Cut 11 years after the Animals' original lineup recorded their last LP and six years before their more well-remembered reunion tour, this oft-overlooked album is just short of a lost classic; it lacks the intensity of their 1983 studio effort, Ark, but it is more substantial musically than that album and fits in very neatly with their preceding work, as though they'd scarcely skipped a beat. Recorded under the auspices of the late Chas Chandler's Barn Productions, the album was highlighted by a dramatically bluesy rendition of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," boasting superb playing by Alan Price.
Hilton Valentine's soaring guitar pyrotechnics light up "Fire on the Sun," perhaps the flashiest performance of his career for this most introspective of '60s British blues axemen, and "As the Crow Flies" has the group returning to its roots, as a dark, brooding rendition of the Jimmy Reed song that gives room for Chandler, Valentine, Price, and John Steel to show off their '60s-era blues chops in a more expansive form. After a promising start, the gospel number "Many Rivers to Cross" falls apart a bit, but "Just a Little Bit," with its rippling organ break, the group original "Riverside County," and the pounding finale, "The Fool," make the rest of side two eminently enjoyable, although, coming out in the midst of the punk and disco booms, the LP never had a chance to be heard by more than the most dedicated fans.
by Bruce Eder
1964-67 The Animals - The Complete French EP (ten disc edition)
Tracks
1. Brother Bill (The Last Clean Shirt) (Clyde Otis, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) - 3:19
2. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Bob Dylan) - 4:42
3. Fire On The Sun (Shakey Jake) - 2:25
4. As The Crow Flies (Jimmy Reed) - 3:39
5. Please Send Me Someone To Love (Percy Mayfield) - 4:44
6. Many Rivers To Cross (Jimmy Cliff) - 4:11
7. Just A Little Bit (Earl Washington, John Thornton, Piney Brown, Ralph Bass, Sylvester Thompson) - 2:07
8. Riverside County (Alan Price, Chas Chandler, Eric Burdon, Hilton Valentine, John Steel) - 3:47
9. Lonely Avenue (Doc Pomus) - 5:22
10.The Fool (Sanford Clark) - 3:24
The Animals
*Eric Burdon - Vocals
*Hilton Valentine - Guitar
*Alan Price - Keyboards
*Chas Chandler - Bass
*John Steel - Drums
1966 The Animals - Animalism (2014 remaster and expanded)
1967 Eric Is Here
1967 Winds of Change (2013 Double SHM CD)
