OT: RIP Hilton Valentine, Guitarist and Co-Founding Member of The Animals
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/hilton-valentine-guitarist-the-animals-died-cause/amp/
While I know that many on the board won't recognize the name Hilton Valentine (and it's possible some here don't even know who The Animals are), it immediately caught my eye when I saw his name on my news feed earlier today.
The Animals, you see, was the very first British Invasion Band I really closely followed. I never got all that much into The Beatles even though my older sister liked their early stuff until switching to all Monkees (especially Davy) all of the time.
The Animals were not a "pretty" band. Their sound had much more an edge to it than anything else (except maybe The Stones) I listened to back then on AM radio . Nobody had a sound anything close to as gritty as that of The Animals, including any American bands I recall from that period when I first started listening, 1965 and beyond.
Thanks to Hilton Valentine and Eric Burdon and the rest of the band, I was discovering the blues, even if I didn't know it at the time. It wasn't so much original blues as it was a recycled version known as British Blues, but it opened that door for me. And I still love and listen often, to this very day, to the blues.
Rest in Peace, Hilton Valentine, and thanks for all the wonderful music, especially back When I Was Young.
January 31st, 2021 at 6:15 PM ^
The Animals definitely had a lot of soul for a white, British band. Probably their two most well known songs were both covers of Nina Simone songs, this one being my favorite:
February 1st, 2021 at 7:27 AM ^
My favorite song of all time. RIP
January 31st, 2021 at 6:30 PM ^
I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
January 31st, 2021 at 7:38 PM ^
Oh lord, pleas don't be misunderstood.
January 31st, 2021 at 8:06 PM ^
Yeah, I guess he thought I've gotta get out of this place, if it's the last thing I ever do...
RIP Hilton, love the Animals!
January 31st, 2021 at 9:43 PM ^
I read earlier today that The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, admitted "stealing" Valentine's guitar riff
from this song and incorporating it heavily in his song "Badlands".
I've got Springsteen's "Darkness On the Edge Of Town" album but somehow never realized this.
January 31st, 2021 at 6:50 PM ^
RIP Hilton. I'm a huge fan.
January 31st, 2021 at 7:05 PM ^
RIP Hilton, thank you for your awesomeness. Always will love the Animals.
January 31st, 2021 at 7:24 PM ^
Here's a very well-written obit on Hilton Valentine from the Washington Post:
January 31st, 2021 at 7:27 PM ^
Trivia likely known to the OP: I think Andy Summers of The Police played with a later version of The Animals in the late '60s.
He's pushing 80, btw, which blows my mind a little bit.
January 31st, 2021 at 8:56 PM ^
Yep, I knew Andy Summers was with them for an album or two after Valentine left, but until you posted his approximate age, I didn't realize he was older than Valentine by a couple years. When he was with The Police, he looked like the youngest member of that band.
January 31st, 2021 at 7:44 PM ^
https://theconcertdatabase.com/artists/animals
These are all of the Animals Detroit shows, I saw them at Royal Oak Music Theater
January 31st, 2021 at 9:25 PM ^
Lucky guy, I didn't see them until several years ago in South Bend and then a few years later at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, and I am pretty sure Hilton Valentine wasn't with Eric Burdon either time. Back in the 60s in the heyday of the group (before The Animals disbanded and Burdon fronted the band War) I wasn't even in high school yet.
January 31st, 2021 at 8:09 PM ^
I love the Animals as a kid, they spoke to my angst better than the rest of the British Invasion. All their catalog was good, no filler. Hilton’s intro to It’s My Life was solid. RIP, Mr: Valentine.
February 1st, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
Another original member of the Animals, Chas Chandler, was instrumental in the career of Jimi Hendrix.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chas_Chandler#Jimi_Hendrix_and_Slade