Animals and Friends

Featuring – from the original Animals – John Steel & Mick Gallagher (The Blockheads), Danny Handley and Roberto Ruiz.

In 1964, a wave of new energetic rock and roll swept over the youth of the world. On the crest of this wave was The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and of course The Animals. From the banks of the River Tyne came the North East's offering; a brand of rhythm n blues that the whole world seemed to grasp greedily.

The Animals were the second British band to top the American charts after The Beatles, with the now multi-million selling and legendary anthem, 'House of the Rising Sun'. The band subsequently achieved over twenty global Top Ten hit records, many of which gained the Number One slot in various parts of the world. In Britain alone, the band had no less than twelve chart entries. The Animals were the first British band to tour Poland and Japan.

The enduring influence and breadth of appeal of The Animals’ music continues ever onwards. The Animals 1964 debut was recently included in Classic Rock magazines' feature – "50 Albums That Built Blues Rock".

2012 marked founder member John Steel's 55th year as a performing musician. Back in 1957, he and The Animals co-founder Eric Burdon began plying their trade in and around their native Tyneside, with not the slightest inkling that they would – in a very few years – find themselves part of a group that would be forever bracketed with the very best of British music (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds) and respected all over the world.

Animals & Friends recent "Prehistoric" album features recordings of the songs that so inspired John Steel and Eric Burdon as they grew up on Tyneside.