{"id":10344,"date":"2026-04-19T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/animals-weve-gotta-get-place-thought-crusade-100296\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T13:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:30:00","slug":"animals-weve-gotta-get-place-thought-crusade-100296","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/animals-weve-gotta-get-place-thought-crusade-100296\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We thought we were on a crusade!\u2019 \u2013 the making of \u2018We\u2019ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place\u2019 by The Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Originally published in Uncut, November 2013
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Originally published in Uncut, November 2013
<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year during his keynote speech at SXSW, Bruce Springsteen announced that \u201cWe\u2019ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place\u201d was \u201cevery song I\u2019ve ever written. All of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Springsteen, who has been performing The Animals\u2019 1965 single for decades, most recently this summer in Cardiff with Eric Burdon, is far from alone in recognising himself in a powerful, protean anthem to personal transformation. This portrait of the tyranny of work, the lurking shadow of death and the desperate desire to escape to \u201ca better life\u201d has spoken to generations. Troops serving in Vietnam, both Gulf Wars and Afghanistan have found perennial solace in its message, as have bored teens, and any number of working-class would-be pop stars from the provinces.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat song was about us,\u201d says Burdon. \u201cWe wanted to get out of Newcastle, then a year later it was London, and then it was New York. We were on a mission. But it also made sense to everybody, because things back then were changing so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

The song started life as a modest piece of escapist folk-pop, written by Brill Building husband-and-wife team Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Originally intended to launch Mann\u2019s solo career, it was swiped by producer Mickie Most. He brought it to The Animals, who turned it into their second biggest hit.<\/p>\n

The combination of Chas Chandler\u2019s propulsive bass, Burdon\u2019s blues wail, the tightly wound tension of the verse and explosive release of the chorus sounds as potent today as it did nearly half a century ago.<\/p>\n

The Key Players<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eric Budon (Vocals)<\/p>\n

Hilton Valentine (Guitar)<\/p>\n

John Steel (Drums)<\/p>\n

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JOHN STEEL<\/strong>: We were looking for a new single. It was Mickie Most\u2019s habit to go over to the States and raid the Brill Building, not just for The Animals but for Herman\u2019s Hermits and people like that. The year before he\u2019d brought over the first single we ever did, \u201cBaby Let Me Take You Home\u201d, which to us was just a new version of \u201cBaby, Let Me Follow You Down\u201d from the first Dylan album. It was a bit on the poppy side, but it did the trick. Mickie was very shrewd. He had a cracking judgement for a hit song.<\/p>\n

HILTON VALENTINE<\/strong>: Mickie\u2019s greatest input to The Animals was the material that he picked for us to record. The verbal deal we had with him was that he would pick the singles and we would have free rein on what went on the albums, although \u201cThe House Of The Rising Sun\u201d came from us. The singles were usually presented to us only a couple of days before we went into the studio. Mickie came up with a few specimens from his latest visit. I can\u2019t remember the others, but \u201c\u2026Place\u201d stood out for us and we went with it.<\/p>\n

ERIC BURDON<\/strong>: There were always songs coming back and forth to us. Sometimes we\u2019d say, \u201cNo, that\u2019s more like Herman Hermits.\u201d Sometimes we\u2019d wait too long and someone else would do it before us. With this one, I think we all knew right away it was right for us.<\/p>\n

VALENTINE<\/strong>: The demo was pretty basic. I think it was just Barry Mann playing and singing the song on piano.<\/p>\n

BURDON<\/strong>: The demo was that West Coast singer-songwriter thing. Barry was playing it alone, serenading. It was much more folky, but straight away it made sense.<\/p>\n

STEEL<\/strong>: The words are what sold it for us. We could honestly identify with the sentiments of the song. We were all working-class Geordies, and Tyneside in the \u201950s when we were all teenagers was a pretty grubby place: coal, steel, shipbuilding. Every building was black, when it rained there was a kind of black slime on the pavements. So we could really identify with the words. Once we got down to London at the end of \u201963 that was our first experience of living in another city, then travelling to New York in \u201964 was like a dream come true to us. That idea of social mobility had just become possible for working-class lads like us.<\/p>\n

VALENTINE<\/strong>: It was pretty obvious that it worked. We were quite unanimous that it was a great song. It had biting lyrics that weren\u2019t bubblegum, they had meaning and depth to them. It\u2019s definitely a working-class background kind of song.<\/p>\n

STEEL<\/strong>: We tried to avoid getting involved in mainstream pop songs. We thought it was a good hard-edged song \u2013 a dark story, like \u201cDon\u2019t Let Me Be Misunderstood\u201d and \u201cIt\u2019s My Life\u201d. So it suited us perfectly.<\/p>\n

BURDON<\/strong>: Back then we thought we were on a crusade. We thought we were bringing something special to people.<\/p>\n

VALENTINE<\/strong>: The arrangements were left up to us. Everybody would chip in when we went into rehearsals and ran through the number. With everybody\u2019s input it just grew from the original, basic idea. We were road-tested, well-oiled. We would run through it in a rehearsal room a few times and then we\u2019d be ready.<\/p>\n

BURDON<\/strong>: We recorded it at De Lane Lea studios, down in this basement in central London. It was Churchill\u2019s old map room, one of his emergency rooms during the war. The recording was pretty much down the line. We were very sure of ourselves, we didn\u2019t need much producing. Mickie Most has become this big legend, but he was learning on the job, really. I\u2019m not doing him down, but he didn\u2019t have to do that much with us. In the beginning, he\u2019d say to Hilton, \u2018Oh, you\u2019ve messed up the guitar, you\u2019ll all have to do it again.\u2019 He didn\u2019t even know that we could overdub! Chas would have to tell him.<\/p>\n

VALENTINE<\/strong>: Mickie did very little. In the studio he just stood and listened while the engineer [Dave Siddle] did the work. He might occasionally suggest something, but back then he was not a hands-on producer.<\/p>\n

STEEL<\/strong>: It was our first single after [keyboard player] Alan Price left. Eric and me had worked with Alan on and off since 1959, we were the core of The Animals, so it was a bit of a wrench, but at the same time it has to be said that Alan was a hard guy to get on with. There was a certain amount of relief.<\/p>\n

VALENTINE<\/strong>: Oh, it was volatile \u2013 many, many ups and downs, a lot of arguments, going at each other hammer and tongs. We were working so hard, in each other\u2019s pockets all the time with constant touring. It was fun but it took its toll. It made us tired and irritable. And there was still plenty more tension to go around after Alan left!<\/p>\n

STEEL<\/strong>: We knew Dave Rowberry from way back. He slotted in very easily. He was a better musician, technically, than Alan, he was more sophisticated, so we moved on without a hitch. And we got on well with him.<\/p>\n

VALENTINE<\/strong>: We thought Dave was really the perfect replacement for Alan Price. They were the same type of players, with jazz backgrounds. Plus they had the same haircut \u2013 very important!<\/p>\n

BURDON<\/strong>: With Dave it became a bit more melodic. He brought in that lovely little melody line on the organ behind one of the verses. I\u2019d forgotten about it but with my new band I get our keyboard player to do that.<\/p>\n

STEEL<\/strong>: On Wikipedia it said [session drummer] Bobby Graham claims to have played on \u201cWe\u2019ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place\u201d. The cheeky bastard! I\u2019ve no idea where that came from.<\/p>\n

BURDON<\/strong>: John definitely played on it. We never had any session musicians.<\/p>\n

VALENTINE<\/strong>: All of our recordings were very fast. It wasn\u2019t multi-track, there were two half-track machines. The only overdub that happened was Eric\u2019s vocal \u2013 he would do a guide vocal in the sound booth and we could hear him singing in our headphones, but it wasn\u2019t being recorded. As the engineer was playing back what we had recorded on one machine Eric would record his vocal on top of that. The most takes we would do was generally four or five, then it\u2019d be out within days. Two versions were released, one in the UK and one in the US. They\u2019re quite different. I think you can tell by the words and vocals.<\/p>\n

BURDON<\/strong>: I changed the lyrics. I always do that, I can\u2019t help myself! That\u2019s the way it is with me, you\u2019re not going to get the same lyric.<\/p>\n

STEEL<\/strong>: Within a week of recording it we were on Ready Steady Go! with The Hollies and Donovan playing the song live. They always liked us on RSG! because we could play live without making a fool of ourselves.<\/p>\n

BURDON<\/strong>: We shot a piece of film of us performing \u201c\u2026Place\u201d on 35mm upstairs in some whorehouse in Soho at about nine in the morning. We were all out drinking the night before, we looked terrible!<\/p>\n

STEEL<\/strong>: Very quickly the song became very popular. The only reason it wasn\u2019t our second No 1 was because of the competition. \u201cMr Tambourine Man\u201d by The Byrds was No 1, and we were hanging around waiting for that to drop, and then The Beatles released \u201cHelp!\u201d. You couldn\u2019t fight The Beatles in those days.<\/p>\n

VALENTINE<\/strong>: It always went down great live. Fans\u2019 interpretations were very varied. It had a great hook \u2013 when we played it people would sing the chorus. I always enjoyed playing it.<\/p>\n

BURDON<\/strong>: It\u2019s adaptable. I\u2019ve played that song so many ways with so many different bands. It has that great pad, that pulse. It changes so many times in concert.<\/p>\n

STEEL<\/strong>: At first it just seemed like a good commercial record that we wouldn\u2019t be embarrassed about. We never thought at the time that it would become this anthem that would be adopted by the US troops in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

VALENTINE<\/strong>: We only realised its impact after the band had split [in 1966]. We reformed in 1976 and did a world tour, and it was only then we realised the profound effect it had on US forces in Vietnam. We were meeting vets backstage who told us the song got them through Vietnam. It was No 1 on the American Forces network for years.<\/p>\n

BURDON<\/strong>: I\u2019ve had guys come up to me and tell me that I saved their lives, people I\u2019ve never met. Guys who went out on a patrol for a few hours and came back to the camp and found all their friends had been blown up. It was Vietnam, and then it was Iraq. That song means so much to people.<\/p>\n

STEEL<\/strong>: I talk to squaddies on the road even now and they come up to me and say that they listen to that song in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it\u2019s also this anthem that kids sing when they leave school. It has hung about \u2013 all these resonances pop up. Springsteen was on a major tour last year and he gave us loads and loads of Brownie points as one of his major inspirations. He said \u201c\u2026Place\u201d was his whole bag! Very nice of him.<\/p>\n

BURDON<\/strong>: In the last couple of years I\u2019ve been up onstage with Springsteen a few times and he always wants to play that song. Yeah, it\u2019s nice.<\/p>\n

VALENTINE<\/strong>: I\u2019ve still no idea what the writers felt about it.<\/p>\n

BURDON<\/strong>: We never got any feedback from Mann and Weil, except I was in my doctor\u2019s office once and this pregnant lady was sitting next to me. I had no idea who she was. The bell rang and it was her turn to go in to see the doctor, and as she walked across the room she came over and said [in a disdainful New York whine], \u201cYou know, me and Barry hated what you did with our song.\u201d I said, \u201cPardon me!\u201d That was in the \u201980s, in Hollywood. I\u2019ve told that story to guys who knew them personally and they\u2019ve said, \u201cOh yeah, he was so pissed off, because he was starting his own career as a singer with that song.\u201d I thought, \u2018Why the hell did they ship it out to us, then?\u2019 Complaining about having a hit and making a fortune and having something meaningful that has lasted. Isn\u2019t that why you write songs in the first place?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post \u2018We thought we were on a crusade!\u2019 \u2013 the making of \u2018We\u2019ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place\u2019 by The Animals<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Originally published in Uncut, November 2013 Originally published in Uncut, November 2013 Last year during his keynote speech at SXSW, Bruce Springsteen announced that \u201cWe\u2019ve Gotta Get Out Of This…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5906,31,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eric-burdon","category-features","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}