Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Hilton Valentine - All in Your Head (1969)




Here's one I can't believe never made it on CD, or if it did I can't find any record of it. Not even some limited, edition Japanese paper sleeve issue. I know it didn't sell well at the time of its release but it's really an excellent record full of introspective, semi-psychedelic, beautiful pop songs and some great guitar work. Unfortunately I'm a little pressed for time and so probably won't be able to do it justice--suffice it to say if you like the music here, then you'll REALLY like this one.

Hilton Valentine was born in 1943 in North Shields, Northumberland, started playing guitar in a skiffle band (The Heppers) moved on to a more rock'n'roll/R&B sound with The Wildcats and ended up the lead guitarist for the Animals, one of the finest & (as Valentine notes) most poorly managed bands of the British Invasion.

He left the Animals in 1966 when they became Eric Burdon & the Animals and, except for some supporting gigs (on the Keith Sheilds' single Hey Gyp & another single by Natasha Pyne) didn't record again until this 1969 solo release on Capitol/EMI. He then went on another long recording hiatus & didn't release another solo outing until It's Folk 'N' Skiffle recorded under the name Skiffledog, which you should definitely check out (you can listen to samples at the link I just gave). You can see his whole discography here.

Valentine is still performing today, as Skiffledog and along with Eric Burdon and his Web site has more info. You can see a recent performance on Youtube.

Hilton Valentine is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and deserving of many other accolades and honors (whether he's gotten or not). But then again, this record deserved to be a hit, so music, like life, ain't always fair.

Here's a tracklist:
1. Listen
2. Everything Returns to Me
3. It's All in Your Head
4. Little Soldiers
5. Eyes of a Child
6. Sitting in the Sun
----
7. Is There Anything but Love
8. Land of Children
9. Run, Run, Run
10. Peace
11. Girl from Allemagne

This is now available on CD, so the link is down.

27 comments:

Subcomandante Marcos said...

Thanks Max, another unheard/unsung gem.
PS - still not figured out what happened to your blog template/colour?
Cheers

doughboy said...

Hello Max,
I've been curious about this lp for a long time. Thankyou for the opportunity to hear it.
cheers
chris

Anonymous said...

Max you are incredible, I've been looking for this for a long time, finally it's here, thanx God

Thank you very much, and have a nice xmas & happy new year

Max said...

Never did find out what happened to the color scheme--I'm just trying to learn to like it & maybe fiddle a bit here & there to adjust it.

Redtelephone66 said...

Hello Max,
Excellent post!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi

Do you have anything by The Durocs, Face Dancer, Iguana, Meal Ticket, Ginger, The Heartbeats, Neil Harrison, The Dukes, Key West or The States?

Best

Robert

Buffalo Billycan said...

I think you will make a lot of people happy with this post (like me). Thanks a lot.

Anonymous said...

Bravo. Fantastic record. Thankx.

Tony said...

Thanks Max, this has been on my want list for many years. Always imagined it as a lost psych gem, which sadly it's not, but great to hear it anyway.
In the same category have you got another ex Animal's only LP: Danny McCulloch - Wings Of Man.

IncaRoads said...

A truly enjoyable listen, Max! You have some amazing jewels on your blog, really wish you would post more often...

Inca

Max said...

Glad people are enjoying this one. Don't have any of the requested items but will add them to my "look for" list. I also wish I posted more often but between work & family I just don't have much time these days. I will do my best though to keep post at least once a month.

Redtelephone66 said...

Hello Max,
Took the liberty to post the Danny McCulloch album
over at my blog, thanks again for the Hilton Valentine post and for all your others as well.

Leonard

Max said...

Hi Leonard,
Thanks for posting the Danny McCulloch! Everyone should head over to http://redtelephone66.blogspot.com/ and check it out.
Max

Tony said...

Hi Max, amazing what can happen when you simply make a request. Thank you Max and Leonard for getting the Danny McCulloch posted.
Tony

Doug said...

Hey, thanks man. This seems like a great blog. Looking forward to hearing more stuff on here.

Doug said...

Hey, thanks man. This blog seems great. Looking forward to hearing more.

aldo said...

Somehow this is only my first visit here...I'll certainly come back!
Many thanks for this "lost" album I was really curious about it, just played it once and it's quite good.
Apparently Vic Briggs was responsible for all the embellishment here and Hilton had nothing to do or say about it!

ge said...

well this is doubtless [again] the place to mention my skipping-record obsession: for the perfect trio of ex-Animal solo psychey late 60's albums, somebody puhleazze post ZOOT MONEY: WELCOME TO MY HEAD {RCA} --also graced by Briggs' arrangements

Valentine's + Danny's are GREAT!

aldo said...

In my previous comment I said that this was "quite good"...I played it few more times now and I LOVE IT!
Definitely the best of the two, if compared to Danny McCulloch's one...it'll be nice to hear Zoot's album too...
MANY MANY THANKS for this album!

ge said...

label correction to my post above:
Zoot Money - Welcome To My Head. (Capitol ST318 [USA])

Sébastien Desrosiers said...

You can actualy hear whhere Elliott Smith got those nice vibes... "Everything return to me" is perfect!

Anonymous said...

Hey, brilliant! This guy was one of my heroes waybackwhen, never heard this though. Thanks!

Max said...

For those of you looking for the Zoot Money record, you can find it here:
http://frisiansotherfavorites.blogspot.com/2009/05/zoot-money-welcome-to-my-head-1969.html

Anonymous said...

I've only just found this album and as i've left it so long it's gone.Please reup as i can't find it anywhere else.thankx.zeets

Max said...

Re-upping now--will be posted shortly.

Anonymous said...

Just reissued!
Please delete the link.

Max said...

Looks like it's out on CD from Rev-Ola. This is one of the best albums I've posted, and well worth owning on CD so I recommend you all get a copy. The link is coming down.