What is the story of ‘The House of the Rising Sun’?
‘The House of the Rising Sun’ stands as a timeless classic in The Animals’ repertoire, emblematic of the British invasion era’s musical prowess. Released in 1964, its iconic features include the haunting A minor chord arpeggio, Eric Burdon’s resonant baritone vocals, and a memorable organ solo. Produced by Mickie Most, a leading figure in shaping the era’s sound, the song possessed all the elements necessary for transatlantic success, ultimately becoming a chart-topping hit.
Perhaps most remarkably, The Animals’ song was recorded in just one take. In an aversion to tradition, the track runs for four-and-a-half minutes on the album version, which was considered too extensive to be a single at the time. Most, who initially did not want to record it at all, would later grant an exception to the band, noting: “Everything was in the right place … It only took 15 minutes to make so I can’t take much credit for the production”. After hearing the full version, he loved the length and commented that it would be a single: “We’re in a microgroove world now; we will release it”.
Ironically, across the Atlantic, the original version of the single was trimmed down to 2:58, as many still weren’t ready to do away with tradition. Alas, it was a significant success and confirmed The Animals as one of the most important acts of the era.
In another paradoxical twist, The Animals’ biggest song is also a cover. The song is an augmented version of a traditional folk piece whose authorship is mysterious and contentious and has had many claimants over the years. While Newcastle band’s version is undoubtedly the most well-known of them all, it has taken on many formats in its time.
Who wrote ‘The House of the Rising Sun’?
While contemporary listeners might know ‘The House of the Rising Sun’ by this name, it is also sometimes called ‘Rising Sun Blues’. It tells the story of a person’s life going incredibly wrong in New Orleans, Louisiana. Lyrically, there have been multiple variations, and some urge the musicians’ relatives to avoid taking the same disastrous route as that in the track.
According to reports, the track, in a format close to what many know it by, was first collected in the Appalachian region in the 1930s but likely originated as a traditional folk song in England. While of undeterminable authorship, some musicologists have asserted that it emerges from the broadside ballad tradition and contains some minor similarities to ‘The Unfortunate Rake’ from the 1500s, but this is incidental, with no objective evidence to support an association.
Famed ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, a folk song collector, also mentioned that the melody could be related to the 1600s folk song, ‘Lord Barnard and Little Musgrave’, which is also known as ‘Matty Groves’. Still, other surveys have dispelled any connection between both pieces.
Interestingly, Lomax also noted that the “Rising Sun” is the name of a brothel in two other traditional English songs and is a name for pubs found across the country. He suggested that white southern artists transposed the house’s location to the US from England. Perhaps pointing to its English origins, in 1953, Lomax spoke to the English farm labourer Harry Cox, who had made a name locally due to his expansive repertoire of folk songs.
One of the tracks he knew was ‘She was a Rum One’, which had two potential opening verses. One, which bears some similarity to that of The Animals’, which also mentions the Suffolk town, Lowestoft, goes: “If you go to Lowestoft, and ask for The Rising Sun / There you’ll find two old whores and my old woman is one.”
The recording Lomax captured of Cox can be found online, and in the years since its release, commentators have maintained that it wasn’t likely that Cox would have known about the American song. The connection to Suffolk is also bolstered by the fact that the town had a pub called The Rising Sun and that it is the most easterly settlement in the country, which implies its connection to the sun coming up each day. However, it’s improbable Cox’s version is related to the later versions.
Who has recorded ‘The House of the Rising Sun’?
Outside of The Animals, many artists have recorded renditions of ‘The House of the Rising Sun’. A resonant piece for American blues, folk and country artists, significant names such as Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White and Libby Hilman captured their takes in the first half of the 20th century.
Since then, Joan Baez, Miriam Makeba, Pete Seeger, Nina Simone, Glen Yarbrough, and even the metal band Five Finger Death Punch have put their twist on it. The most famous outside of The Animals, though, is that by Bob Dylan on his 1962 debut album, under the guise of ‘House of the Risin’ Sun’. Although the release gives no songwriting credit, the liner notes point to Dylan learning the version from Dave Van Ronk, who later claimed the Duluth musician copied his take on it.
