Friday, April 27, 2012

The Animals: For Miss Caulker

Today's Friday Flipside is from The Animals’ third American album, “Animal Tracks,” which was different than the original album of the same name released in the UK. “For Miss Caulker” is one of those songs where the title bears little resemblance to the lyrics. It was the flip side to “Bring it on Home,” which only peaked on the American charts at #32.



Penned by lead vocalist Eric Burdon, “For Miss Caulker” showcases the piano talents of keyboardist Alan Price. Although there is the obligatory lead guitar section by Hilton Valentine, this 1965 “B” side is really all Price.


I just want to know who Miss Caulker was and why she left him for fourteen long, lonely days. Perhaps, we’ll never know. It’s what The Animals did the best – the blues.




5 comments:

  1. Excellent song, probably the most authentic blues I've ever heard from the Animals.

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  2. If I am not mistaken Miss Caulker was a married black woman who Burdon had his first romance with.

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    Replies
    1. Lucky woman! Supposedly broke it off and broke his heart when the Animals were about to blow up on the music scene.

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    2. You are mistaken, William. Doreen wasn't married. She was a stunning, single, black woman with whom I worked for 2 years and was best friends with for 15 years before she passed away in 1989.

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  3. A caulker is a shipbuilding trade. Plenty of that in NE England when the Animals were growing up there. The title is flippant: (a) a caulker was a very masculine job so there's some kind of jvial inversion going on; (b) there's an obvious play on words in the title - Miss Corker (.e. a bit of alright, as we used to say).

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