Hilton Valentine

Hilton Stewart Paterson Valentine (21 May 1943 – 29 January 2021) was an English skiffle and rock and roll musician who was the original guitarist in the Animals. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 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 reunions with the Animals.

Early life Valentine was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England, and was influenced by the 1950s skiffle 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.

Early career He continued to develop his musical talent at Tynemouth Municipal 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 Vibra-Artiste which he bought in 1960–61. It was played on his Gretsch Tennessean

Reunions In 1977, Valentine rejoined the group and recorded a reunion album called Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted.

Along with Eric Burdon, Chas Chandler, Alan Price and John Steel, Valentine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Along with the other Animals, Hilton was inducted into Hollywood's Rock Walk of Fame in May 2001.

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.

From that release until October 2009 he played throughout New England, New York and South Carolina, 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) titled Merry Skifflemas!.

Valentine's last recording was "River Tyne", a 2019 video that celebrated the river close to his boyhood home.

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 as one of the reasons why he transitioned from acoustic to electric sound. Speaking of Valentine's opening riff for the song, Ian MacDonald 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 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."

Discography The Animals

Solo All in Your Head (1969) It’s Folk 'N' Skiffle, Mate! (2004) Skiffledog On Coburg St (2011) Merry Skifflemas (2011 with Big Boy Pete)