Hilton Valentine

boogieman

Gone at 77. How many budding guitarists he must’ve inspired with that opening riff to House of the Rising Sun.

EricTheWeary

Just reading his wiki page, post Animals an unsuccessful attempt at a solo career but then many years of playing folk and skiffle across the USA in Skiffledog. 

Yes, one of the most iconic guitar parts. 

RIP. 

Ossyrocks

Oh dear.

I met him a couple of times, sold him an amp on one occasion at soundcheck, a Vibroverb reissue. He was a really nice bloke.

RIP

boogieman

I just looked at his Wiki page. I’d always assumed he’d made up or been given the name by an aspiring manager (a la Billy Fury etc) but apparently it was his real birth name. Must’ve been given a load of stick at school. 

scrumhalf

I think it was Guitar Player's Dan Forte who named him as the 'Gnarliest Guitarist' of all time. Can there be a finer tribute? 

Roland

boogieman said:

Gone at 77. How many budding guitarists he must’ve inspired with that opening riff to House of the Rising Sun.

Me

springhead

Me too. Was one of the first things I tried to learn. 

drofluf

And me. 

Philly_Q

boogieman said:

Gone at 77. How many budding guitarists he must’ve inspired with that opening riff to House of the Rising Sun.

I just took a look at the Wiki page too, I was wondering if he really had played that part or if he'd been supplanted by some uncredited studio player... but no, it was him.

One of the very first things I learned, too... still can't get it quite right.  In fact I wonder if I can remember it, it's been a while.

Sorry to hear he's gone.

ICBM

Roland said:

boogieman said:

Gone at 77. How many budding guitarists he must’ve inspired with that opening riff to House of the Rising Sun.

Me

And me.

My first introduction to a 'hard chord' - the F of course.

Absolutely iconic guitar part.

Nitefly

Roland said:

boogieman said:

Gone at 77. How many budding guitarists he must’ve inspired with that opening riff to House of the Rising Sun.

Me

Me too!  And it is a great name! 

HAL9000

ICBM said:

Roland said:

boogieman said:

Gone at 77. How many budding guitarists he must’ve inspired with that opening riff to House of the Rising Sun.

Me

And me.

My first introduction to a 'hard chord' - the F of course.

Absolutely iconic guitar part.

Me too. RIP.

Sassafras

The Animals were a terrific band, he gave them a unique sound.

Neill

Hands up those who think he should have got the royalties for House of the Rising Sun.

The arrangement is of course credited to Alan Price who, it is said, didn't like the opening riff and wanted to change it. 

camf

Sad news. He did seem to be a lovely bloke. I posted this last year. 

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/180206/when-something-special-takes-you-crashing-back-to-the-very-first-time-you-ever-played-guitar/p2

1Strat2many

Very sad news. Hugely powerful and influential Guitar playing and sound. RIP

Hootsmon

ICBM said:

Roland said:

boogieman said:

Gone at 77. How many budding guitarists he must’ve inspired with that opening riff to House of the Rising Sun.

Me

And me.

My first introduction to a 'hard chord' - the F of course.

Absolutely iconic guitar part.

Exact same scene/chord/song for me too John

@ICBM

boogieman

Neill said:

Hands up those who think he should have got the royalties for House of the Rising Sun.

The arrangement is of course credited to Alan Price who, it is said, didn't like the opening riff and wanted to change it. 

Just been reading about that in Philip Norman’s new Hendrix bio, Chas Chandler bring the link of course. The song was already in the public domain long before but Price got all the royalties as arranger. The rest of the band thought he’d split them equally but he refused. Nice. 

ICBM

boogieman said:

The song was already in the public domain long before but Price got all the royalties as arranger. The rest of the band thought he’d split them equally but he refused. Nice. 

That may well have contributed to his leaving the band less than a year later... to form The Alan Price Set, most famous for 'Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear' being accidentally played instead of Jimi Hendrix's 'Hey Joe' on Top Of The Pops .

boogieman

Ha ha yes. The Philip Norman book also says that Price wanted the band to go in a more pop driven direction, like the Stones were doing, whereas the others in The Animals were more interested in staying as a pure blues and R’n’B band. 

scrumhalf

Price also hated flying, which became a problem touring the States.