Alan Price served as keyboardist for the Animals' original configuration and stood out as their chief instrumental force behind the band's initial string of successful singles. After roughly twelve months of worldwide acclaim, he exited the ensemble in 1965—captured on camera discussing the split with Bob Dylan in the documentary Don't Look Back—to pursue independent projects. Fronting the Alan Price Set, he reached the British Top Ten in 1966 with a cover of "I Put a Spell on You" that retained the group's signature organ flourishes and his own gritty vocal delivery. Between 1966 and 1968 the Set logged further domestic successes—"Hi-Lili-Hi-Lo," "Simon Smith and His Dancing Bear," "The House That Jack Built," and "Don't Stop the Carnival"—that shifted toward a brighter, music-hall-derived style. The 1967 single "Simon Smith and His Dancing Bear" ranked among the earliest Randy Newman compositions to reach listeners outside the United States, yet Price's rendition, like the rest of his British chart entries, made little impression stateside. Following the group's dissolution in 1968, Price broadened his activities by teaming with Georgie Fame, presenting television programs, and writing incidental music for stage productions. He supplied the soundtrack for Lindsay Anderson's O Lucky Man!, whose economical, wry songs functioned much like a Greek chorus commenting on the film's surreal and playful narrative; Price also appeared in a minor acting part. His most widely praised recording arrived in 1974 with the concept album Between Today and Yesterday.
