The House of the Rising Sun

"The House of the Rising Sun" is a folk song from the United States. Also called "House of the Rising Sun" or occasionally "Rising Sun Blues", it tells of a life gone wrong in New Orleans. Depending on the version, the song may be sung from the perspective of a woman or a man. Two of the best-known renditions of the song are by the English group The Animals in 1964, which was a number one hit in both the United States and United Kingdom, and by Joan Baez in 1959-60.

Origin and early versions

Like many classic folk ballads, the authorship of "The House of the Rising Sun" is uncertain. Folklorist Alan Lomax, author of the seminal 1941 songbook Our Singing Country, wrote that the melody was taken from a traditional English ballad and the lyrics written by a pair of Kentuckians named Georgia Turner and Bert Martin. Other scholars have proposed different explanations, although Lomax's is generally considered most plausible. Though the phrase "House of the Rising Sun" is often understood as a euphemism for a brothel (but it is not known whether or not the house described in the lyrics was an actual or fictitious place), the original song is more likely to tell the story of a young woman, a daughter who killed her father, an alcoholic gambler who'd beaten his wife (her mother). Therefore, the House of the rising sun is rather a jail house - from which you are the first person to see the sun rise, because of its Eastern location, in Louisiana. The oldest known existing recording is by versatile entertainer Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster and was released in 1934 . Ashley said he had learned it from his grandfather, Enoch Ashley. Texas Alexander's "The Risin' Sun", which was recorded in 1928, is sometimes mentioned as the first recording, but this is a completely different song. Roy Acuff, who recorded the song commercially on November 3, 1938, may have learned this number from such neighboring Smoky Mountain artists as Clarence Ashley or the Callahan Brothers, an influential duet team of the '30s and '40s. In 1941, Woody Guthrie recorded a version. In late 1948 Lead Belly recorded a version called "In New Orleans" in the sessions that later became the album Lead Belly's Last Sessions (1994, Smithsonian Folkways). In 1957 Glenn Yarbrough recorded the song for Elektra Records. In an interview by Martin Scorsese in his Dylan biopic No Direction Home, folksinger Dave Van Ronk recounted that he had originally worked out the arrangement for his coffee house act. Dylan then "borrowed" the arrangement for his first album, 1962's Bob Dylan, without Van Ronk's permission, and recorded it before Van Ronk had got around to recording it himself. Van Ronk was also displeased because he thought that Dylan had butchered the song.^[1] Van Ronk was subsequently upset when people referred to his version as a cover of Dylan's song. The inspiration for The Animals' arrangement is sometimes said to come from Dylan's recording, and other times said to be from Josh White or Nina Simone (who recorded it before Dylan on Nina at the Village Gate). Regardless, they enjoyed a huge hit with the song, much to Dylan's chagrin when his version was referred to as a cover of The Animals' version - the irony of which was not lost on Van Ronk. Dave Van Ronk went on record as saying that the whole issue was a "tempest in a teapot", and that Dylan stopped playing the song after The Animals' hit because fans accused Dylan of plagiarizing Price's version. Bob Dylan has said he first heard The Animals' version on his automobile radio and "jumped out of his car seat" because he liked it so much. An interview with Eric Burdon revealed that the Animals heard Josh White perform "House" in Europe in the early 1960s, and decided to cover it.

The Animals version

"The House of the Rising Sun"
Single by The Animals
B-side	"Talkin' 'Bout You" (R. Charles)
Released	June 1964 (UK) August 1964 (U.S.)
Format	7" single
Recorded	18 May 1964
Genre	Rock
Length	4:29 (full - UK) 2:58 (edited - U.S. original)
Label	Columbia Graphophone DB7301 (UK) MGM Records 13264 (U.S.)
Writer	Trad., arranged Alan Price
Producer	Mickie Most
The Animals singles chronology
"Baby Let Me Take You Home" (1964) "House of the Rising Sun" (1964) "I'm Crying" (1964)

Regardless of its sources of inspiration, The Animals' take on "The House of the Rising Sun" sounded wholly new: writer Dave Marsh described it as "the first folk-rock hit," sounding "as if they'd connected the ancient tune to a live wire,"^[2] while writer Ralph McLean of the BBC agreed that "it was arguably the first folk rock tune," calling it "a revolutionary single" after which "the face of modern music was changed forever."^[3] The Animals' version transposes the narrative of the song from the point of view of a woman led into a life of degradation, to that of a male, whose father was now a gambler and drunkard, as opposed to the sweetheart in earlier versions. The Animals had begun featuring their arrangement of "House of the Rising Sun" during a joint concert tour with Chuck Berry, using it as their closing number to differentiate themselves from acts which always closed with straight rockers.^[4] It got a tremendous reaction from the audience, convincing initially reluctant producer Mickie Most that it had hit potential^[4], and between tour stops the group went to a small recording studio on Kingsway in London^[4] to capture it. Recorded in just one take on 18 May 1964,^[5] it started with a famous electric guitar A minor chord arpeggio by Hilton Valentine, which inspired countless beginning guitarists.^[6][3][7] The performance took off with Eric Burdon's lead vocal, which has been variously described as "howling",^[2] "soulful",^[8] and "deep and gravelly as the north-east English coal town of Newcastle that spawned him."^[7] Finally, Alan Price's pulsating organ part completed the sound. Burdon later said, "We were looking for a song that would grab people's attention,"^[9] and they succeeded: "House of the Rising Sun" was a true trans-Atlantic hit, topping both the UK pop singles chart (in July of 1964) and the U.S. pop singles chart (in September, when it became the first British Invasion number one unconnected with The Beatles^[10]); it was the group's breakthrough hit in both countries and became their signature song.^[11]. The song was also a hit in a number of other countries. The Animals' rendition of the song is recognized as one of the classic outputs of the British Invasion. Writer Lester Bangs labelled it "a brilliant rearrangement" and "a new standard rendition of an old standard composition."^[12] It ranked number 122 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. It is also one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The RIAA placed it as number 240 on their Songs of the Century list. In 1999 it received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. And besides critical acclaim, it has long since become a staple of oldies and classic rock radio formats. A 2005 Channel Five poll ranked it as Britons' fourth favourite number one song of all time.^[5] As recorded, "House of the Rising Sun" ran four and a half minutes, regarded as far too long for a pop single at the time.^[5] Producer Most, who otherwise minimized his role 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"^[13] — nonetheless was now a believer and declared it as a single at its full length, saying "We're in a microgroove world now, we will release it."^[13] In the United States, though, the original single (MGM 13264) was an edited 2:58 version. The MGM Golden Circle reissue (KGC 179) featured the unedited 4:29 version, although the label shows the edited playing time of 2:58. The edited version was included on the group's 1964 U.S. debut album The Animals, while the full version was later included on their best-selling 1966 U.S. greatest hits album The Best of The Animals. "House of the Rising Sun" was not included on any of the group's British albums. Rather, it was reissued as a single twice in subsequent decades, charting both times: to number 25 in 1972, and to number 11 in 1982. However, the arranging credit went only to Alan Price, and not to the whole band as many have felt was deserved. Thus only Price received songwriter's royalties for the hit, a fact that has caused bitterness ever since, especially with Valentine.^[3]

Frijid Pink version

"House of the Rising Sun"
Single by Frijid Pink
B-side	"Drivin' Blues" (U.S.) "God Gave Me You" (UK)
Released	January 1970
Format	7" single
Genre	Hard rock
Length	4:44
Label	Parrot Records (U.S.) London Records (UK)
Writer	Trad.
Producer	Michael Valvano

The only rendition other than The Animals' to become a hit came in early 1970, when Detroit-based Frijid Pink released their take on the song. Sometimes described as done in psychedelic music style, Pink's rendition is actually more aligned with the proto-metal/proto-punk sound of fellow contemporaneous Detroit acts MC5 and The Stooges.^[14] The Frijid Pink version of the song is in 4/4 time signature rather than the usual 3/4. The performance was driven by Gary Ray Thompson's distorted guitar^[15] with fuzz and wah wah effects, set against frenetic drumming from Richard Stevers. Lead singer Kelly Green's vocal phrasing almost exactly matched Eric Burdon's. In the opinion of writer Lester Bangs, the Animals' arrangement "was later imitated almost note for note with similar worldwide success by a troupe of Michigan no-talents called Frijid Pink."^[12] Regardless of its merits, the recording was indeed again a trans-Atlantic success, reaching number 7 on the U.S. pop singles chart and number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. It was awarded gold record status in the U.S. in May 1970 for selling a million copies.^[16] It also hit number one in a number of European countries, including West Germany and Norway. It would be Frijid Pink's only hit.

Later versions

Other artists, such as Muse, have covered the song, and it has been a standard cover for at least four decades by bar bands and major recording artists alike. It has also been recorded, in Spanish as “La casa del sol naciente,” by the group Los Cinco Latinos.

The real house

Various places in New Orleans, Louisiana have been proposed as the inspiration for the song, with varying plausibility. Only two candidates have historical documentation as using the name "Rising Sun", both having listings in old period city directories. The first was a small short-lived hotel on Conti Street in the French Quarter in the 1820s. An excavation and document search in early 2005 found evidence supporting this claim, including an advertisement with language that may have euphemistically indicated prostitution. The second was a late 19th century "Rising Sun Hall" on the riverfront of the uptown Carrollton neighborhood, which seems to have been a building owned and used for meetings of a Social Aid & Pleasure Club, commonly rented out for dances and functions. Definite links to gambling or prostitution, if any, are undocumented for either of these buildings, neither of which still exists. Another claim is that The House of the Rising Sun actually existed between 1862 and about 1874 and was run by a Madam Marianne LeSoleil Levant whose name translates from French as "the rising sun". Offbeat New Orleans, a guide book on New Orleans, asserts that the real house was at 826-830 St. Louis Street between 1862 and 1874 and was purportedly named for its madam, Marianne LeSoleil Levant. It is possible that the "House of the Rising Sun" is a metaphor for either the slave pens of the plantation, the plantation house, or the plantation itself, which were the subjects and themes of many traditional blues songs. Dave van Ronk claimed in his autobiography that he had seen pictures of the old New Orleans Prison for Women, the entrance to which was decorated with a rising sun design. He considered this proof that the House of the Rising Sun had been a nickname for the prison. The gender of the singer is flexible. Earlier versions of the song are often sung from the female perspective, a woman who followed a drunk or a gambler to New Orleans and became a prostitute in the House of the Rising Sun (or, depending on one's interpretation, an inmate in a prison of the same name), such as in Joan Baez's version on her self-titled 1960 debut album. The Animals version was sung from a perspective of a male, warning about gambling and drinking. Bob Dylan's 1962 version and Shawn Mullins' recent covered version on his album "9th Ward Pickin' Parlor" is sung from the female perspective. Not everyone, however, believes that the house even existed at all. Quoted on the BBC's 'h2g2' database, Pamela D. Arceneaux, a research librarian working 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."

Lyrics

The traditional version, as written by Georgia Turner and Bert Martin, is as follows^[17]:

   There is a house in New Orleans.
   They call the Rising Sun.
   It's been the ruin of many a poor girl.
   And me, Oh Lord! 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 lover, 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.
   Is when he's on a drunk.
   
   If I only list'nd when my dear mother said:
   Beware, my child, when you roam,
   Keep away from drunkards and all those gambling men,
   It's best by far to come home. 
   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.

Other recorded versions vary (for example the version recorded by The Animals), often changing or omitting verses, or adding new verses.

Cultural references

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" written by Charlie Daniels Band makes a reference to this song in the lyric "the devil's in the house of the rising sun".
• This song is played in Supernatural's episode "Roadkill" when a ghost named Greely appears
• This song is played in the season two finale of the show My Name Is Earl when Earl is put in jail.
• In the 1995 film Casino, Martin Scorsese chose to use this song when Robert De Niro's character Sam "Ace" Rothstein narrates the climactic downfall of everyone around him.
• Professional wrestler Jimmy Rave uses The Animals' version of "The House of the Rising Sun" featuring an audio clip from the film Interview With The Vampire as an intro for his entrance theme.
• When U2 and Green Day performed at the Superdome in 2006, their cover of The Skids' "The Saints Are Coming" opened with Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day singing the first stanza of "The House of the Rising Sun". When performed live the name "Rising Sun" was changed to "Superdome", but the original lyrics were used in a later studio recording of the song that was released on U2's album U218 Singles.
• An episode on the television series Lost was entitled "House of the Rising Sun"
• The introduction to this song is heard several times throughout the anime Excel Saga; the first time it can be heard is during a conversation between Excel and Pedro. On the Excel Saga soundtrack, this song is called "You Did Not Tell Me It Would Be This Tragic." The song matches the overall style of the Animals' performance, with twangy guitar arpeggios and organ melody.
• This song is played during the third episode of the 1993 miniseries Wild Palms in the scene where Chickie Levitt is rescued from the "Fathers", but subsequently dies on the beach.
• Especially in New Orleans, the tune is sometimes applied to the verses of "Amazing Grace".
• Hilton Valentine's famous electric guitar A minor chord arpeggio was played during the beginning of the "Ironman" Gatorade advertisement.

Notes

External links

• SecondHandSongs: List of cover versions
• MP3 Version, Lyrics and Guitar Chords at Roger McGuinn's Folk Den
• Instrumental version (mp3 and wma) by John Too Cool McCool
• Lyrics & Discussion at the Mudcat Cafe
• 250+ covers, some of dubious origin.
• Easybyte — free easy piano arrangement of "House of the Rising Sun"
• Sheet Music and Tab for House of the Rising Sun
• Songfacts "House Of The Rising Sun" entry