a gritty, bluesy sound and a deep-voiced frontman in Eric Burdon, they are best known for their rendition of an American folk song named "House of the Rising Sun", which is described by many as their signature song.[1] This single had worldwide sales of nearly 5 million[2] and became a Number One hit in both the UK and US in 1964. Overall, the group balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "It's My Life" against rhythm and blues–oriented album material. The Animals released separate UK and US albums, a practice common to other British Invasion bands of the time such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

The Animals discography
Posing for publicity in 1964: L–R Eric Burdon (Vocals), Alan Price (Keyboards), Chas Chandler (Bass), Hilton Valentine (Guitar), John Steel (Drums).
Compilation albums6
EPs5
Singles25
Studio albums (US)3
Studio albums (UK)5
Other studio albums2

The Animals underwent numerous personnel changes in the mid-1960s and suffered from poor business management. An incarnation using the name "Eric Burdon and the Animals" moved to California in 1967 and achieved commercial success as a psychedelic rock outfit, before disbanding at the end of the decade. Altogether, the group had ten Top Twenty hits on both the UK charts and US charts.

The original lineup had a brief comeback in 1977 and 1983. There have been several partial regroupings of the original era members since then under various names. The Animals were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Albums

Animals album releases varied significantly between the UK and the US; even those with the same or similar names had different contents. In addition, very many compilation and repackaging releases have been made over the years.

UK Albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Notes
UK
[3]
The Animals
1964 The Animals
  • Released: November 1964
  • Label: Columbia (SX 1669)
  • Format: LP
6
  • Their debut album
1965 Animal Tracks
  • Released: May 1965
  • Label: Columbia (SX 1708)
  • Format: LP
6
1966 Animalisms
  • Released: May 1966
  • Label: Decca (LK 4797)
  • Format: LP
4
Eric Burdon & the Animals
1967 Winds of Change
  • Released: September 1967
  • Label: MGM
  • Format: LP
1968 The Twain Shall Meet
  • Released: April 1968
  • Label: MGM
  • Format: LP
Love Is
  • Released: December, 1968
  • Label: MGM
  • Format: LP
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

US Albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Notes
US
[4]
Record World [5] Cash

box

[6]

The Animals
1964 The Animals
  • Released: September 1964
  • Label: MGM (E/SE-4264)
  • Format: mono/rechanneled stereo LP
7 8 14
  • Featuring original lineup of Eric Burdon, Alan Price,
    Chas Chandler, Hilton Valentine, and John Steel
1965 The Animals on Tour
  • Released: March 1965
  • Label: MGM (E/SE-4281)
  • Format: mono/rechanneled stereo LP
99 92
  • Not a live album as the title hints
Animal Tracks
  • Released: September 1965
  • Label: MGM (E/SE-4305)
  • Format: mono/rechanneled stereo LP
57 27 27
  • Featuring tracks with original keyboardist Alan Price and replacement Dave Rowberry;
    Price is shown on the front and back covers
1966 Animalization
  • Released: July, 1966
  • Label: MGM (E/SE-4384)
  • Format: mono/rechanneled stereo LP with 1 true stereo track
20 13 17
  • Featuring tracks with original drummer John Steel (who appears on the back cover)
    and new drummer Barry Jenkins, who appears on the front cover
Animalism
  • Released: 21 November 1966
  • Label: MGM (E/SE-4414)
  • Format: mono/stereo LP
33 21 27
Eric Burdon & The Animals
1967 Eric Is Here
  • Released: March 1967
  • Label: MGM (E/SE-4433)
  • Format: mono/stereo LP
121 54 84
  • First LP billed to "Eric Burdon & The Animals",
    although only Burdon and Jenkins appear on this album, accompanied by session musicians
Winds of Change
  • Released: September 1967
  • Label: MGM (E/SE-4484)
  • Format: mono/stereo LP
42 23 26
  • First full LP featuring the new lineup of Burdon, Jenkins,
    Weider, Briggs, and McCullough
1968 The Twain Shall Meet
  • Released: April 1968
  • Label: MGM (E/SE-4537)
  • Format: mono/stereo LP
79 48 84
Every One of Us
  • Released: August 1968
  • Label: MGM (SE-4553)
  • Format: stereo LP
152 107 -
  • Band becomes a sextet with the addition of Zoot Money
    (credited as George Bruno)
Love Is
  • Released: December, 1968
  • Label: MGM (SE-4591-2)
  • Format: stereo LP
123 96 94
  • 2 record set. Band becomes a quintet again with departure of Briggs and McCullough
    and addition of future Police member Andy Summers; Zoot Money now official member
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

Compilation albums

Year Album details Peak Chart Positions Notes
US
[4]
Record World [5] Cash

box

[6]

UK
[3]
The Animals
1966 The Best of the Animals
  • Released: February 1966
  • Label: MGM (E/SE-4324)
  • Format: Mono/Stereo LP
6 4 5
  • First LP to feature new keyboardist Dave Rowberry in the photos
1966 The Most of the Animals
  • Released: February 1966
  • Label: Columbia (SX-6035)
  • Format: Mono/Stereo LP
4
Eric Burdon and the Animals
1967 The Best of Eric Burdon and the Animals Vol. II
  • Released: June 1967
  • Label: MGM (E/SE-4454)
  • Format: Mono/Stereo LP
48 54 Features tracks from the three previous lineups and the recent single from the new lineup of Burdon, Barry Jenkins, John Weider, Vic Briggs, and Danny McCullough
1969 The Greatest Hits of Eric Burdon and the Animals
  • Released: March 1969
  • Label: MGM (SE-4602)
  • Format: Stereo LP

Non-LP U.S. single B-sides

  • "I'm Going to Change the World" (B-side of "It's My Life")
  • "Ain't That So" (B-side of "Monterey")

Off-sequence albums

These albums are principally a continuing re-release of a set of live recordings from Club A Go-Go, Newcastle, 1963, either solely The Animals or The Animals and Sonny Boy Williamson II. The track listing for the all-Animals set is generally all of or a selection from "Let It Rock", "Gotta Find My Baby", "Bo Diddley", "Dimples", "Boom Boom" "C Jam Blues" and "Almost Grown". The recordings were made in December, 1963 by Giorgio Gomelsky and involved seven live tracks of the Animals alone and eleven tracks with the Animals backing Sonny Boy Williamson.[8]

  • The Animals (September 1964, Canada (Capitol T-6092)
  • British Go Go (January/1965)
  • In the Beginning (Live, 1965)
  • Wild Animals (Decca,[9] 1966)
  • Rock Generation Vol. 2 (BYG 529 702, 1973)—The Animals at the Club A Gogo, Newcastle, 1963
  • Rock Generation Vol. 4 (BYG 529 704, 1973)—more of the same, joined by Sonny Boy Williamson
  • Night Time Is the Right Time (Springboard 4065, year uncertain) with Sonny Boy Williamson
  • Live (Woodford, 1991)A
  • In the Beginning: Live in 1963 (Sundazed, 1994)B
  • Almost Grown (Pazzazz, 2006)C
  • The Animals with Sonny Boy Williamson (Charly, 2006)D
  • Live at the Club A Go-Go (Hallmark, 2008)

Reunion albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Notes
US
[4]
UK
[3]
CAN
[10]
NZL
[11]
The Original Animals
1977 Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted
  • Released: August 1977
  • Label: Jet
  • Format: LP
70 84 24 First album after 9 years
The Animals
1983 Ark
  • Released: August 1983
  • Label: Castle
  • Format: LP
66

Post-lifetime compilation and reissue albums

  • Best of the Animals (ABKCO 4426, 1973, two-LP set)
  • Best of the Animals (Springboard 4025, 1973)
  • Best of the Animals (ABKCO 4324—1 LP, first U.S. compilation to feature the UK "correct" version of "We Gotta Get Out of This Place") (1975)
  • The Best of the Animals (ABKCO, 1988)
  • The Complete Animals (EMI, 1990)
  • The Best of Eric Burdon and the Animals 1966–1968 (Polygram, 1991)E
  • Original Hits (Disky, 1995)F
  • The Best of the Animals (EMI, 1997)
  • The Best of the Animals (Liberty, 2000)[12]
  • The Best of Eric Burdon and the Animals (Universal, 2001)G
  • Interesting Life (2003)
  • Complete French EP 1964/1967 (2003)
  • Retrospective (2004)
  • The Hits (2010)[13]

Extended plays

Year EP details Comments
1964 The Animals is Here
  • Released: December 1964
  • Label: Columbia (SEG 8374)
  • Format: 7" 45 RPM
  • Debut EP released, but not the first recorded.
The Animals
  • Released: March 1965
  • Label: Columbia (SEG 8400)
  • Format: 7" 45 RPM
1965 The Animals No. 2
  • Released: July 1965
  • Label: Columbia (SEG 8439)
  • Format: 7" 45 RPM
Animal Tracks
  • Released: September 1965
  • Label: Columbia (SEG 8499)
  • Format: 7" 45 RPM
In the Beginning There Was Early Animals
  • Released: 1966
  • Label: Decca (DFE 8643)
  • Format: 7" 45 RPM
  • First recorded EP, but last released. It is also their first record, recorded 1963.

Singles

Year Title (A-side) Peak chart positions U.S. Record Label B-side
From same album as A-side except where indicated
Album
UK US US
Main.
AUS NOR CAN GER NLD SWE
1964 "Baby Let Me Take You Home" 21 102 MGM Records "Gonna Send You Back to Walker" The Animals
"The House of the Rising Sun" 1 1 2 1 10 5 4 "Talkin' 'Bout You"
"Gonna Send You Back to Walker" 57 25 "Baby Let Me Take You Home" (A-side)
"I'm Crying" 8 19 40 44 "Take It Easy" The Animals on Tour
1965 "Boom Boom" 43 39 14 "Blue Feeling" The Animals
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" 3 15 29 4 26 7 "Club A-GoGo" Animal Tracks
"Bring It On Home to Me" 7 32 42 7 3 1 "For Miss Caulker"
"We Gotta Get out of This Place" 2 13 49 33 31 12 6 "I Can't Believe It"
"It's My Life" 7 23 10 5 12 3 "I'm Going to Change the World" (Non-LP track) The Best of The Animals
1966 "Inside-Looking Out" 12 34 20 34 24 14 "You're on My Mind" Animalization
"Don't Bring Me Down" 6 12 20 3 17 15 16 "Cheating"
"See See Rider" 10 9 1 "She'll Return It"
"Help Me Girl" 14 29 18 33 "That Ain't Where It's At" Eric Is Here
1967 "When I Was Young" 45 15 2 31 9 "A Girl Named Sandoz" The Best of Eric Burdon and The Animals Vol. II
"San Franciscan Nights" 7 9 9 1 20 5 "Good Times" Winds of Change
"Good Times" 20 "San Franciscan Nights" (A-side)
"Monterey" 15 9 3 37 17 "Ain't That So" (Non-LP track) The Twain Shall Meet
"Anything" 80 65 "It's All Meat" Winds of Change
1968 "Sky Pilot" 40 14 7 7 "Sky Pilot (Part Two)" The Twain Shall Meet
"White Houses" 67 66 "River Deep – Mountain High" (from Love Is) Every One of Us
1969 "Ring of Fire" 35 8 2 "I'm An Animal" Love Is
1972 "The House of the Rising Sun" 25 ABKCO Records "Bring It On Home to Me"
1982 "The House of the Rising Sun" 11
1983 "The Night" 48 34 I.R.S. Records "No John No" Ark
"Love Is for All Time" "It's Too Late"

Explanatory notes

A.^ The cover is original Animals lineup that made the recordings. No identification of recordings as being 1963. Licensed from Disky Music; Disky ownership interest uncertain. Five songs only, excluding "Let It Rock" and "C Jam Blues".
B.^ As described by reviewer Bruce Eder, "Recorded in December of 1963 at a live concert, this CD captures the Animals at their rawest and most animated on record, ripping ferociously through a bunch of standards (by Chuck Berry, James B. Odom, et al.), playing the crowd and making snide comments about their London rivals The Rolling Stones, all with Sonny Boy Williamson II hanging somewhere around the stage. Sundazed has actually found the original master to this oft-bootlegged piece of rock/blues history."[14]
C.^ The album contains uncredited liner notes describing the early history of The Animals and the December 1963 recording by Giorgio Gomelsky. There is no indication on cover that the 2006 release is the 1963 live recording. The cover photo includes Dave Rowberry, who did not join the band until 1965, rather than Alan Price.
D.^ In fact being the seven live recordings of The Animals without Sonny Boy Williamson.
E.^ The album includes detailed liner notes by Rob Lipshutz; includes unedited single version of "Monterey", included on an album for the first time. Previous album inclusions, from the time of The Twain Shall Meet, involved fade-in intro; see Lipshutz liner notes.
F.^ Eighteen songs from the 1964–1965 period, licensed from EMI.
G.^ The album of ten tracks, principally 1967–1968 material, featuring the "new" Animals, yet the cover is of the 1963–1965 lineup with Alan Price. Also includes "Shake" and "All Night Long" from 1966. No liner notes, production details or recording times. Contains three actual "hits"—"Monterey", "Sky Pilot" and "San Franciscan Nights". "Sky Pilot" is the abridged, single version, though not so indicated.

Citations

  1. Muze article, "Best of The Animals (Abkco)", Tower Records. Accessed 4 May 2007.
  2. The Book of Golden Disks, Joseph Murrells. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  3. "Artist Chart History: Animals". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  4. "The Animals: Charts & Awards – Billboard Albums". Allmusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  5. "RECORD WORLD MAGAZINE: 1942 to 1982". www.americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  6. "CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Archive of all issues from1942 to 1996". www.americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  7. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  8. Uncredited, Liner Notes to Almost Grown, Pazzazz Records, 2006
  9. http://www.allmusic.com/album/wild-animals-r29134
  10. "Canadian Charts". CRIA. Archived from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  11. "New Zealand Chart". charts.nz. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  12. http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-best-of-the-animals-liberty-r2062374
  13. http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-hits-r2147515
  14. Review of In the Beginning; www.allmusic.com.
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