Alan Price

Alan Price - Liberty - 1989 - Ariola

Alan Price is very much of the same musical tradition as Georgie Fame, who he collaborated with in the sixties. Price is probably best remembered as being the keyboard player with the successful British sixties group, The Animals, who had a huge hit with "House of the Rising Sun." He also had a hit in the late sixties with Randy Newman's great song, "Simon Smith and His Dancing Bear," which was instrumental in promoting Newman's music in the U.K. There are comparisons to be made with Randy Newman, Georgie Fame, and indeed artists such as Mose Allison who all wrote great songs with a touch of humorous cynicism. Alan Price is hardly known outside Europe, even though his music is of the highest calibre. Try and listen to Price's 1974 album, "Between Today and Yesterday." It is also worthwhile listening to Georgie Fame's "Name Droppin" album from 1999, Mose Allison's "High Jinks", a three CD package on Legacy Records, and Randy Newman's brilliant "Sail Away" album. Any info on the musicians playing on this album would be greatly appreciated!

TRACKS

Fool's In Love
Everything But Love
Days Like These
Bad Dream
Double Love
Changes
Mania Urbania
Liberty
Say It Isn't True
Free With Me (Bonus)
Man Overboard (Bonus)

All songs composed by Alan Price except "Say It Isn't True" by Jackson Browne

SHORT BIO

As the organist in the first Animals lineup, Alan Price was perhaps the most important instrumental contributor to their early run of hits. He left the group in 1965 after only a year or so of international success (he can be seen talking about his departure with Bob Dylan in the rockumentary Don't Look Back) to work on a solo career. Leading the Alan Price Set, he had a Top Ten British hit in 1966 with a reworking of "I Put a Spell on You," complete with Animals-ish organ breaks and bluesy vocals. His subsequent run of British hits between 1966 and 1968 -- "Hi-Lili-Hi-Lo," "Simon Smith and His Dancing Bear," "The House That Jack Built," and "Don't Stop the Carnival" -- were in a much lighter vein, drawing from British music hall influences. "Simon Smith and His Dancing Bear," from 1967, was one of the first Randy Newman songs to gain international exposure, though Price's version -- like all his British hits -- went virtually unnoticed in the U.S. A versatile entertainer, Price collaborated with Georgie Fame, hosted TV shows, and scored plays in the years following the breakup of the Alan Price Set in 1968. He composed the score to Lindsay Anderson's O Lucky Man!, where his spare and droll songs served almost as a Greek chorus to the surreal, whimsical film (Price himself has a small role in the movie). His 1974 concept album, Between Today and Yesterday, was his most critically acclaimed work. © Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide