Bringing Out the Animal: Between working at the paper, hanging out with my sister (in town from Cincinnati), co-hosting Tuesday Night Trivia, and having the Grass Roots' "Sooner or Later" run through my head (for good reason -- and, if that ain't a giveaway, "Lovin' Things" is making the rounds too), I'm afraid I've been too busy to update The Dawn Patrol. Now that I'm back at the blog, I guess the best place to begin is with last night's New York Bompstomp at Acme Underground. My friend Michael Lynch (he of the wonderful Gaits of Eden and Dawn Patrol jingles) co-promoted the event with Boston rock journalist Nancy Neon. They named it after the late, lamented Cavestomp concert series and the Bomp List, both of which are well-known to fans of new and vintage '60s-style garage, pop, and psychedelia.
Sadly, I arrived too late for Nancy Neon's group, Thee Psycho Daisies (who, I'm told, did a "heavy" version of the Lemon Pipers' 1968 #1 "Green Tambourine") and even missed most of Michael's set with his band, the Lynchpins. But what I did see...
As I walked in, I could hear the unmistakable, piercing organ tones of the Animals' "I'm Cryin'." It sounded fantastic and very authentic, which didn't surprise me, as I'd seen the Lynchpins perform some covers (like the Stones' "Off the Hook") along with their originals at the Lakeside Lounge last month and I knew they were top-notch performers. Michael had told me to expect "surprises," so I figured he meant they'd do some cool covers, or maybe even a song I'd written (as he's demoed a couple of tunes for me).
There was a good crowd, enough so that I couldn't see right through to the stage when I first entered the room. I approached a stranger and asked him how long the band had been on.
"I don't know," he replied, "but this is their first song with Hilton Valentine."
I pulled my mouth a safe distance away from the man's ear and yelped, "Hilton Valentine?" Then I plowed through to the front of the crowd.
There he was, a high-cheekboned, gangly figure with a healthy head of white hair, strumming a bright red guitar: Hilton Valentine, former member of the Animals, permanent member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Playing with my friend Michael Lynch. How cool is that?
With Michael playing both the Alan Price and Eric Burdon roles (on keyboard and lead vocals, respectively), the augmented Lynchpins followed with two more Animals numbers, "Baby Let Me Take You Home" and "Inside Looking Out." Valentine played perfectly, with spirit and attitude, and his guitar, coming through a Vox AC-30 amp, sounded pure 1965.
After the set, Michael graciously introduced me to Hilton. I didn't know what to say, as I didn't know as much about his career as I do about that of his fellow Animal Alan Price (with whom I conducted an, uh, memorable interview for Goldmine a few years back), so I pretty much just did the fan thing, shaking his hand and telling him that I loved his work. I also asked him if it was true that, as Eric Burdon claims, the Animals' signature tune "House of the Rising Sun" was arranged by the entire group and not just by Price (who took sole credit). He said that it was indeed true. I had thought he would say that -- and what I know about the nature of rock bands' creative processes makes me give it credence -- but it was great to be able to hear it from his own lips.
