Don't Bring Me Down

You've got to create a dream. You've got to uphold the dream. If not you should go back to the factory or go back to the desk. No truer were words turned lyrical poetics from one of the hardest working bands out of England from their time, The Animals. Some say to be accurate, Eric Burdon and the Animals.

Just exactly what this band was to not only the music industry but show business and entertainment itself is crazy to believe unannounced and largely outcast to rock folklore. After the demise of a once staple of revolutionary British culture, a few reunions and individual success of new bands like War or Eric Burdon and War and various other solo projects, the band finally has it's place. The toxic wasteland of promise to burnout did not bring them down. For the better part of the late 60's this band climbed the highest of highs and while one of the more underrated sounds you could say in many ways this was one of the top three most influential bands that we knew of the British invasion. Next to the raw, flamboyant voodoo fashion to a mick jagger with the eccentric and stylish Richards or the love-laced truth behind a McCartney, they earned a name for their honesty.

Even during years where it was a theatrical nightmare with contracts from sly salesmen in the music business to drug-fueled grudges their sound did not waiver but rather shifted with the times in a more free world post War War II. Originally the Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo, they soon gained a lavish, charismatic new singer who would help shake up the rock world and pop culture from 1962 to present day, Eric Burdon.

The band would enjoy success with their most popular release "House of the rising sun." Other hits like "I'm Crying," "Don't Bring me Down" "Baby Let me Take You Home" would keep them on the charts consistently in the 60s. After a few lineup changes, they would maintain an image but with a more grooving, psychedelic sound. Eventually, Burdon would become his own man in the business and the group kept the sound alive even without the foundation anymore.

Today, the band rests a classic. Disbanded officially since 1984, they were inducted into the Rock Walk of Fame in 2001 on Burdon's 60th birthday. What they are remains to be seen for future generations but one could be confident with a legacy like theirs, never just only "musical prostitutes."