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Hilton Valentine RIP


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Original Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine has passed away. He will be forever remembered for his arpeggiated Gretsch guitar introduction on "House of the Rising Sun". He was also notable for his playing on several other Animals recordings including "Don't Let Me Be Understood", "We Gotta Get Out of this Place", "It's My Life", "Don't Bring Me Down", "Boom Boom", "Baby Let Me Take You Home", "Inside Looking Out", "Shake", "I'm Crying'", "Cheating", "See See Rider", and many others.
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Rest in Peace Hilton Valentine...All of the songs listed in the OP are some of my all time favorites and the Animals are one of my all time favorite bands. The guitar work was legendary and original adding to the history of rock and roll bringing the British invasion to the States. The Animals were big fans of Bo Diddley and the Bo Diddley beat. All of the instruments in the band added to their legendary sound and I can name that tune in very few notes. Thanks Hilton...you were like Scotty Moore on the Elvis records backing up and writing the guitar parts for Eric and making guitar history! Like George Harrison, Hilton was instrumental in bringing the 12 and 6 string Rickenbacker sound to rock and roll.. :cool:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilton_Valentine

Take care, Larryz
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On several occasions in 2000 I got to play keys (Vox Continental) with Hilton on most of The Animals repertoire. Any guitarist can play "House of the Rising Sun" but there was a certain magic when Hilton played it. I also got to meet Dave Rowberry, John Steel, and Jim Rodford who Hilton was playing with at the time. I kept in touch with Hilton over the years and he was always willing to answer my many questions regarding his days with The Animals.
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On several occasions in 2000 I got to play keys (Vox Continental) with Hilton on most of The Animals repertoire. Any guitarist can play "House of the Rising Sun" but there was a certain magic when Hilton played it. I also got to meet Dave Rowberry, John Steel, and Jim Rodford who Hilton was playing with at the time. I kept in touch with Hilton over the years and he was always willing to answer my many questions regarding his days with The Animals.

That's fantastic! Very cool. And you're right, it's not just about being able to play a given passage more or less correctly, it's about the feel, the attitude, the "certain magic", musicality- the simplest of phrases as well as the more difficult are either played with that, or they are lacking there. Hilton played it like he meant it, and meant it like he played it, and gave that to the world.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

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I almost always use "House of the Rising Sun" to try out new guitars, and also to work on my singing-while-playing and walking-bass-lines-while comping-or-soloing.

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Like Caevan says, there is an entire generation of Guitarists who started out learning, or trying to learn, that arrangement of "House of the Rising Sun"; as the lyric says, I'm one. I can still remember sitting with a couple of other kids, and our cheap-o Guitars - mine came from Lafayette Radio Electronics - practicing that song.

 

Its worth noting that the Guitar part requires playing slow, even arpeggios in 3/4 time. That was a good bit of technique to absorb as a first tune. Rest in power, sir, and many, many thanks.

"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King

 

http://www.novparolo.com

 

https://thewinstonpsmithproject.bandcamp.com

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Like Caevan says, there is an entire generation of Guitarists who started out learning, or trying to learn, that arrangement of "House of the Rising Sun"; as the lyric says, I'm one. I can still remember sitting with a couple of other kids, and our cheap-o Guitars - mine came from Lafayette Radio Electronics - practicing that song.

 

Its worth noting that the Guitar part requires playing slow, even arpeggios in 3/4 time. That was a good bit of technique to absorb as a first tune. Rest in power, sir, and many, many thanks.

 

Just my 2 cents but I would say that the tempo was moderately fast but now that "sweeping" is a thing maybe it's not.

I would not say that playing the arpeggios was even so much as "consistent" since there is just a smidge more time in between the first and second note of each arpeggio than there is for the rest of the notes. That's what gives it that "feel".

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Hilton may not know it, as I never knew it for several decades, but his 1964 Am version of House of the Rising Sun must have inspired Sam The Sham and the Pharos. Their 1966 Em original of Little Red Riding Hood uses the same chords! I love doing the little bass runs with the arpeggios and I like singing House of the Rising Sun in Em. The Am (Eric's version) is a little too high in register for my vocals. I think Dylan did his version in 1961 sans arpeggios...Hilton Valentine's guitar work will always rule on House of the Rising Sun IMHO... :cool:
Take care, Larryz
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Songwriter Graham Gouldman has cited "House of the Rising Sun" as the melancholy minor key inspiration for his 60s hits such as "For Your Love", "Heart Full of Soul". "Evil Hearted You", "No Milk Today", "Bus Stop", and "Look Through Any Window".

 

Tom Petty was a big fan of The Animals covering their songs in live shows and playing their records on his Buried Treasure radio show. Compare "Breakdown" to The Animals "Cheating".

 

[video:youtube]

[video:youtube]

C3/122, M102A, Vox V301H, Farfisa Compact, Gibson G101, GEM P, RMI 300A, Piano Bass, Pianet , Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, Matrix 12, OB8, Korg MS20, Jupiter 6, Juno 60, PX-5S, Nord Stage 3 Compact
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Here is more of Hilton with the Rick. Hilton was still performing this song when I played with him. BTW, The Animals were the first band to have a Fender Rhodes Electric Piano seen here in 1965 for the first time on national TV. Dave Rowberry had replaced original member Alan Price on Keys.

[video:youtube]

 

Here he is with a teardrop-shaped Vox 12-string.

[video:youtube]

 

He plays a Telecaster here. By this time John Steel had left the band and was replace by Barry Jenkins previously with The Nashville Teens. Hilton was playing a red Telecaster with a Vox amp in 2000. He said after The Animals made it big he never had to buy instruments as they were given to him by the manufacturers.

[video:youtube]

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