Hilton Valentine, Animals guitarist who played the famous intro to House of the Rising Sun – obituary
Their rendition of the folk song about a New Orleans brothel sparked a run of success that made the band stars on both sides of the Atlantic
Hilton Valentine in 1965
Credit: Monitor Picture Library/Avalon
Hilton Valentine, who has died aged 77, was the original guitarist with the Animals, who strode out of the North East into the forefront of the English pop invasion of the US; his intro to their first and biggest hit, House of the Rising Sun, became arguably the most famous arpeggio in the history of popular music.
Hilton Valentine, the founding guitarist of the English rock and roll band the Animals who is credited with coming up with one of the most famous opening riffs of the 1960s, has died. He was 77.
The band’s label ABKCO Music confirmed that Valentine died Friday, saying it was informed of his death by his wife, Germaine Valentine. The cause of death was not given.
“Valentine was a pioneering guitar player influencing the sound of rock and roll for decades to come,” the label said in a statement.
Valentine took up the guitar at 13 in his hometown of North Shields in northeast England, subsequently getting involved in the skiffle craze a kind of fusion of American folk, country, jazz and blues that was sweeping the U.K. His skiffle band the Heppers evolved into the Wildcats, a rock and roll band that became popular across the north of England, partly because of Valentine’s habit of rolling on the ground while playing his guitar.
Captured hearts and minds: The Animals
Credit: AP
Bruce Springsteen once claimed he owed his whole career to British beat group, The Animals. Speaking at the SXSW festival in 2012, Springsteen singled out Elvis Presley for igniting his love of rock and roll, Roy Orbison for imbuing him with a sense of musical mystery, Phil Spector for teaching him about the language of sound, The Beatles for showing him the value of a band unit, Bob Dylan for unleashing his inner wordsmith, and James Brown for demonstrating the power of showmanship.
But it was the great bluesy Newcastle combo fronted by Eric Burdon that became the catalyst for his own musical vision. “For me they were a revelation, the first records with full blown class consciousness that I d ever heard, that mirrored my home life.”
How Newcastle band The Animals roared to success at home and in the US, rivalling The Beatles
Following news of the death of guitarist Hilton Valentine, we recall how The Animals became one of Tyneside s finest and most successful musical exports
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