The Animals were a blues/rock band from the far North of England (
Newcastle upon Tyne). Like Van Morrison's
Them, they sound mean and direct, quite a difference from the relaxed style of London-based contemporaries such as the
Yardbirds,
Rolling Stones, or
Kinks.
Their breakthrough single, House of the rising sun (1965), is also their best known song, now an evergreen played by every beginning guitarist. Their best work dates from 1966, when they were pioneering rock.
The band collapsed from gross mismanagement.
To quote Chas Chandler:
"We were thrashing around the world, doing more gigs than anybody at the time,
and every time you went to the bank: oooh ... nothing there, you know?
It just seemed futile in the end, really.. [...]
I mean, we split up in September 1966, and I still think
we've done over 200 concerts that year."
Let me put it this way:
when Paul McCartney sings I'm down, he's having fun;
when Mick Jagger sings Heart of stone, he's being naughty;
when Ray Davies sings You really got me, he's trying to make money;
when Eric Burdon sings Don't bring me down, he's in actual pain.