An important name, but not widely known, in Sixties British music, has passed away. Hilton Valentine’s guitar on “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals, released in America on August 8, 1964, is unmistakable from the first note.
The thing about the British Invasion is there wouldn’t have been one without England having a lot of bands ready for export, following the Beatles in jumping across the pond. Many acts, like the Animals and Hollies, formed in 1962. The Springfields, with Dusty, were on the American charts with “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” in 1962, before the Beatles released “Love Me Do” in the UK.