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There is a house in New Orleans / They call the Rising Sun / And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy / And God, I know I’m one, they sing in the chorus. A song is written, and, if it’s special enough, it hangs around waiting for an artist to claim it, putting their indelible stamp on it so that all other versions are henceforth compared to that one unforgettable take. Nobody is sure who wrote “House of the Rising Sun.” But we do know that the Animals, powered by the blustery vocals of Eric Burdon, claimed it. Many have sung “House of the Rising Sun” before Eric Burdon took it on with the Animals, and many will sing it in the future.
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Her ghostly performance added to the song's warning message and lent it some gravitas that makes the song so arresting. The lyrics tell the story of a mythical place in New Orleans–the house of the rising sun–which consumes all who enter it. If the music sounded almost supernatural, Burdon’s vocal gave the song its terrestrial heart, one rent in two by the loaded dice and lost bets. He tempers his performance, starting off low and with deadly serious intent to grab your attention.
Who is the Writer Behind “House of the Rising Sun?”
In late 1961, Bob Dylan recorded the song for his debut album, released in March 1962. That release had no songwriting credit, but the liner notes indicate that Dylan learned this version of the song from Dave Van Ronk. In an interview for the documentary No Direction Home, Van Ronk said that he was intending to record the song and that Dylan copied his version. He learned this arrangement from Dave Van Ronk, a friend and mentor, who had re-worked the song from a recording by musicologist Hally Wood. Dylan’s recording would later provide the basis for The Animals' 1964 version, which became a massive and iconic hit. Versions of the song have been recorded by many notable artists including Lead Belly, Joan Baez, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Nina Simone, Adolescents, The Ventures, Duane Eddy and Five Finger Death Punch.
The Animals' version
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Its psychological insight and philosophical meaning are all too relevant for this song to be anything but timeless. But it’s hard to imagine that anybody will ever again inhabit that doomed soul at the epicenter of the tale quite as well. In 2014, Five Finger Death Punch released a cover version for their album The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2.
More From: Behind The Song
The song is also credited to Ronnie Gilbert on an album by the Weavers released in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Pete Seeger released a version on Folkways Records in 1958, which was re-released by Smithsonian Folkways in 2009.[16] Andy Griffith recorded the song on his 1959 album Andy Griffith Shouts the Blues and Old Timey Songs. Although the lead singer had never been to Appalachia, he was a poor boy from London who had spent time at Paris brothels.
Across the pond at around the same time, Burdon apparently heard the song from a local folk singer in England. Burdon brought it into the Animals, who electrified the song for their 1964 self-titled debut album. Hilton Valentine played the stoic arpeggiated guitar part that foundations the song, while Alan Price tore into the organ solo as if trying to free every tortured soul trapped in this sinister place. I had learned it sometime in the 1950s, from a recording by Hally Wood, the Texas singer and collector, who had got it from an Alan Lomax field recording by a Kentucky woman named Georgia Turner. I put a different spin on it by altering the chords and using a bass line that descended in half steps—a common enough progression in jazz, but unusual among folksingers. By the early 1960s, the song had become one of my signature pieces, and I could hardly get off the stage without doing it.
The Parton version makes it quite blunt, with a few new lyric lines that were written by Parton. Parton's remake reached number 14 on the US country singles chart and crossed over to the pop charts, where it reached number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100; it also reached number 30 on the US Adult Contemporary chart. Parton has occasionally performed the song live, including on her 1987–88 television show, in an episode taped in New Orleans. The Animals' version of the American folk song is considered one of the 20th century’s British pop classics. While the original version was sung in the character of a woman led into a life of degradation, the Animals' version is told from the view of a young man who follows his father into alcoholism and gambling ruin.
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Five Finger Death Punch's remake reached number 7 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The single also charted in Australia (number 14), France (number 36), and Italy (number 54). The song was first collected in Appalachia in the 1930s, but probably has its roots in traditional English folk song. A detail shot of the inside of the main entrance to the old Olivier plantation house, including its fan-shaped transom. "House of the Rising Sun" is a modern American myth and a true folk song because it is still evolving today. Only the lyrics and melodies that shake the bottom of the soul linger in the mind long enough to be passed along to the next singer, and "The House of the Rising Sun" was a particularly memorable song.
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Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards. Definite links to gambling or prostitution (if any) are undocumented for either of these buildings.
There is a house in New OrleansThey call the Rising SunWhere many poor boys to destruction has goneAnd me, oh God, are one. There is a house in New Orleans, it's called the Rising SunIt's been the ruin of many poor girlGreat God, and I for one. By 1932, with medical science contributing to a decline in the city’s orphan population, the Chartres Street property — home over the years to an estimated 9,000 orphans — was shuttered and sold. Occupying the block bounded by Chartres (then Moreau), Mazant, Royal and France streets, the two-story main house was surrounded by a wraparound ground-floor arcade and, supported by rows of stately columns, a second-floor gallery. Not to be confused with the Olivier House on Toulouse Street, the Olivier plantation house was built around 1820 by the Paris-born planter David Olivier. It would also be the beacon that called two notable Catholic religious orders to the city — the Brothers of Holy Cross and the Marianite Sisters of Holy Cross — and, after its demolition, as a rallying cry for appalled preservationists that still echoes today.
Keynote Records released one by Josh White in 1942,[27] and Decca Records released one also in 1942 with music by White and the vocals performed by Libby Holman.[28] Holman and White also collaborated on a 1950 release by Mercury Records. White is also credited with having written new words and music that have subsequently been popularized in the versions made by many other later artists. Although the date and author of the song are unknown, some musicologists have said that it resembled ballads of the 16th century, and could very easily have derived from one of that time. As a popular folk song, the oldest record of “House of the Rising Sun” in reference to a song was 1905, and it was first recorded in 1933 by an Appalachian group. Other early recordings include Woody Guthrie’s version from 1941 and Bob Dylan in 1961. The version by the Animals, however, is by far the most popular, and Dylan is often annoyed when it is assumed that he covered that song from them.
