The Animals - House Of The Rising Sun 1964

Like many classic folk ballads, the authorship of "The House of the Rising Sun" is uncertain. Some musicologists say that it is based on the tradition of broadside ballads such as the "Unfortunate Rake" of the 18th century which were taken to America by early settlers. Many of these had the theme of "if only" and after a period of evolution, they emerge as American songs like "Streets of Laredo".

Alan Price of The Animals has claimed that the song was originally a sixteenth-century English folk song about a Soho brothel, and that English emigrants took the song to America where it was adapted to its later New Orleans setting.

The oldest known existing recording is by Appalachian artists Clarence Ashley and Gwen Foster and was made in 1933. Ashley said he had learned it from his grandfather, Enoch Ashley. Alger "Texas" Alexander's "The Risin' Sun," recorded in 1928, is sometimes mentioned as the first recording, but is a completely different song.

The song might have been lost to obscurity had it not been collected by folklorist Alan Lomax, who, along with his father, was a curator of the Archive of American Folk Song for the Library of Congress. On an expedition with his wife to eastern Kentucky Lomax set up his recording equipment in Middlesborough, Kentucky in the house of a singer and activist called Tilman Cadle. On September 15, 1937 he recorded a performance by Georgia Turner, the 16 year-old daughter of a local miner. He called it "The Risin' Sun Blues." Lomax later recorded a different version sung by Bert Martin and a third sung by Daw Henson, both eastern Kentucky singers. In his 1941 songbook Our Singing Country, Lomax credits the lyrics to Turner, with reference to Martin's version. According to his later writing, the melody bears similarities to a traditional English ballad, "Matty Groves."

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Music

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• animals
• house
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• rising
• sun
• 1965
• brittish
• rock
• band

[Drackorage]

While I dig this song, is it just me or is this band some kind of bad Beatles ripoff. I mean the suits, the hair, the bow at the end. Although don't get me wrong they're great. Though I will say the bassist looked really uncomfortable and the guitarist was grinning like an idiot the whole way through

[TheGoodOldRock]

@Drackorage Well they both came from UK, so it's normal to have several bands that look alike. Though their music is very much different they both draw their roots from 1950's look and rock music.

A similar thing can be said for a lot of rock bands today, long hair, washed out jeans, t-shirts.....If you look at musicians on a wider scale you'll notice similarities between a lot of bands. Just look at 1980's bands, especially he hair, oh the hair brrrrr.....

[Jeremy7513]

The only thing that ruins this video is at the end, everyone is looks serious except that one guitarist who smiling. I guess he didn't get the memo.

[DoctorMrZoidberg]

@Jeremy7513 nah just a troll.

[ElmoPiano]

Thanks for posting this great 1960's classic by The Animals. The sheet music for the organ part on "The House of the Rising Sun" can be found at manymidi.com/sheetmusic.htm - a note-for-note transcription.

[TheTwollocks]

@blackops7psn ... do dallas people have the same accent as someone from new york... no.... well its the same in england .... you can go to different towns and city's and all the accents are different .. i can go ten minutes up the road and the accent changes ... there is no one english accent

[twizted3kgt]

Play that mother effing organ! Remind me of my pops.

[simonk512]

@DannyReggin original? not quite

[simonk512]

@Drackorage lol what? you completely misunderstand music my friend

[DannyReggin]

@Jeremy7513 hey man, when youre the original guitarist for a song like this, how could you help but smile?

[DannyReggin]

@Drackorage if anything these guys inspired the Doors and Deep Purple....Not rip off the Beatles....

[howudoin915]

@ErikMan217 the animals came before the beatles champ, read the year 1964 the beatles didnt hit it big until 65

[Randyicdl]

love this song and the keyboard solo is super awesome