The Animals

The Animals is the self-titled American debut album from British invasion group, The Animals. Released in late summer 1964, the album introduced the States to the “drawling, dirty R&B sound (with the emphasis on the B)” that typified the group. The album featured many R&B standards, written by the likes of Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and John Lee Hooker, as well as the classic #1 hit single “House of the Rising Sun”, here presented in its truncated-for-radio form (it would be restored to full length on the February 1966 compilation The Best of The Animals).

The British album The Animals was released a month later, the group’s debut album there albeit with substantially differing contents.