Don't Bring Me Down (The Animals song)
Encyclopedia
"Don't Bring Me Down" is a rock song composed by Gerry Goffin
and Carole King
and recorded as a 1966 hit single by The Animals
.
material, following the 1965 hits "We Gotta Get out of This Place
" and "It's My Life
". According to one account, all three came out of one call in 1965 that The Animals' then-producer Mickie Most
made for songs.
The Animals had always had a somewhat contentious relationship with such songs, knowing they gave them hits but preferring the more straightforward R&B numbers they used for album tracks. Moreover now they were performing a Goffin and King selection; although the couple was already legendary for their pop songwriting prowess, Animals lead singer Eric Burdon
had previously seemingly mocked Goffin-King's "Take Good Care of My Baby
" in The Animals' 1964 stream-of-consciousness rock history "Story Of Bo Diddley". Furthermore they were now using Tom Wilson as a producer, who promised them more artistic freedom than they had had under Mickie Most.
The Animals' arrangement is led by a pulsating organ
riff from Dave Rowberry
, which is then set against a prominent bass guitar
line from Chas Chandler
. Hilton Valentine
decorates the song with unusual fuzz guitar chords. Eric Burdon sings the verses in a quiet manner:
before sliding into a loud, pleading voice on the chorus:
Oh babe! Oh no,
Don't bring me down ...
"Don't Bring Me Down" was a solid hit, reaching the Top 10 (#6) in the UK pop singles chart
, and falling just short of that on the U.S. pop singles chart
, reaching number 12 during June and July 1966. It was also popular in Canada
, reaching number 3 on the CHUM Chart
. It was also one of their most popular singles in Germany
, reaching number 17.
Rolling Stone
would later write that "Don't Bring Me Down" represented one side of the Goffin-King "boy-girl, loneliness-togetherness" duality. Allmusic considers "Don't Bring Me Down" an exemplar of The Animals' "brutally soulful inspiration."
singer David Johansen
's Animals medley from his 1982 live album Live It Up
gained considerable MTV
exposure; "Don't Bring Me Down" was in the middle, following "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and before "It's My Life".
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
had "Don't Bring Me Down" in their concert repertoire from 1977-1986, and a 1978 performance of it was captured on their 1985 live album Pack up the Plantation: Live!
.
The song has also been recorded by Riki Maiocchi, Paul Shaffer
, and Southside Johnny
.
Eric Burdon has performed it with Shaffer, Robby Krieger
and Brian Auger
, as well in his own bands of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
in 1964; in fact, that "Don't Bring Me Down
" was a different song, written by Johnnie Dee
, that was a Top 10 hit in the UK.
There also are two subsequent songs by the same title: the pop hit "Don't Bring Me Down
" by ELO
in 1979, and an R&B/dance hit "Don't Bring Me Down" by Spirits in 1995.
Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
and Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
and recorded as a 1966 hit single by The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
.
History
"Don't Bring Me Down" was the third of The Animals' epic personalisations of Brill BuildingBrill Building
The Brill Building is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood...
material, following the 1965 hits "We Gotta Get out of This Place
We Gotta Get out of This Place
"We Gotta Get out of This Place", occasionally written "We've Gotta Get out of This Place", is a rock song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and recorded as a 1965 hit single by The Animals...
" and "It's My Life
It's My Life (The Animals song)
"It's My Life" is a song written by Brill Building songwriters Roger Atkins and Carl D'Errico. The song was originally performed by British rock band the Animals, who released it as a single in October 1965 and was one of three songs that the Animals recorded by Brill Building songwriters.The song...
". According to one account, all three came out of one call in 1965 that The Animals' then-producer Mickie Most
Mickie Most
Mickie Most was an English record producer, with a string of hit singles with acts such as The Animals, Arrows, Herman's Hermits, Donovan, Suzi Quatro and the Jeff Beck Group often issued on his own RAK Records label....
made for songs.
The Animals had always had a somewhat contentious relationship with such songs, knowing they gave them hits but preferring the more straightforward R&B numbers they used for album tracks. Moreover now they were performing a Goffin and King selection; although the couple was already legendary for their pop songwriting prowess, Animals lead singer Eric Burdon
Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...
had previously seemingly mocked Goffin-King's "Take Good Care of My Baby
Take Good Care of My Baby
"Take Good Care of My Baby" is a song written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin and made famous by Bobby Vee, when it was released in 1961. It quickly became popular, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in September. The song was covered by The Beatles during their audition at Decca Records on...
" in The Animals' 1964 stream-of-consciousness rock history "Story Of Bo Diddley". Furthermore they were now using Tom Wilson as a producer, who promised them more artistic freedom than they had had under Mickie Most.
The Animals' arrangement is led by a pulsating organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
riff from Dave Rowberry
Dave Rowberry
Dave Rowberry was an English piano and organ player, most known for being a member of the rock and R&B group The Animals in the 1960s....
, which is then set against a prominent bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
line from Chas Chandler
Chas Chandler
Bryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager of several successful music acts....
. Hilton Valentine
Hilton Valentine
Hilton Valentine is an English musician, who was the original guitarist in the The Animals.-Biography:Valentine was influenced by the 1950s skiffle craze...
decorates the song with unusual fuzz guitar chords. Eric Burdon sings the verses in a quiet manner:
- When you complain - and criticize
- I feel I'm nothing, in your eyes
- It makes me feel - like giving up ...
before sliding into a loud, pleading voice on the chorus:
- Oh, oh no!
- Don't bring me down,
"Don't Bring Me Down" was a solid hit, reaching the Top 10 (#6) in the UK pop singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, and falling just short of that on the U.S. pop singles chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, reaching number 12 during June and July 1966. It was also popular in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, reaching number 3 on the CHUM Chart
CHUM Chart
The CHUM Chart was a ranking of top 30 songs on Toronto, Ontario radio station CHUM 1050 AM, from 1957 to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in the world produced by an individual radio station...
. It was also one of their most popular singles in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, reaching number 17.
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
would later write that "Don't Bring Me Down" represented one side of the Goffin-King "boy-girl, loneliness-togetherness" duality. Allmusic considers "Don't Bring Me Down" an exemplar of The Animals' "brutally soulful inspiration."
Later versions
New York DollsNew York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
singer David Johansen
David Johansen
David Roger Johansen is an American rock, protopunk, blues, and pop singer, as well as a songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal protopunk band The New York Dolls and also achieved commercial success under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter.-Early life:Johansen was born in...
's Animals medley from his 1982 live album Live It Up
Live It Up (David Johansen album)
Live It Up, released in 1982, was the first live album released by David Johansen as a solo artist. However, by the time Live It Up was released, various bootlegs of Johansen's first band, the New York Dolls, were being heavily traded...
gained considerable MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
exposure; "Don't Bring Me Down" was in the middle, following "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and before "It's My Life".
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
had "Don't Bring Me Down" in their concert repertoire from 1977-1986, and a 1978 performance of it was captured on their 1985 live album Pack up the Plantation: Live!
Pack up the Plantation: Live!
Pack Up the Plantation: Live! is the first live album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released in November 1985. It was primarily recorded at the Wiltern Theatre during their 1985 tour but also includes several tracks from previous tours...
.
The song has also been recorded by Riki Maiocchi, Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...
, and Southside Johnny
Southside Johnny
Southside Johnny is an American singer-songwriter, who usually fronts his band Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes.-Early days:...
.
Eric Burdon has performed it with Shaffer, Robby Krieger
Robby Krieger
Robert Alan "Robby" Krieger is an American rock guitarist and songwriter. He was the guitarist in The Doors, and wrote some of the band's best known songs, including "Light My Fire," "Love Me Two Times," "Touch Me," and "Love Her Madly."...
and Brian Auger
Brian Auger
Brian Auger is a jazz and rock keyboardist, who has specialized in playing the Hammond organ.A jazz pianist, bandleader, session musician and Hammond B3 player, Auger has played or toured with artists such as Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny Boy Williamson, Led Zeppelin, Eric Burdon...
, as well in his own bands of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
Similarly titled songs
Some websites erroneously claim the song has earlier been recorded by The Pretty ThingsThe Pretty Things
The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
in 1964; in fact, that "Don't Bring Me Down
Don't Bring Me Down (Pretty Things song)
"Don't Bring Me Down" is a song written by Johnny Dee, and first performed by the rock band, The Pretty Things in 1964. It was a number 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart for them, and reached number 34 in Canada....
" was a different song, written by Johnnie Dee
Johnnie Dee
Johnnie Dee is a Canadian rock vocalist, best known as the lead singer for the rock band Honeymoon Suite. Dee and guitarist Derry Grehan formed Honeymoon Suite in Niagara Falls, Ontario in the early 1980s...
, that was a Top 10 hit in the UK.
There also are two subsequent songs by the same title: the pop hit "Don't Bring Me Down
Don't Bring Me Down
"Don't Bring Me Down" is a song by the band Electric Light Orchestra, and is the last track from their 1979 album Discovery. It is their highest charting hit in the US to date.-History:...
" by ELO
ELO
- Music :* Electric Light Orchestra, a British rock music group** The Electric Light Orchestra , the group's debut album** ELO 2, the group's second album* ELO Part II, an offshoot band of Electric Light Orchestra- Sports and games :...
in 1979, and an R&B/dance hit "Don't Bring Me Down" by Spirits in 1995.