The Animals surgió a principios de los años 60 en Newcastle, Inglaterra. Eric Burdon, con una voz potente y distintiva, fue el líder del grupo. Junto a él estaban Alan Price en los teclados, Chas Chandler en el bajo, Hilton Valentine en la guitarra y John Steel en la batería. Con su formación, se consolidaron como una de las bandas más influyentes de la British Invasion.
En 1964, The Animals lanzaron su versión de "House of the Rising Sun", una balada tradicional estadounidense que se convirtió en un éxito instantáneo. El sencillo se disparó al número uno en las listas británicas y estadounidenses, catapultando al grupo a la fama internacional. Otros éxitos como "It's My Life", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" y "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" consolidaron su estatus en la escena del rock y el R&B.
The Animals se destacaron por su capacidad para fusionar el blues, el rock y el R&B. Influenciados por artistas estadounidenses como Nina Simone y John Lee Hooker, lograron captar la esencia cruda y emotiva de estos géneros. La voz inconfundible de Eric Burdon y el característico órgano Hammond de Alan Price se convirtieron en los sellos distintivos de su sonido.
A pesar de su éxito, el grupo no estuvo exento de dificultades. En 1965, Alan Price dejó la banda debido a diferencias personales y profesionales. Fue reemplazado por Dave Rowberry, pero la
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I was once out strolling one very hot summer's day
When I thought I'd lay myself down to rest in a bit field of tall grass.
I lay there in the sun and felt it caressing my face.
As I fell asleep and dreamed,
I dreamed I was in a Hollywood movie,
And that I was the star of the movie.
This really blew my mind,
The fact that me, an overfed, long-haired, leaping gnome,
Should be the star of a Hollywood movie...
But there I was....
I was taken to a place, the hall of the mountain kings.
I stood high upon a mountain top, naked to the world,
In front of every kind of girl...
There was long ones, tall ones, short ones,
Brown ones, black ones, round ones, big ones, crazy ones...
Out of the middle, came a lady,
She whispered in my ear something crazy,
She said...
"Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl,"
I thought to myself what could that mean?
Am I going crazy or is this just a dream?
Now, wait a minute,
I know I'm lying in a field of grass somewhere,
So it's all in my head,
And then...I heard her say one more time...
"Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl,"
I could feel hot flames of fire roaring at my back
As she disappeared, but soon she returned.
In her hand was a bottle of wine, in the other, a glass.
She poured some of the wine from the bottle into the glass,
And raised it to her lips,
And just before she drank it, she said...
"Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl,
Spill the wine and take that pearl,"
(Burdon)