Original animal guitarist Hilton Valentine dies at 77

Hilton Valentine, the original guitarist of the Animals, whose characteristic intro to the single “The House of the Rising Sun” in 1964 was an important part of the British invasion, has died today (January 29, 2021). His death at age 77 was announced by Germaine. Neither the cause of death nor the location has been disclosed, although he has lived in the city of Wallingford, Conn. For several decades.

Valentine was born on May 21, 1943 in Hilton Stewart Paterson Valentine in what was then Northumberland, England. As with many young men in Britain in the 1950s, the skiffle fad hit him hard and his mother bought his first guitar in 1956 at the age of 13. He immediately learned himself from a book called Teach yourself a thousand chords and around the time he was orphaned at the age of 16, he formed his own skiffle orchestra called the Heppers, which played locally in halls and outdoor venues.

The Heppers eventually evolved into a rock and roll orchestra, the Wildcats, with Valentine’s best friend, Tappy Wright, on rhythm guitar. When the group turns out to be popular, take the next step and record an acetate LP Sounds of the wild cats [sic], which is probably the first and only pre-Animals music recorded by any of the original groups.

Valentine’s Day was known for ripping off his shirt and falling to the ground while weeping away on his guitar. In 1963, bassist Chas Chandler heard of a wild guitarist from the Wildcats. He liked what he heard, and he, keyboardist Alan Price, and singer Eric Burdon asked Valentine to join the new band. Drummer John Steel joined shortly afterwards and the group of five members soon changed its name to The animals.

After the animals entered the studio, the guitar took off behind the seat to Price’s hook-laden keyboard. They teamed up with producer Mickie Most for their debut in 1964. The band performed a cover of the standard ‘The House of the Rising Sun’ with an arrangement attributed to Price. Although Most was initially reluctant to take it up, he conceded. The launch of the song features Valentine’s famous A minor chord arpeggio in front of Burdon’s growling voice and Price’s swirling organ. The survey was a pivotal climax of the British map before arriving in the US as part of the British invasion. It also conquered America and the no. 1 range.

Related: The rights to publish the song have sparked some controversy

Within the next year, the band followed it up with a # 8 British single, “I’m Crying”, as well as four others that reached the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic: “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, “” Bring it home to me, “” We have to get out of this place, “and” This is my life. “

The Animals seems to be a popular concert attraction, with Valentine’s friend and former bandmate Tappy Wright as their road manager.

Look they performed ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’ in 1965

Hilton played with the Animals until their release in September 1966. (At that time, Burdon was continuing with a new series introduced as Eric Burdon and the Animals.) In 1970, Valentine recorded a solo album of what some people call psychedelic folk music. Everything in your head.

Valentine has reunited with the original series of animals several times since the split. The first occasion was for a benefit concert in Newcastle in 1968. In 1977 they took the Before we were interrupted so raw LP. And in 1983 they recorded a studio LP, Ark, followed by a world tour and subsequent biggest hits Live album, also known as Tear it to shreds.

In 1994, Valentine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Animals. Later that year, he resumed playing Animal Music and touring until 2001. In 2001, he was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the other Animals and had a two-night reunion concert at the El Rey Theater.

Recently, Burdon spoke to Guitar International about the role Valentine played in bringing out the animals’ loud sound. ‘It was really Hilton who made the early Animals a rock band, because I don’t think the element of rock was in the band until we found him. In those days, Hilton not only played rock ‘n roll, he looked like rock’ n roll. Here was a guy with the smeared mop hair combed back, cheap leather jacket, winkle plucker shoes, black jeans and a smile on his face playing through an echoplex, which was a secret weapon at the time. ‘

Look Valentine performs the animals’ number 1 single

Since 2004, Valentine has been concentrating on acoustic material and releasing several albums under the name Skiffledog. He also toured with original singer Eric Burdon from 2007-2008.

Chandler died in 1996 at the age of 57.

In announcing the departure of Valentine via Abkco Records, the label states: “We are privileged to serve as stewards of The Animals catalog and his passing is felt in a profound way by the entire Abkco family.”