Rising Sun riff writer dies at 77
THE Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine, who wrote one of the most recognisable riffs in rock music, has died at his home in America aged 77.
No cause of death was revealed by his wife Germaine, who announced his passing via the record label of the iconic group he co-founded in Newcastle in 1963.
He then helped turn the band into worldwide stars with the following year’s release of House Of The Rising Sun.
The Animals’ electric version of a little-known traditional folk song about a brothel in New Orleans became an immediate classic, as well as a number one hit around the world.
It was recorded on May 18, in just one take, and was driven by 20-year-old Valentine’s powerhouse intro – an arpeggio in A minor played on his Gretsch Tennessean – and the deep, blues-rock voice of fellow Geordie Eric Burdon.
Yesterday Burdon, 79, and past and present members of The Animals – who were touring in Europe before the pandemic hit – paid tribute to their former bandmate.
They said: “We, along with all of the music world, mourn the loss of Hilton Valentine, a founding member of The Animals. He was a pioneering guitar player, influencing the sound of rock’n’roll for decades to come.”
The musician and songwriter enjoyed a string of other big hits with the band, including We Gotta Get Out Of This Place and Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, before moving to California to pursue a solo career after the original line-up dissolved in 1966.
Despite only limited success on his own, he and the band’s founders – Burdon, Chas Chandler, Alan Price and John Steel – were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and Hollywood’s Rockwalk of Fame seven years later.
Valentine – who was so protective of his privacy it is not widely known when he and Germaine married or if he has other surviving family members – later moved to Connecticut, and issued a folk/skiffle album.
Recalling The Animals, he once said: “We were having so much fun, we just knew we were going to make it.those were really great times.”