Members in the Kansas City Five included
Alan Price, drummer John Steel
and vocalist Eric Burden. In 1962, Price left to
join the Kontours, while
Burdon went off to London. The Kontours, whose
membership included Bryan
"Chas" Chandler, later evolved into the Alan
Price R&B Combo, with John
Steel playing drums.

Burdon's return to Newcastle in early 1963
marked his return to the
lineup. The last member of the group, guitarist
Hilton Valentine, joined in
time for the recording of a self-produced EP
under the band's new name, the
Animals. The band's Columbia debut single "Baby
Let Me Take You Home,"
created in a studio session in 1964, rose to
number twenty-one on the
British Charts.

The group's next single, entitled "House of
the Rising Sun," came about
through Josh White. The song, with its new
guitar riff by Valentine and a
soulful organ accompaniment devised by Price,
soared to the top of charts in
the U.K. and United States early that summer.
The band's success
subsequently gave rise to a session that yielded
the first long-playing
record, The Animals.

Alan Price left the band in May of 1965.
More lineup changes followed.

"Don't Bring Me Down" marked the end of the
Animals.