Hilton Stewart Paterson Valentine (21 May 1943 – 29 January 2021) was an English
skiffle
Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States ...
and
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
musician who was the original guitarist in
The Animals
The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...
. He was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
in 1994 and into Hollywood’s Rock Walk of Fame in 2001 with the other members of The Animals.
Following The Animals' breakup in 1966, Valentine produced several solo albums including ''All in Your Head'' (1969) and ''It’s Folk ‘N’ Skiffle, Mate! (''2004). He also toured New England and participated in several The Animals reunions.
Biography
Early career
Valentine was born in
North Shields
North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth.
Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...
,
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
, England, and was influenced by the 1950s
skiffle
Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States ...
craze. His mother bought him his first guitar in 1956 when he was 13, he taught himself some chords from a book called ''"Teach Yourself a Thousand Chords''". He continued to develop his musical talent at Tynemouth High School and formed his own skiffle group called the Heppers.
They played local gigs and a newspaper described them at the time as, "A young but promising skiffle group". The Heppers eventually evolved into a rock and roll band, the Wildcats in c. 1959. During this period Valentine played a Futurama III solid guitar,
this was the UK brandname of importer
Selmer, his next guitar was a
Burns Burns may refer to:
* Burn, an injury (plural)
People:
* Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters
Business:
* Burns London, a British guitar maker
Places:
;In the United States
* Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle ...
Vibra-Artiste which he bought in 1960–61.
The Wildcats were a popular band in the Tyneside area, getting a lot of bookings for dance halls,
working men's club
Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class me ...
s, church halls etc., and it was during this period that they decided to record a 10" acetate
LP titled ''Sounds of the Wild Cats'' (sic).
The Animals
In 1963, the Animals were starting to form and
Chas Chandler
Bryan James "Chas" Chandler (18 December 1938 – 17 July 1996) was an English musician, record producer and manager, best known as the original bassist in The Animals, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He ...
heard about Hilton Valentine's wild guitar playing and asked him to join what was then the
Alan Price Combo.
Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, powe ...
was already a member and
John Steel
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
joined immediately following Valentine's arrival. Within a few months, this group changed their name to the Animals.
While the Animals are often remembered most for Burdon's vocals and Price's
organ, Valentine is credited with the electric guitar
arpeggio
A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves.
An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...
introduction to the Animals' 1964
signature song
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...
"
The House of the Rising Sun
"The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid the same fate. ...
", which inspired countless beginning guitarists.
[T.J. McGrath]
"Hilton Valentine: The Sun Also Rises"
, ''Dirty Linen
''Dirty Linen'' was a bi-monthly magazine of folk and world music based in Baltimore, Maryland. The magazine ceased publication in the spring of 2010. The magazine offered extensive reviews of folk music recordings, videos, books, and concert ...
'', June/July 2006. Accessed 4 May 2007.[Barry York]
"House of Worship"
''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'', 9 July 2004. Accessed 4 May 2007. It was played on his
Gretsch
Gretsch is an American company that manufactures musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Friedrich Gretsc ...
Tennessean
guitar which he bought in Newcastle in early 1962 while he was still with the Wildcats, and a Selmer amplifier. Later, in 1964,
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range ...
gave him a 1964 Rose Morris guitar to use along with a 12-string model.
Valentine continued to play and
record with the Animals, until the first incarnation of the band dissolved in September 1966. In 1977, Valentine rejoined the group and recorded a reunion album called ''
Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted
''Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted'' is a 1977 reunion album by the Animals. They are billed on the cover as the Original Animals.
History
The album marked a reunion of the five original Animals from the group's first incarnation — Eri ...
''.
[
]
Later career
After he left The Animals, Valentine moved to California and in 1969 recorded a solo album entitled ''All In Your Head'', which was not successful.[The album was produced and arranged by later Animals member ]Vic Briggs
Victor Harvey Briggs III (14 February 1945 – 30 June 2021) was a British blues and rock musician, best known as the lead guitarist with Eric Burdon and The Animals during the 1966–1968 period. Briggs, a convert to Sikhism, later playe ...
. Valentine then returned to the UK, and over the years joined several Animals reunions.Biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
Along with Eric Burdon, Chas Chandler, Alan Price and John Steel, Valentine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
in 1994. Along with the other Animals, Hilton was inducted into Hollywood's Rock Walk of Fame in May 2001. He released a new album, ''It's Folk 'n' Skiffle, Mate!'' in 2004.
From that release until October 2009 he played throughout New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, New York and South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, with his Skiffledog solo project. As well, from February 2007 to November 2008 Valentine toured with Eric Burdon. In 2011, Valentine released a new album titled ''Skiffledog on Coburg Street'' and a Christmas album with Big Boy Pete Miller (ex-Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers
Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers were a British instrumental beat group in the early 1960s. Their biggest hit, "Can Can 62" reached the British singles chart in 1962. The group toured with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones before disbanding in 196 ...
) titled ''Merry Skifflemas!''.
Valentine's last recording was "River Tyne", a 2019 video that celebrated the river close to his boyhood home.[
]
Personal life and death
In his later years, Valentine and his wife Germaine lived in Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
.
Valentine died on 29 January 2021 at the age of 77; no cause or place of death was given. He is survived by his wife and daughter Samantha.
Legacy
The Animals' version of the "House of the Rising Sun" is generally considered to be the definitive version of the song, and was cited by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
as one of the reasons why he transitioned from acoustic to electric sound. Speaking of Valentine's opening riff for the song, Ian MacDonald
Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was a British music critic and author, best known for both ''Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed techniques from a ...
noted that "It is one of the most instantly recognizable introductions to one of the most memorable songs of the 60s. A seemingly simple, but technically perfect execution of an on-going arpeggio
A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves.
An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...
figure over a repeated chord progression in A minor, which countless budding guitarists have tried to emulate over the decades, though rarely with such accuracy and precision."[
]
See also
*List of guitarists
This list of guitarists includes notable musicians, known principally for their guitar playing, for whom there is an article in Wikipedia. Those who are known mainly as bass guitarists are listed separately at List of bass guitarists.
A
* John ...
References
External links
Official website
Skiffledog on Coburg ST
Hilton Valentine obituary in Best Classic Bands
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valentine, Hilton
1943 births
2021 deaths
English rock guitarists
The Animals members
People from North Shields
Musicians from Tyne and Wear
British rhythm and blues boom musicians
English blues guitarists
English expatriates in the United States