Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 7 minutes ago
“On Friday April 12th 1968 at 5:30pm. LET’S GO from CBC Vancouver presented a special half hour show featuring Eric Burdon and the New Animals (1966 -1969). The entire show was devoted to the group’s unique musical expression – utilizing sound, lights and props in their presentation. Burdon introduced his own show with a bit of the Animals old “House of the Rising Sun” before presenting his four new members: Vic Briggs (guitar), John Weider (guitar), Barry Jenkins (drums) & Danny McCulloch (bass), leading to their first song “Monterey,” the band’s tribute to the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and includes The Black Plague, San Franciscan Nights, When I was Young and Sky Pilot, an anti-war song of the Vietnam era.
Eric Burdon and the Animals performed 5 songs, and, from the 1967 album Winds of Change, the band's first real psychedelic rock album., they perform "San Franciscan Nights" and "The Black Plague." 1967 saw Eric Burdon and the one remaining other Animal (drummer Barry Jenkins) move to America. They were joined by Vic Briggs (guitar/keyboards), John Weider (guitar/violin) and Danny McCulloch (bass). They wrote "San Franciscan Nights" in praise of the Californian city by the bay. It was the biggest hit that the New Animals – as opposed to the first-incarnation Animals of the mid-1960s – would have. It reached the peak position of number 1 on the Canadian RPM chart. The band wrote it as a protest song against the Vietnam War and dedicated the album to George Harrison of the Beatles. But first, "The Black Plague" is a vastly different track with a Gregorian chant, dramatic, sombre and full of dread, narrated by Eric Burdon. The devastating Plague, also known as The Black Death, is estimated to have killed 60% of Europe’s total population, peaking from 1347 to 1351. In London approximately 62,000 people died between 1346 and 1353. Eric wanted to perform this as a stark contrast to the other 4 songs in the half hour show. The bell tolls The Black Plague has struck. Diseased eyes roll upwards as if knowing which direction their souls will travel (Bring out your dead) "When I Was Young," an autobiographical song told about Eric's father who was a soldier during tough times, as well as young Eric's adventures, including his first smoke of a cigarette at 10, to his meeting his first love at 13. The final verse shows his disillusionment with society ."My faith was so much stronger then, I believed in fellow men, And I was so much older then. When I was Young". "Sky Pilot" is about a chaplain who blesses troops just before they set out on an overnight raid, and then retires to await their return, a contradiction to the commandment You Shalt Not Kill. At the time of taping, the Animals were performing at the Cave Supper Club in Vancouver, British Columbia and taped the 5 songs during an afternoon in the CBC Vancouver TV studios. Unfortunately the CBC studios had not been equipped yet with colour cameras - that came a month later.
“On Friday April 12th 1968 at 5:30pm. LET’S GO from CBC Vancouver presented a special half hour show featuring Eric Burdon and the New Animals (1966 -1969). The entire show was devoted to the group’s unique musical expression – utilizing sound, lights and props in their presentation. Burdon introduced his own show with a bit of the Animals old “House of the Rising Sun” before presenting his four new members: Vic Briggs (guitar), John Weider (guitar), Barry Jenkins (drums) & Danny McCulloch (bass), leading to their first song “Monterey,” the band’s tribute to the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and includes The Black Plague, San Franciscan Nights, When I was Young and Sky Pilot, an anti-war song of the Vietnam era.
Eric Burdon and the Animals performed 5 songs, and, from the 1967 album Winds of Change, the band's first real psychedelic rock album., they perform "San Franciscan Nights" and "The Black Plague." 1967 saw Eric Burdon and the one remaining other Animal (drummer Barry Jenkins) move to America. They were joined by Vic Briggs (guitar/keyboards), John Weider (guitar/violin) and Danny McCulloch (bass). They wrote "San Franciscan Nights" in praise of the Californian city by the bay. It was the biggest hit that the New Animals – as opposed to the first-incarnation Animals of the mid-1960s – would have. It reached the peak position of number 1 on the Canadian RPM chart. The band wrote it as a protest song against the Vietnam War and dedicated the album to George Harrison of the Beatles. But first, "The Black Plague" is a vastly different track with a Gregorian chant, dramatic, sombre and full of dread, narrated by Eric Burdon. The devastating Plague, also known as The Black Death, is estimated to have killed 60% of Europe’s total population, peaking from 1347 to 1351. In London approximately 62,000 people died between 1346 and 1353. Eric wanted to perform this as a stark contrast to the other 4 songs in the half hour show. The bell tolls The Black Plague has struck. Diseased eyes roll upwards as if knowing which direction their souls will travel (Bring out your dead) "When I Was Young," an autobiographical song told about Eric's father who was a soldier during tough times, as well as young Eric's adventures, including his first smoke of a cigarette at 10, to his meeting his first love at 13. The final verse shows his disillusionment with society ."My faith was so much stronger then, I believed in fellow men, And I was so much older then. When I was Young". "Sky Pilot" is about a chaplain who blesses troops just before they set out on an overnight raid, and then retires to await their return, a contradiction to the commandment You Shalt Not Kill. At the time of taping, the Animals were performing at the Cave Supper Club in Vancouver, British Columbia and taped the 5 songs during an afternoon in the CBC Vancouver TV studios. Unfortunately the CBC studios had not been equipped yet with colour cameras - that came a month later.
