“Outstripped the Stones and The Beatles”: The best of the British invaders, according to Eric Burdon
Like the fog of the Tyne in their Newcastle hometown, there was a hardy mysticism to The Animals.
The band might’ve seemed unassuming on the surface. They were a picture of working-class, rock ‘n’ roll, ragtag lads, but when they began playing, a brooding energy arose. From the opening notes of ‘House of the Rising Sun’, a depth of darkness is eminently apparent.
This unique, mythical majesty transformed rock ‘n’ roll. They became the band that Bob Dylan studied as he moved towards electricity more radically than an Amish escapee, blending the lore and magic of folk with the pop and fizz of rock.
Their more bedevilled sound was traceable in The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and others, too. They were, in fact, arguably the most unique of the British invasion bands when they first headed over to the States, ditching the teenybopper sentiment in favour of something closer to the theosophy of all the shadows and secrets that surrounded the story of Robert Johnson.
”I thought that we were darker than any of the other bands initially,” Burdon admitted in an interview with SongFacts. This provided them with a unique edge that, in time, their peers would look to match. However, Burdon also laments that as their fellow British invaders caught up with their sense of originality, The Animals, ironically, lost sight of it.
“I don’t think that The Animals got a chance to evolve,” he conceded. “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.”
However, there was one band he said always retained an originality worth being proud of. “I thought The Kinks were fantastic,” he opined. “Their attitude outstripped the Stones and the Beatles.” It’s a statement as bold as his brash accent. But there’s no doubting their attitude was a thing to behold.
Indeed, among the batch of brilliant British invaders, The Kinks were the group that didn’t attempt to be anything other than themselves. Perhaps that’s why they weren’t quite as potent a creative force in the States, though they were also banned from touring their too, which had a notable impact.
However, that unfortunate circumstance instilled in them a great desire to reflect the world around them in Blighty with blistering sincerity. While they rattled off rousing anthems about cricket greens, while slashing amps to create a proto-heavy metal sound, they made no secret of their internal bickering, and it imbued them with something sharply different. This potent recipe came together to give The Kinks a searing cutting-edge that clearly Burdon was bowled over by.
Interestingly, Pete Townshend offers an outside perspective on the kinship between The Kinks and The Animals. The Who guitarist commented, “The only other two bands at the time [besides The Beatles and The Rolling Stones] that I think were really important were The Animals and The Kinks.“
He continued, “The Animals because a lot of people forget how early they got into America. They were the second band to follow The Beatles in and they were huge. I think it really did adversely affect them, because they were a really good, solid R&B band. I think the pressure that was on them was just huge. And I don’t think Eric (Burdon) recovered.”
