by Tom Guerra. In 1963 an unknown but persistent bassist by the name of Chas Chandler took notice of Hilton Valentine’s aggressive guitar playing and onstage antics and asked him to join his group called The Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo, soon to be rechristened The Animals by their manager, Mike Jeffery. The Animals were quickly rushed into the studio where they recorded their first single “Baby Let Me Take You Home”, which included Hilton’s cool, aggressive guitar intro. A year after forming, the band struck gold with a moody cover of “House of the Rising Sun”. From his haunting, arpeggiated guitar intro on “House”, which became a rite of passage for budding guitarists who came of age in the ‘60s, to his fuzz-through-a-tremolo power chords of ”Don’t Bring Me Down”, Hilton's knack for musical hooks greatly contributed to The Animals' string of hits until the breakup of the original band in late 1966...