The Alan Price Set
 Alan
Price was born on 19 April 1941 in County Durham, England. From
the age of eight he taught himself to play the piano and guitar,
and began playing with local bands.
His first significant band performed under a number of names -
The Kansas City Five, The Kontours, The Pagans and finally, The
Alan Price Rhythm & Blues Combo. This band eventually became
the more commercially named, The Animals.
In May 1965 Price left The Animals at the peak of their
success. The official reason given was a fear of flying which
prevented him from touring, but in reality he was frustrated at
the musical direction - enjoying a more varied and sophisticated
musical palette than the rest of the band.
The Alan Price Set debuted three months later with Any Day
Now which enjoyed only moderate success.
The follow-up - a stirring version of the Screaming Jay Hawkins
song I Put A Spell On You - performed much better and by
1967 he had two major hits; Simon Smith and His Amazing
Dancing Bear and The House That Jack Built.
In 1970, Price teamed up with Georgie Fame and also wrote the
score for two stage musicals. As a result he was commissioned to
write the score for the Lindsay Anderson film, O Lucky Man
in 1973 (for which he won a BAFTA Award).
While his vaudeville-style recordings had effectively
pigeon-holed him into an older audience, he went against the grain
in 1974 and hit the charts with Jarrow Song. In 1975 he
starred in Alfie Darling - the notional sequel to Michael
Caine's Alfie - and won the Most Promising New British
Actor award.
Price took part in two abortive Animals reunions in 1977
and 1983 and continues to perform throughout the UK and Europe.
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