Animals – "Boom Boom" (1965)

I like the way you walk

I like the way you talk

When you walk that walk

And you talk that talk

Most people would agree that if there were a Mount Rushmore for “British Invasion” bands, the four groups represented would be the Beatles, Kinks, Rolling Stones, and Who.

The Animals just miss out.  For one thing, they didn’t stay together as long as those groups – so their musical oeuvre isn’t quite as broad and deep.  They never released an album that purported to be anything more than a collection of singles: there’s no Animals album that’s the equivalent of Sgt. Pepper or Arthur or Let It Bleed or The Who Sell Out.

The Animals performing live in 1965

Second, the Animals didn’t write any of their best singles.  Right or wrong, groups that did mostly covers aren’t given the same regard as groups that wrote their own songs.

But in a span of fourteen months, the Animals released “House of the Rising Sun” (a tour de force version of a traditional folk song) and three great singles written by Brill Building songwriters: “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” and “It’s My Life.”  

I don’t think you can point to four songs by any of the Mount Rushmore groups that match up to those four.  Despite that, most people underrate the Animals.

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Most of the tracks on the Animals’ early albums were blues or R&B covers – including songs previously recorded by Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Reed, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and John Lee Hooker.

Hooker originally recorded today’s featured song in 1961.  The Animals covered “Boom Boom” in 1965.

Click here to listen to the Animals’ cover of “Boom Boom.” 

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