When it comes to wild men of rock, they didn’t come any wilder than Newcastle’s Animals and their larger-than-life frontman Eric Burdon.

His distinctive rasp was instrumental in taking the group to the top of the transatlantic charts; 1964’s ‘House Of The Rising Sun’  followed by ‘I’m Crying’, and covers of Nina Simone’s ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’, Sam Cooke’s ‘Bring It On Home To Me’, and Mann & Weil’s ‘We Gotta Get Out Of This Place’.

Despite splitting from his four bandmates in late 1966 and relocating to the USA, Eric retained the group name and put together a different line-up. These New Animals, turned in some searing Acid-Rock in the shape of ‘Spill The Wine’ and ‘San Franciscan Nights’, the latter a paean to Burdon’s adopted home that made the Top Ten Charts on both sides of the Atlantic.