"When I Was Young" is a song released in March 1967 by

Eric Burdon and the Animals The Animals, currently billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals (featuring original frontman Eric Burdon) and also as Animals & Friends (featuring original drummer John Steel), are an English rock band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1962. The A ...

; it was written by five of the band members –

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

(vocals),

John Weider John Weider (21 April 1947 – 6 November 2023) was an English rock music, rock musician who played guitar, bass guitar, bass, and violin. He is best remembered as the guitarist for the Animals from 1966 to 1968. He was also the bass player for ...

(guitar/violin),

Vic Briggs Victor Harvey Briggs III (14 February 1945 – 30 June 2021) was a British blues and rock musician, best known as the lead guitarist with Eric Burdon and The Animals from 1966 to 1968. Briggs, a convert to Sikhism, later played classical ...

(guitar),

Danny McCulloch Daniel Joseph "Danny" McCulloch (18 July 1945 – 29 January 2015) was an English musician best known as the bassist of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Eric Burdon and The Animals. Early life Danny McCulloch was born in Shepherd's Bush, W ...

(bass), and

Barry Jenkins Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film ''My Josephine'' (2003), he directed his first feature film '' Medicine for Melancholy'' (2008) for which he received an Inde ...

(drums) – and was the first release to feature this lineup. It charted in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, peaking at No. 2 and staying 4 weeks there. Later, it hit No. 10 on the Canadian

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

chart, No. 15 in the United States, and No. 9 in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Background and Recording

This somewhat autobiographical song tells about Burdon's father, who was a soldier during tough times, as well as young Eric's adventures - including his first cigarette at 10, to his meeting his first love at 13. The final verse shows his disillusionment with society: This song is noted for its Indian riff, played by an electric guitar and a violin. It is also distinctive for its introduction, which featured a heavily distorted guitar's

whammy bar A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. It adds vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the strings, typically at the bridge or tailpiece of an electric guitar using a c ...

descent from E to D. The song begins in E Minor and ends in G Minor. The group recorded "When I Was Young" in December 1966 at Barnes studio in London, with Tom Wilson in the producer's seat. It was the first song recorded by the new band although earlier sessions in September 1966 using studio musicians would be released as an album in March 1967 called '' Eric Is Here'' and credited to Eric Burdon & The Animals. The B-side "A Girl Named Sandoz" would be recorded in early February 1967 in New York City, and is named after the Swiss drug company that invented and manufactured

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

. "When I Was Young" was first premiered on ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...

'' on February 21, with the band miming to the song and "

See See Rider "See See Rider", also known as "C.C. Rider", "See See Rider Blues" or "Easy Rider", is a popular American 12-bar blues song that became a standard in several genres. Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was the first to record it on October 16, 1924, at Par ...

". In time, it was utilized in a German TV commercial. In early 1980s live shows Burdon began to mention, at the end of the song, many stars who had died.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' described the single as containing "blockbuster biting material" and an "intriguing dance arrangement." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called the single a "strong, gutsy, reflective Blues effort with a particularly interesting instrumental backing."

Charts

References

{{The Animals 1967 singles The Animals songs Songs written by Eric Burdon Song recordings produced by Tom Wilson (record producer) MGM Records singles British hard rock songs 1967 songs