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Medicine shows, popular in the early-to-mid 1900s, were traveling bands of musicians and salesmen. Clarence, as well as unknown others, may have sang the famous House to numerous towns in Appalachia, where some townsfolk would remember and re-sing the song time and again, improvising if they forgot a word or phrase. As records became more popular, so did recordings of the House of the Rising Sun.
Who sang 'House of the Rising Sun' the best? - Far Out Magazine
Who sang 'House of the Rising Sun' the best?.
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Written and Recorded
It’s earliest singers, the location of the house that so many had apparently spent their lives in sin and misery, and most everything else about the song is a mystery. Perhaps this mystery, along with the somewhat anonymous lyrics and spooky minor chords, is part of what has continued to intrigue so many thousands and millions over the years. Music specialists claim that the song belongs to the folk ballad tradition that was so popular between the sixteenth and nineteenth century, which doesn’t really help us pinpoint when the song was created. They believe that although there’s no way to really know who wrote it or when, because of its folkloric nature, it can be traced more than two centuries back. Over the years, passing from voice to voice, it was transformed and adapted to many different situations and stories, like soldiers dying in the war or sailors lost at sea.
Eric Burdon on Trump Using 'House of the Rising Sun': 'A Tale of Sin and Misery Set in a Brothel Suits Him So Perfectly' - Rolling Stone
Eric Burdon on Trump Using 'House of the Rising Sun': 'A Tale of Sin and Misery Set in a Brothel Suits Him So Perfectly'.
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Q: What other artists have covered House of the Rising Sun?
American Songwriter previously wrote about the 1961 arrangement of the song by New York City folk artist Dave Van Ronk, here. That arrangement was later appropriated by Bob Dylan, causing some friction between the musical friends. The traditional folk song is about a person whose life has gone down the drain thanks to a location in New Orleans, Louisiana. To date, there are many renditions of the song, from Bob Dylan to Dolly Parton and Dave Van Ronk. Only the band’s organist, Alan Price, was given credit for arranging the track as the record company said that there wasn’t enough room to include all the members as arrangers. Price performed the organ solo that was shaped after jazzman Jimmy Smith’s hit, “Walk On The Wild Side”, on a Vox Continental.
Q: How did The Doors’ version of House of the Rising Sun differ from previous versions?
"I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me) " borrows four bars from Notorious B.I.G's "The World Is Filled." Jay-Z and Biggie Smalls attended Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn, New York at the same time. Robert Smith doesn't license Cure songs for commercials, but he made an exception in 2004 when he let Hewlett-Packard use "Pictures Of You." He needed the money to buy the group's back catalogue. The tragedy of “House of the Rising Sun” is that the narrator seems to have lost his free will. He knows that the house will be his damnation, yet he is en route while he is telling his sad story.
Little did I know that this haunting melody would leave an everlasting impression on my soul. Legendary folk song expert Alan Lomax has noted that the melody may be related to the 17th-century folk song “Lord Barnard and Little Musgrave.” Again, though, there is no clear throughline between the two. Lomax has also said that “Rising Sun” was the name of a bawdy house, or whore house, in two other traditional English songs. The song originally appeared in Appalachia, in the Northeast part of the United States. But it likely has roots in traditional English folk songs, experts say. Apart from The Doors, several notable artists have covered House of the Rising Sun.
Artists - A-H

Its haunting melody, powerful vocals, and deeply relatable lyrics have made “The House Of The Rising Sun” a timeless classic that continues to captivate audiences today. Its inclusion in numerous films, television shows, and even adaptations by various artists only solidifies its enduring legacy. And God, I know I’m one,” immediately set the tone for the emotional journey that lies ahead. These words speak of a place that has brought destruction and devastation upon the lives of many, including the narrator. Originally released by the British rock band The Animals in 1964, “The House Of The Rising Sun” quickly captured the hearts of many music lovers around the world.
Q: What is the significance of the Rising Sun in the song?
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. Matt Marshall is the original publisher of American Blues Scene and owns Bluescentric.com the shop for Blues, Soul, and Rock n Roll -- authentic music t-shirts where every sale pays artist's estates directly. Fills his glasses to the brim, passes them around.The only pleasure he gets out of life is hoboin’ from town to town. There is a house in New Orleans they call the Rising Sun,It’s been the ruin of many poor girl, and me, O God, for one.
The meaning behind “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals is one such song. Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights. The rock revolutionist on songwriting, quitting smoking, and what she thinks of Rush Limbaugh using her song. Neil Young wrote the CSN&Y song "Ohio" about the Kent State Shootings, when the National Guard opened fire on students at Kent State University in Ohio, killing four.
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Though the “house” was not the called the Rising Sun but another, more localized infamous establishment, and the lyrics were changed slightly, the song was nonetheless obviously of the school of the “original”. It was likely the railroads, theorizes Anthony, that would enable some anonymous soul to carry the song from the mountains in the east all the way to the plains in the midwest. Notable folk singer Clarence Ashley actually did make an earlier recording of the same song in 1933, where his version is definitively in the bluegrass style. Clarence had said that he learned the song from his grandfather, meaning the song’s origins can be dated to considerably older than 1933. What is interesting is that, while both Ashley and Turner come from the Appalachia region, Clarence was from Tennessee and Georgia was from Kentucky.
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.
In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. 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. The single also charted in Australia (number 14), France (number 36), and Italy (number 54).
Lomax included the song in the popular Library of Congress album Our Singing Country in 1941. There has been evidence to suggest that the song, though it’s origins are commonly traced back as far as the early 1900s Appalachia area, has strong roots dozens or even hundreds of years earlier in England. As many people over the years churned and moved and settled, the places that components of the song could have come from are nearly endless. Much like hundreds of other folk songs, the epicenter of House of the Rising Sun is lost to the past. It was a song that was passed from person to person and from one generation to the next.
Many people see it as a representation of poverty and injustice, and thus, an anthem many people can actually relate to. Set in New Orleans, many historians, musicologists, and anthropologists have devoted their time and efforts to find not only the song’s origins, but also the House’s location to understand what happened to the woman in the song. Many believe that this points out to a brother in New Orleans, where the song was supposedly named after the occupant Madame Marianne LeSoleil Levant, which meant Rising Sun in French. Another popular theory goes that it was about a women’s prison in the city which had a gate that bore a rising sun motif (allegedly a reference to the “ball and chain” lyric in the song).
The legendary blues song “The House of the Rising Sun” is one of those tunes with a murky origin story. “The House of the Rising Sun” was a traditional folk ballad about a person’s life going wrong in New Orleans, with different versions using various narratives with the same themes. House of the Rising Sun has stood the test of time due to its captivating storytelling, emotional depth, and memorable melody. The song touches on universal themes and emotions that resonate with listeners across generations. Its haunting atmosphere and powerful vocals make it a standout track that continues to captivate audiences to this day. It creates an atmospheric and haunting mood, drawing the listener into the world of the song’s protagonist.
That place boasted a restaurant, a larger beer salon, and a coffee house. 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. In 1960, Miriam Makeba recorded the song on her eponymous RCA album. 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 song is often heard in the soundtracks of popular TV shows (The West Wing and Supernatural) and movies (Suicide Squad).
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