The Animals song Eric Burdon is most proud of: “More than just a song about love”
The Animals, fronted by Eric Burdon but backed by a plethora of esteemed musicians, may well be one of the most overlooked influencers of the bustling 1960s. The group were a deadpan triumph during the decade as they covered some of the forgotten blues hits of the day and turned them into pop smashes. While they will always be remembered for their triumphant cover ‘House of the Rising Sun’, their penchant for covers may have also tarnished their legacy.
The band are now somewhat overlooked because of their preference for covers over writing original material. Their first three UK releases, The Animals in 1964, Animal Tracks from 1965 and 1966’s Animalisms contained just three original tunes. As the world became inundated with groups who not only performed the music but wrote their songs too, The Animals began to fall a little by the wayside as they chose to cover tracks by Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and John Lee Hooker instead.
Of course, that’s not to dismiss the records or The Animals. Alongside Chas Chandler, Burdon would become one of the most familiar faces of the decade and certainly one of the most celebrated vocalists. His deeply alluring singing voice would provide a unique viewpoint on some of the blues standards the group would pick up, meaning that they often felt like the original writers. However, there is a certain pride one feels when performing one’s own work, and that was the case for Burdon, too.
In a conversation with Songfacts, the singer noted how one of his favourite songs from The Animals catalogue was one he had written himself. Picking out the song he was “most proud” of, he selected the 1967 hit ‘Anything’ from the Winds of Change record. The album would be released under the moniker ‘Eric Burdon and The Animals’, as, by 1966, the original incarnation of The Animals had split. Chas Chandler left the group to provide his own impact on music — discovering and proliferating the legendary Jimi Hendrix.
Those two men would have themselves a considerably busy year. For those aware of the subcultural swing at the time, 1967 is often considered the ‘summer of love’, and clearly, Burdon was in full agreement with the wave of hippiedom sweeping across the world.
“I wrote a song called ‘Anything’ that’s a Love-Generation song,” he told the publication. Rather than be a simple love song, the track meant a universal affection, as he explained: “It’s more than just a song about a love for your woman; it’s about love for everything, from the Earth to your friends, and even your enemies.”
It’s a reminder of just how powerful The Animals could have been had they let themselves mature into the songwriters they could have been. “I don’t think that The Animals got a chance to evolve,” Burdon told Songfacts. “We were the first to admit that we took blues songs from American artists, but if the Animals had stuck together and worked together instead of worrying about who was getting all the money, we could have evolved more and come out with more music to be proud of.”
