American Folksongs & Ballads

The House of the Rising Sun

The House of the Rising Sun

by John Fitzsimmons | The American Folk Experience

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
It has been the ruin of many a poor girl
And me, oh, God, was one

My mother was a tailor,
She sewed them new blue jeans.
My lover he was a gambler, Oh Lord
Gambled down in New Orleans.

My husband, he was a gambling man
He went from town to town;
And the only time he was satisfied
Was when he drank his liquor down.

Now the only thing a gambling man needs
Is a suitcase and a trunk;
And the only time he’s ever satisfied
I when he’s on a drunk

Go and tell my baby sister
Never do like I have done,
But to shun that house in New Orleans
That they call the Rising Sun

With one foot on the platform,
And one foot on the train
I’m goin’ back to New Orleans
To wear the ball and chain.

I’m going back to New Orleans
My race is almost run;
I’m going back to spend the rest of my life
Beneath that Rising Sun.

If you have any more information to share about this song or helpful links, please post as a comment. Thanks for stopping by the site! ~John Fitz

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I am indebted to the many friends who share my love of traditional songs and to the many scholars whose works are too many to include here. I am also incredibly grateful to the collector’s curators and collators of Wikipedia, Mudcat.org, MainlyNorfolk.info, and TheContemplator.com and the many other contributors for their wise, thorough and informative contributions to the study of folk music. 

I share this research on my site with humility, thanks, and gratitude. Please cite all referenced work accordingly with your own research. If you have any research or sites you would like to share on this site, please post in the comment box.  Thanks!

"The House of the Rising Sun" is an American traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid the same fate. The most successful commercial version, recorded in 1964 by the British rock band The Animals, was a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart and in the US and Canada.[1] As a traditional folk song recorded by an electric rock band, it has been described as the "first folk rock hit".[2][3]

The song was first collected in Appalachia in the 1930s, but probably has its roots in traditional English folk song. It is listed as number 6393 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

Origin and early versions

Origin

Like many folk songs, "The House of the Rising Sun" is of uncertain authorship. Musicologists say that it is based on the tradition of broadside ballads, and thematically it has some resemblance to the 16th-century ballad "The Unfortunate Rake", yet there is no evidence suggesting that there is any direct relation.[4] The folk song collector Alan Lomax suggested that the melody might be related to a 17th-century folk song, "Lord Barnard and Little Musgrave", also known as "Matty Groves",[5][6] but a survey by Bertrand Bronson showed no clear relationship between the two songs.[7]

Traditional English

Lomax also noted that "Rising Sun" was the name of a bawdy house in two traditional English songs, and a name for English pubs,[8] and proposed that the location of the house was then relocated from England to the US by Southern performers.[8] In 1953, Lomax met Harry Cox, an English farm labourer known for his impressive folk song repertoire, who knew a song called "She was a Rum One" (Roud 2128) with two possible opening verses, one beginning

If you go to Lowestoft, and ask for The Rising Sun,
There you'll find two old whores and my old woman is one.[9]

The recording Lomax made of Harry Cox is available online.[10] (Cox provides the alternative opening verse with the "Rising Sun" line at 1:40 in the recording.) It is considered extremely unlikely that Cox was aware of the American song.[11] It is also lent credence by the fact that there was a pub in Lowestoft called The Rising Sun and by the fact that the town is the most easterly settlement in the UK (hence "rising sun").[12] However, doubt has been expressed as to whether Cox's song has any connection to later versions.[12][13]

France

Meanwhile, folklorist Vance Randolph proposed an alternative French origin, the "rising sun" referring to the decorative use of the sunburst insignia dating to the time of Louis XIV, which was brought to North America by French immigrants.[7]

Earliest American versions

"House of the Rising Sun" was said to have been known by American miners in 1905.[5] The oldest published version of the lyrics is that printed by Robert Winslow Gordon in 1925, in a column titled "Old Songs That Men Have Sung" in Adventure magazine.[14] The lyrics of that version begin:[14][15]

There is a house in New Orleans, it's called the Rising Sun
It's been the ruin of many poor girl
Great God, and I for one.

The oldest known recording of the song, under the title "Rising Sun Blues", is by Appalachian artists Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster, who recorded it on September 6, 1933, on the Vocalion label (02576).[5][16] Ashley said he had learned it from his grandfather, Enoch Ashley,[17] who got married around the time of the Civil War,[18] which suggests that the song could have been written years before the turn of the century. Roy Acuff, an "early-day friend and apprentice" of Clarence Ashley's, learned it from him and recorded it as "Rising Sun" on November 3, 1938.[5][16]

The narrative of the lyrics has varied between male and female narrators. The earliest known printed version from Gordon's column is about a woman's warning. The earliest known recording of the song by Ashley is about a rounder, a male character. The lyrics of that version begin:[19]

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
Where many poor boys to destruction has gone
And me, oh God, are one.

On an expedition with his wife to eastern Kentucky, the folklorist Alan Lomax set up his recording equipment in Middlesboro, in the house of the singer and activist Tillman Cadle (husband of Mary Elizabeth Barnicle). There, he recorded a performance by Georgia Turner, the 16-year-old daughter of a local miner. He called it "The Rising Sun Blues".[16] Lomax recorded two other different versions in Eastern Kentucky in 1937, both of which can be heard online: one sung by Dawson Henson[20] and another by Bert Martin.[21] In his 1941 songbook Our Singing Country, Lomax credits the song to Georgia Turner, using Martin's extra lyrics to "complete" the song.[16][22] The Kentucky folk singer Jean Ritchie sang a different traditional version of the song to Lomax in 1949, which can be heard online courtesy of the Alan Lomax archive.[23] Dillard Chandler of Madison County, North Carolina, sang a variant of the song beginning "There was a sport in New Orleans".[24]

Several older blues recordings of songs with similar titles are unrelated, for example, "Rising Sun Blues" by Ivy Smith (1927), but Bluesologist for Texas music Coy Prather has argued that "The Risin' Sun" by Texas Alexander (1928) is an early blues version of the hillbilly song.[25]

Ted Anthony in his research on the song noted a lyrical similarity to versions of an old tune called The Rambling Cowboy.[26]

Early commercial folk and blues releases

In 1941, Woody Guthrie recorded a version. 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. White learned the song from a "white hillbilly singer", who might have been Ashley, in North Carolina in 1923–1924.[5] Lead Belly recorded two versions of the song, in February 1944 and in October 1948, called "In New Orleans" and "The House of the Rising Sun", respectively; the latter was recorded in sessions that were later used on the album Lead Belly's Last Sessions (1953, Smithsonian Folkways).

In 1957, Glenn Yarbrough recorded the song for Elektra Records. 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. The same year, a version by Judy Collins is released on the compilation Folk Song Festival at Exodus. In 1960, Miriam Makeba recorded the song on her eponymous RCA album.

Joan Baez recorded it in 1960 on her eponymous debut album; she frequently performed the song in concert throughout her career. Nina Simone recorded her first version for the live album Nina at the Village Gate in 1962. Simone later covered the song again on her 1967 studio album Nina Simone Sings the Blues. Tim Hardin sang it on This is Tim Hardin, recorded in 1964 but not released until 1967.[29] The Chambers Brothers recorded a version on Feelin' the Blues, released on Vault Records (1970).

Van Ronk arrangement

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. Van Ronk recorded it soon thereafter for the album Just Dave Van Ronk.

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. Then, one evening in 1962, I was sitting at my usual table in the back of the Kettle of Fish, and Dylan came slouching in. He had been up at the Columbia studios with John Hammond, doing his first album. He was being very mysterioso about the whole thing, and nobody I knew had been to any of the sessions except Suze, his lady. I pumped him for information, but he was vague. Everything was going fine and, "Hey, would it be okay for me to record your arrangement of 'House of the Rising Sun?'" Oh, shit. "Jeez, Bobby, I'm going into the studio to do that myself in a few weeks. Can't it wait until your next album?" A long pause. "Uh-oh". I did not like the sound of that. "What exactly do you mean, 'Uh-oh'?" "Well", he said sheepishly, "I've already recorded it".[30]

The Animals' version

"The House of the Rising Sun"
US picture sleeve
Single by the Animals
from the album The Animals
B-side"Talkin' 'bout You"
ReleasedJune 19, 1964
RecordedMay 18, 1964
Genre
Length
  • 4:29 (album version)
  • 2:59 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)Traditional, arr. by Alan Price
Producer(s)Mickie Most
The Animals singles chronology
"Baby Let Me Take You Home"
(1964)
"The House of the Rising Sun"
(1964)
"I'm Crying"
(1964)

An interview with Eric Burdon revealed that he first heard the song in a club in Newcastle, England, where it was sung by the Northumbrian folk singer Johnny Handle. The Animals were on tour with Chuck Berry and chose it because they wanted something distinctive to sing.[33][34]

The Animals had begun featuring their arrangement of "The House of the Rising Sun" during a joint concert tour with Chuck Berry, using it as their closing number to differentiate themselves from acts that always closed with straight rockers.[34][35] It got a tremendous reaction from the audience, convincing initially reluctant producer Mickie Most that it had hit potential,[35] and between tour stops the group went to a small recording studio, De Lane Lea Studios on Kingsway in London[35] to capture it.

Recording and releases

The song was recorded in just one take on May 18, 1964,[36][37] and it starts with a now-famous electric guitar A minor chord arpeggio by Hilton Valentine.[1][3] According to Valentine, he simply took Dylan's chord sequence and played it as an arpeggio.[38] The performance takes off with Burdon's lead vocal, which has been variously described as "howling",[2] "soulful",[39] and as "...deep and gravelly as the north-east English coal town of Newcastle that spawned him".[1] Finally, Alan Price's pulsating organ part (played on a Vox Continental) completes the sound. Burdon later said, "We were looking for a song that would grab people's attention".[40]

As recorded, "The House of the Rising Sun" ran four and a half minutes, regarded as far too long for a pop single at the time.[36] Producer Most, who initially did not really want to record the song at all,[38] said that on this occasion: "Everything was in the right place ... It only took 15 minutes to make so I can't take much credit for the production".[41] He was nonetheless now a believer and declared it a single at its full length, saying "We're in a microgroove world now, we will release it".[41]

In the US, however, the original single (MGM 13264) was a 2:58 version. The MGM Golden Circle reissue (KGC 179) featured the unedited 4:29 version, although the record label gives the edited playing time of 2:58. The edited version was included on the group's 1964 US debut album The Animals, while the full version was later included on their best-selling 1966 US greatest hits album, The Best of the Animals. The first American album release of the full version was on a 1965 compilation entitled Mickie Most Presents British Go-Go (MGM SE-4306), the cover of which, under the listing of "House of the Rising Sun", described it as the "Original uncut version". Americans could also hear the complete version in the movie Go Go Mania in the spring of 1965.

Cash Box described the US single version as "a haunting, beat-ballad updating of the famed folk-blues opus that the group's lead delivers in telling solo vocal fashion."[42]

"House of the Rising Sun" was not included on any of the group's British albums, but it was reissued as a single twice in subsequent decades, charting both times, reaching number 25 in 1972 and number 11 in 1982.

The Animals version was played in 6/8 meter, unlike the 4/4 of most earlier versions. Arranging credit went only to Alan Price. According to Burdon, this was simply because there was insufficient room to name all five band members on the record label, and Alan Price's first name was first alphabetically. However, this meant that only Price received songwriter's royalties for the hit, a fact that has caused bitterness among the other band members ever since.[3][43] However, the song is in the public domain and Dave Van Ronk, who intended to sue them, realised that an arrangement cannot be protected by copyright.

Personnel

Reception

"House of the Rising Sun" was a trans-Atlantic hit: after reaching the top of the UK pop singles chart in July 1964, it topped the US pop singles chart two months later, on September 5, 1964, where it stayed for three weeks. Many cite this as the first true classic rock song,[44] and became the first British Invasion number one unconnected with the Beatles.[45] It was the group's breakthrough hit in both countries and became their signature song.[46] The song was also a hit in Ireland twice, peaking at No. 10 upon its initial release in 1964 and later reaching a brand new peak of No. 5 when reissued in 1982.

According to John Steel, Bob Dylan told him that when he first heard the Animals' version on his car radio, he stopped to listen, "jumped out of his car" and "banged on the bonnet" (the hood of the car), inspiring him to go electric.[47] Dave Van Ronk said that the Animals' version—like Dylan's version before it—was based on his arrangement of the song.[48]

Dave Marsh described the Animals' take on "The House of the Rising Sun" as "the first folk-rock hit", sounding "as if they'd connected the ancient tune to a live wire".[2] Writer Ralph McLean of the BBC agreed that it was "arguably the first folk rock tune" and "a revolutionary single", after which "the face of modern music was changed forever."[3]

The Animals' rendition of the song is recognized as one of the classics of British pop music. Writer Lester Bangs labeled it "a brilliant rearrangement" and "a new standard rendition of an old standard composition".[49] It ranked number 122 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". It is also one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) ranked it number 240 on their list of "Songs of the Century". In 1999, it received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. It has long since become a staple of oldies and classic rock radio. A 2005 Channel 5 poll ranked it as Britain's fourth-favorite number one song.[36]

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[73] Platinum 90,000
Italy (FIMI)[74]
sales since 2009
Platinum 50,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[75]
sales since 2004
Platinum 600,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Frijid Pink version

"House of the Rising Sun"
Artwork for Danish, French and German releases (French pressing pictured)
Single by Frijid Pink
from the album Frijid Pink
B-side"Drivin' Blues"
ReleasedDecember 1969 (1969-12)[76]
Genre
Length
  • 4:44 (album)
  • 3:23 (single)
LabelParrot
Songwriter(s)
  • Traditional
  • arr. by Alan Price
Producer(s)Michael Valvano
Frijid Pink singles chronology
"House of the Rising Sun"
(1969)
"Sing a Song for Freedom"
(1970)

In 1969, the Detroit band Frijid Pink recorded a psychedelic version of "House of the Rising Sun", which became an international hit in 1970. Their version is in 4/4 time (like Van Ronk's and most earlier versions, rather than the 6/8 used by the Animals) and was driven by Gary Ray Thompson's distorted guitar with fuzz and wah-wah effects, set against the frenetic drumming of Richard Stevers.[77]

According to Stevers, the Frijid Pink recording of "House of the Rising Sun" was done impromptu when there was time left over at a recording session booked for the group at the Tera Shirma Recording Studios. Stevers later played snippets from that session's tracks for Paul Cannon, the music director of Detroit's premier rock radio station, WKNR; the two knew each other, as Cannon was the father of Stevers's girlfriend. Stevers recalled, "we went through the whole thing and [Cannon] didn't say much. Then 'House [of the Rising Sun]' started up and I immediately turned it off because it wasn't anything I really wanted him to hear". However, Cannon was intrigued and had Stevers play the complete track for him, then advising Stevers, "Tell Parrot [Frijid Pink's label] to drop "God Gave Me You" [the group's current single] and go with this one".[78]

Frijid Pink's "House of the Rising Sun" debuted at number 29 on the WKNR hit parade dated January 6, 1970, and broke nationally after some seven weeks—during which the track was re-serviced to radio three times—with a number 73 debut on the Hot 100 in Billboard dated February 27, 1970 (number 97 Canada 1970/01/31), with a subsequent three-week ascent to the top 30 en route to a Hot 100 peak of number seven on April 4, 1970. The certification of the Frijid Pink single "House of the Rising Sun" as a gold record for domestic sales of one million units was reported in the issue of Billboard dated May 30, 1970.

The Frijid Pink single of "House of the Rising Sun" would give the song its most widespread international success, with top 10 status reached in Austria (number three), Belgium (Flemish region, number six), Canada (number three), Denmark (number three), Germany (two weeks at number one), Greece, Ireland (number seven), Israel (number four), the Netherlands (number three), Norway (seven weeks at number one), Poland (number two), Sweden (number six), Switzerland (number two), and the UK (number four). The single also charted in Australia (number 14), France (number 36), and Italy (number 54).

Charts

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[98] Gold 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Dolly Parton version

"The House of the Rising Sun"
Artwork for German release
Single by Dolly Parton
from the album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs
A-side"Working Girl"
ReleasedAugust 3, 1981 (1981-08-03)
RecordedNovember 1980
GenreCountry pop
Length4:02
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)Traditional
Producer(s)Mike Post
Dolly Parton singles chronology
"But You Know I Love You"
(1981)
"The House of the Rising Sun"
(1981)
"Single Women"
(1982)

In August 1980, Dolly Parton released a cover of the song as the third single from her album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs. Like Miller's earlier country hit, Parton's remake returns the song to its original lyric of being about a fallen woman. 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. In Canada it reached number 20.[99]

Five Finger Death Punch version

"The House of the Rising Sun"
Single by Five Finger Death Punch
from the album The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2
ReleasedFebruary 3, 2014 (2014-02-03)
Recorded2012–2013
StudioThe Hideout Studios, Las Vegas, Nevada
Genre
Length4:07
LabelProspect Park
Songwriter(s)Traditional
Producer(s)Kevin Churko
Five Finger Death Punch singles chronology
"Battle Born"
(2013)
"The House of the Rising Sun"
(2014)
"Mama Said Knock You Out"
(2014)

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. Five Finger Death Punch's remake reached number 7 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The setting is also changed in FFDP's version from New Orleans to Sin City, as a nod to the band's hometown, and is also well known for being a haven for gambling places like New Orleans (see also: Gambling in the United States).

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[100] Gold 45,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Other charting versions

The song has been widely (more than 300 times[101]) covered and remixed over the ages. Charting versions include:

  • In 1969, Claude King's version reached number 28 on Canada's country charts, December 20, 1969.[102]
  • In 1973, Jody Miller's version reached number 29 on the country charts[103] and number 41 on the Adult Contemporary chart.[104] In Canada it reached number 23 on the country charts and number 81 on the AC charts.[105][106]
  • In 1977, Santa Esmeralda scored a top 20 disco hit with a dance version of the song and number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • In 1996, Gary Glitter released a cover version of "House of the Rising Sun" as a single, which reached number 77 on the UK Singles Chart.
  • In 2024, Irina Ognjević performed "The House of the Rising Sun" at the international Preparing Stars competition in Romania, where she won the Foreign Language category (13-14 years). Her rendition of the classic song impressed the jury.[107]

Foreign language versions

Johnny Hallyday version (in French)

"Le Pénitencier"
Single by Johnny Hallyday
from the album Le Pénitencier
LanguageFrench
English titleThe penitentiary
ReleasedOctober 14, 1964 (1964-10-14)
RecordedSeptember 1964
LabelPhilips
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Lee Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday singles chronology
"Les Mauvais garçons"
(1964)
"Le Pénitencier"
(1964)
"Un ami ça n'a pas de prix"
(1965)
Music video
"Le Pénitencier" (Live on French TV, 1966)
"Le Pénitencier" (Live at the Théâtre de Paris, 2013)
on YouTube

The song was covered in French by Johnny Hallyday. His version (titled "Le Pénitencier", pronounced [lə penitɑ̃sje], meaning "The penitentiary") was released in October 1964 and spent one week at number one on the singles sales chart in France (from October 17 to 23).[108] In Wallonia, Belgium, his single spent 28 weeks on the chart, also peaking at number one.[109]

He performed the song during his 2014 US tour.

Charts
Chart (1964–1965) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[110] 1
France (IFOP)[108] 1
Spain (Promusicae)[62] 14

Los Speakers version (in Spanish)

Colombian band Los Speakers covered the song under the title "La Casa del Sol Naciente", in their 1965 album of the same name.

EAV version and 'Wilbert Eckart und seine Volksmusik Stars' versions (in German)

Two notable German covers/adaptions were created, one by Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung, which in 1989 recorded a song with lyrics telling the story of an East Germany citizen fleeing East Berlin after the Fall of the Berlin Wall and his following disillusion with Western society.[111] Another one that gained international recognition was created for the soundtrack of Wolfenstein: The New Order in 2014, interpreting the song with Volksmusik instrumentation, fitting the alternate future theme of the game in which Nazi Germany won World War II, as part of a collection of 'adapted' pop hits.[112][113]

Miki Jevremović (in Serbo-Croatian)

Famous Yugoslav singer Miodrag "Miki" Jevremović covered the song and included it in his 1964 EP "18 Žutih Ruža" (eng. "Eighteen Yellow Roses").

Possible real locations

Various places in New Orleans have been proposed as the inspiration for the song, with varying plausibility. The phrase "House of the Rising Sun" is often understood as a euphemism for a brothel, but it is uncertain as to whether the house described in the lyrics was an actual or a fictitious place. One theory is that the song is about a woman who killed her father, an alcoholic gambler who had beaten his wife. Therefore, the House of the Rising Sun may be a jailhouse, from which one would be the first person to see the sunrise (an idea supported by the lyric mentioning "a ball and chain", though that phrase has been slang for marital relationships for at least as long as the song has been in print). Because women often sang the song, another theory is that the House of the Rising Sun was where prostitutes were detained while being treated for syphilis. Since cures with mercury were ineffective, going back was very unlikely.[6][33]

1867 advertisement noting the "Rising Sun Coffee House" building for rent or lease

Only three candidates that use the name Rising Sun have historical evidence—from old city directories and newspapers. The first was a small, short-lived hotel on Conti Street in the French Quarter in the 1820s. It burned down in 1822. An excavation and document search in early 2005 found evidence that supported this claim, including an advertisement with language that may have euphemistically indicated prostitution. Archaeologists found an unusually large number of pots of rouge and cosmetics at the site.[114]

The second possibility was a "Rising Sun Hall" listed in late 19th-century city directories on what is now Cherokee Street, at the riverfront in the uptown Carrollton neighborhood, which seems to have been a building owned and used for meetings of a Social Aid and Pleasure Club, commonly rented out for dances and functions. It also is no longer extant. Definite links to gambling or prostitution (if any) are undocumented for either of these buildings.

A third was "The Rising Sun", which advertised in several local newspapers in the 1860s, located on what is now the lake side of the 100 block of Decatur Street.[115] In various advertisements it is described as a "Restaurant", a "Lager Beer Salon", and a "Coffee House". At the time, New Orleans businesses listed as coffee houses often also sold alcoholic beverages.

Dave Van Ronk wrote in his biography The Mayor of MacDougal Street that at one time when he was in New Orleans someone approached him with a number of old photos of the city from the turn of the century. Among them "was a picture of a foreboding stone doorway with a carving on the lintel of a stylized rising sun ... It was the Orleans Parish women's prison".[116]

Bizarre New Orleans, a guidebook on New Orleans, asserts that the real house was at 1614 Esplanade Avenue between 1862 and 1874 and was said to have been named after its madam, Marianne LeSoleil Levant, whose surname means "the rising sun" in French.[33]

Another guidebook, Offbeat New Orleans, asserts that the real House of the Rising Sun was at 826–830 St. Louis St. between 1862 and 1874, also purportedly named for Marianne LeSoleil Levant. The building still stands, and Eric Burdon, after visiting at the behest of the owner, said, "The house was talking to me".[117]

There is a contemporary B&B called the House of the Rising Sun, decorated in brothel style. The owners are fans of the song, but there is no connection with the original place.[117][118]

Not everyone is convinced that the house actually ever existed. Pamela D. Arceneaux, a research librarian at the Williams Research Center in New Orleans, is quoted as saying:

I have made a study of the history of prostitution in New Orleans and have often confronted the perennial question, "Where is the House of the Rising Sun?" without finding a satisfactory answer. Although it is generally assumed that the singer is referring to a brothel, there is actually nothing in the lyrics that indicate that the "house" is a brothel. Many knowledgeable persons have conjectured that a better case can be made for either a gambling hall or a prison; however, to paraphrase Freud: sometimes lyrics are just lyrics.[6]

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c York, Barry (July 9, 2004). "House of worship". The Age. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Dave Marsh, The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, NAL, 1989. Entry #91.
  3. ^ a b c d McLean, Ralph. "Stories Behind the Song: 'House of the Rising Sun'". BBC. Archived from the original on September 8, 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2007.
  4. ^ Anthony, Ted (2007). Chasing the Rising Sun: The Journey of an American Song. Simon & Schuster. p. 21. ISBN 9781416539308. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e Matteson, Richard L. Jr. (October 7, 2010). Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book. Mel Bay Music. p. 111. ISBN 9781609745523.
  6. ^ a b c "House of the Rising Sun - the History and the Song". BBC h2g2. July 28, 2006. Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Harvey, Todd (2001). The Formative Dylan: Transmission and Stylistic Influences 1961–1963. Scarecrow Press. pp. 48–50. ISBN 978-0810841154.
  8. ^ a b Sullivan, Steve (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 2. Scarecrow Press. pp. 97–98. ISBN 9780810882966. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  9. ^ Ward, Simon (April 25, 2016). "Iconic song has links to Lowestoft?". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  10. ^ "She Was A Rum One | Lomax Digital Archive". archive.culturalequity.org. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  11. ^ "26/04/2016". The One Show. April 26, 2016. BBC.
  12. ^ a b Anthony, Ted (July 13, 2007). Chasing the Rising Sun: The Journey of an American Song. Simon and Schuster. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-1-4165-3930-8.
  13. ^ "New Orleans Legend May Prove to Be Reputable". Los Angeles Times. March 20, 2005. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Steve Sullivan, Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 1, Scarecrow Press (2013) ISBN 0810882965, 9780810882966, p. 98.
  15. ^ The same opening lyrics are in the early recorded version in 1933: Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle, "House of the Rising Sun, The Archived October 5, 2020, at the Wayback Machine", The Traditional Ballad Index, 4.0, Fresno State University, (2016) (accessed October 19, 2016)
  16. ^ a b c d e "Pete Seeger - American Favorite Ballads" (PDF). Volume 2 (pages 11–12). Smithsonian Folkways. 2009. pp. 27–28. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  17. ^ "HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN – Banjo Mountain". Archived from the original on November 29, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  18. ^ "Clarence "Tom" Ashley biography". Last.fm. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  19. ^ Dixon, Robert M. W.; Godrich, John; Rye, Howard W. (1997). Blues & Gospel Records, 1890–1943. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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  22. ^ Bals, Fred (November 4, 2019). "Chasing the Rising Sun". Medium. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  23. ^ "Alan Lomax Archive". research.culturalequity.org.
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  27. ^ White, Josh. "House Of The Rising Sun". Keynote Records. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  28. ^ Holman, Libby. "House Of The Rising Sun". Decca Records. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  29. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "This is Tim Hardin". Allmusic. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  30. ^ The Mayor of MacDougal Street, ISBN 978-0-306-81479-2, p. 115
  31. ^ Miller, Michael (June 26, 2013). "'House of the Rising Sun' to set on Costa Mesa". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020. The band's 1964 hit "House of the Rising Sun," which cast a traditional ballad in a hard, bluesy arrangement, is considered a folk-rock milestone, and hits like "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" remain classic rock radio staples.
  32. ^ Melissa Ursula Dawn Goldsmith (November 22, 2019). Listen to Classic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre. ABC-CLIO. p. 251. ISBN 978-1-4408-6579-4.
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  48. ^ Van Ronk, Dave. The Mayor of MacDougal Street. Then, sometime in 1968, Eric Burdon and the Animals made a number-one chart hit out of the damn thing. Same arrangement. I would have loved to sue for royalties, but I found that it is impossible to defend the copyright on an arrangement.
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    Source: Songfacts.com

    House of the Rising Sun

    • Historians have not been able to definitively identify The House Of The Rising Sun, but here are the two most popular theories:

      1) The song is about a brothel in New Orleans. “The House Of The Rising Sun” was named after Madame Marianne LeSoleil Levant (which means “Rising Sun” in French) and was open for business from 1862 (occupation by Union troops) until 1874, when it was closed due to complaints by neighbors. It was located at 826-830 St. Louis St.

      2) It’s about a women’s prison in New Orleans called the Orleans Parish women’s prison, which had an entrance gate adorned with rising sun artwork. This would explain the “ball and chain” lyrics in the song.

    • The melody is a traditional English ballad, but the song became popular as an African-American folk song. It was recorded by Texas Alexander in the 1920s, then by a number of other artists including Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White and later Nina Simone. It was her version The Animals first heard. No one can claim rights to the song, meaning it can be recorded and sold royalty-free. Many bands covered the song after it became a hit for The Animals.
    • The folk music historian Alan Lomax recorded a version in 1937 by a 16-year-old girl named Georgia Turner. In this context, it is sung in the first person, present tense with the singer lamenting how the House of the Rising Sun has ruined her life. In this traditional folk version, the main character is either a prostitute or a prisoner. The Animals changed it to a gambler to make their version more radio-friendly.
    • The Animals performed this song while touring England with Chuck Berry. It went over so well that they recorded it between stops on the tour. In our 2010 interview with Animals lead singer Eric Burdon, he explained: “‘House of the Rising Sun’ is a song that I was just fated to. It was made for me and I was made for it. It was a great song for the Chuck Berry tour because it was a way of reaching the audience without copying Chuck Berry. It was a great trick and it worked. It actually wasn’t only a great trick, it was a great recording. The best aspect of it, I’ve been told, is that Bob Dylan, who was angry at first, turned into a rocker. Dylan went electric in the shadow of The Animals classic ‘House of the Rising Sun.'”
    • Bob Dylan recorded this on his first album. The Animals version was one of the first songs to put a rock rhythm to a rolk song, something Dylan did a lot soon after.
    • This was the first song since 1962 by a British band to hit #1 in America that was not written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
    • This was the first international hit Mickie Most produced. An Englishman, Most went to South Africa in 1959 and formed a band called Mickie Most and his Playboys. Since rock music had not come to the country, Most recorded popular songs like “Johnny B. Goode” and “Shake, Rattle And Roll,” running up a string of hits. Upon returning to England in 1962, he turned to production work, since he had honed his songcraft skills in South Africa.

      After seeing The Animals perform at Club A-Go-Go in Newcastle, he began producing the band; their first recording was “Baby Let Me Take You Home,” which was released as the group’s first single and made UK #21. Next was “The House of the Rising Sun.”

      Most quickly became the top producer in England, adding Herman’s Hermits, Donovan, Lulu and Jeff Beck to his roster.

    • The Animals recorded this in one take, as they had perfected the song from years of performing it on the road. The Animals’ drummer John Steel recalls in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, “We Played Liverpool on May 17 1964 and then drove to London where Mickie (Most) had booked a studio for ITV’s Ready Steady Go! Because of the reaction we were getting to ‘Rising Sun,’ we asked to record it and he said, ‘Okay we’ll do it at the same session.’ We set up for balance, played a few bars for the engineer – it was mono with no overdubs – and we only did one take. We listened to it and Mickie said, ‘That’s it, it’s a single.’ The engineer said it was too long, but instead of chopping out a bit, Mickie had the courage to say, ‘We’re in a microgroove world now, we will release it.’ A few weeks later it was #1 all over the world. When we knocked The Beatles off the top in America, they sent us a telegram which read, ‘Congratulations from The Beatles (a group)’.” The producer Mickie Most recalls, “Everything was in the right place, the planets were in the right place, the stars were in the right place and the wind was blowing in the right direction. It only took 15 minutes to make so I can’t take much credit for the production. It was just a case of capturing the atmosphere in the studio.”
    • The Animals had 13 more Top 40 hits in the US, becoming one of the most successful British Invasion bands in the United States. They split up in 1968 over various music and business issues. Burdon told us: “I don’t think that The Animals got a chance to evolve. We were the first to admit that we took Blues songs from American artists, but if the Animals had stuck together and worked together instead of worrying about who was getting all the money, we could have evolved more and come out with more music to be proud of.”
    • Alan Price was the only band member given credit for arranging the track, meaning he is paid almost all the royalties. Their record company told the other members that there was not enough room to list them as arrangers.
    • The organ solo was inspired by jazzman Jimmy Smith’s hit “Walk on the Wild Side.” Alan Price performed the solo on a Vox Continental.

    Here is The Animals iconic and widely popular version…

     

     

     

    Here is Dave Van Ronk’s haunting and soulful version…

     

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    The American Folk Experience is dedicated to collecting and curating the most enduring songs from our musical heritage.  Every performance and workshop is a celebration and exploration of the timeless songs and stories that have shaped and formed the musical history of America. John Fitzsimmons has been singing and performing these gems of the past for the past forty years, and he brings a folksy warmth, humor and massive repertoire of songs to any occasion. 

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    It’s been too long feeling sorry for myself.
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    This shift from fall to winterIs the cruelest month:Long days and nightsIn a blather of responsibility’s I hoist from a murky holeAnd sort and siftOn a messy desk. I pity my students who trembleMy red pen of vengeance;Who wait with fetid thoughtsFreighted by what they...

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    Well, I fixed it all;
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    Everything’s for you…

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    Racing around the back yard;
    Sayin’, “Daddy don’t you know I can fly to the moon;
    I’m gonna bring you back some stars.
    And after that I’m gonna save the world”
    Cause I’m superman today.”
    I scoop that boy right into my arms,
    And this is what I say:

    You don’t need a cape to be a hero
    You’ve got all the special powers that you need
    Your smile’s enough to save the world from evil
    And you’ll always be superman to me

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    Last of the Boys

    Come on over here
    and I’ll buy the next round:
    cold beer and some shooters
    for the boys on the town;
    Darby ain’t drinkin’
    so let’s live it up
    ‘cause he’ll drive us all home
    in his company truck

    Jesus Christ, Jimmy,
    man you say that you’re well;
    I say we drive into Boston
    and stir up some hell;
    put a cap on the weekend,
    a stitch in the night,
    watch the Pats play on Sunday
    and the welterweight fight.

    That’s all she wrote boys,
    there ain’t any more;
    that’s why we’re standing here;
    that’s what it’s for.
    That’s why we all go on working all day
    busting our ass for short pay:
    ~Hey…

    How do I know

    what I know? The sharp angles of this simple cottage perfected in every board sawn, shingle split and beam hewn into place goes together placed, splined, slid together, bound more by intuition than knowing.

    Joshua Sawyer

    I doubt I’d ever have taken this road
    had I known how fallen it really was
    to disrepair: driving comically,
    skirting ruts and high boulders, grimacing
    at every bang on the oil pan.
    I tell you it’s the old road to Wendell —
    that they don’t make them like this anymore.

    When the same thing happens again

    I wonder if God is testing me, giving Me some affable warning Or, perhaps, a more Stern rebuke, replaying A foolish mistake, Rehashing and reminding me Of a harsher possibility. It is only a small 10 mm wrench tightening A loose bolt on the throttle body, slipping...

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    In the unfolding chores

    The day sometimes slip away from me, a huge pine half-bucked in the backyard, the kids old tree fort cut into slabs, a ton of coal waiting to be moved in a train of buckets to the bin. Sipping cold water on the back deck I hear Emma rustling for soccer cleats and...

    The Nagging Thing

    Not many more nights like this, warm enough to sit outside on the back porch. The kids and Denise long asleep. Usually, during the school year, this is my "time" to catch up on schoolwork--grading, posting the assignments for the week and playing the general catchup...

    Pruning

    These trees have driven so many friends batty, wedged in unstable crotches, embracing hollow, heart-rotted limbs, reaching tentatively, maddened with indecision. From a distance your gestures are very lobsterlike— waving a last embattled claw, as if dueling some...

    In Reply To Einstein

    *God casts the die, not the dice. ~Alfred Einstein I am cold down the neck, turtling my head to showers of ice that fall dancing and skidding on skins of crusted snow. I hold my breath when I step, inflating hopes of a weightlessness, and so be undetected
to the play...

    Raccoon Welcome

    Welcome

    The March Snow

    An early March snow brought down all these branches Cracking and crashing throughout a long night, Piling them impatiently in the yard Like jacksticks in a child’s messy room. The stepladder I used to rake the ridge Stands like an awkward sculpture draped in white...

    Hallows Lake

    Foreward Thanks for taking a look at this "work in progress. It originally started out as an experimental one-man play. Maybe it still will be. Later I thought of making it into a novel, but it's hard to see it happening as there is (intentionally) no real plot, and...

    The English Soldier

    There is a soldier dressed in ancient English wool guarding the entrance to the inn. He is lucky for this cool night awaiting the pomp of the out of town wedding party. He is paid to be unmoved by the bride's stunning beauty or her train of lesser escorts. He will not...

    Many Miles To Go

    I see it in your eyes
    and in the ways you try to smile;
    in the ways you whisper—I don’t know—
    and put it all off for a while;
    then you keep on keeping on
    in the only way you know:
    you’re scared of where you’re going
    and who’ll catch you down below.

    The Enigma

    Black Pond is not as deepas it is dark, dammedsome century agobetween ledges of granite and an outcropping of leaning fir, huckleberry, and white pine. For years I have paddled and trolled;swam, fished, sailed and sometimessimply tread water in the night trying to...

    The Snow

    has dropped a seamlessness before the plows and children can patch it back to a jagged and arbitrary quilting putting borders to design and impulse. I imagine myself falling everywhere softly, whispering, I am here, and I am here.

    Make Something out of Something

    It's hard to make chicken salad out of chicken manure      Dirty hands are a good sign, so hopefully, you got some mental mud on your hands and created some content to work with today.  To a starving man, any food is good food--unless it...

    Garden Woman

    I woke today and had my tea
    and at the window spent the morning:
    the same scene I’ve seen so many times
    is each day freshly born;
    from the ground I turn each spring and fall
    come the flowers sweetly blooming;
    you disappear among the weeds—
    you are the garden woman.

    Guns, Me, and Rural America

         Sometimes I start writing without knowing where I stand—unsure of even where I stand. I have to trust some innate wisdom or audacity will cull through the bullshit we are all heir to in what Hamlet laments is “this earthly coil” we are forced to face when we wake...

    I have been here before

    Trying to pull a final day Back into the night, execute Some stay of time, Some way to wrap The fabric of Summer Around the balky, frame of Fall, sloughing My skin, unable to stop This reptilian ecdysis— This hideous morphing Into respectability. My students, tame As...

    Moby Dick: Chapters 42-51

    A literary reflection to my students... The lowering for whales, the appearance of Fedallah's crew, the vivid descriptions of the first chase in a sudden and unrelenting gale, the fatalistic joy of resigning oneself to fate, the awesome poetic intensity of Melville's...

    Wisdom

    Wisdom starts in non-action… The doing and non-doing are the equal balance. Without the luxury of contemplation there would not be a prioritizing of need versus want. Wisdom balances physical reality… Wisdom does not shuffle tasks out of view but finds a way to...

    Contact John Fitzsimmons...and thanks!