‎The House of the Rising Sun Cover Single Album by RedMoon

Table Of Content

• The Meaning Behind “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals – Final Thoughts
• The Meaning Behind “Peaceful Easy Feeling” by the Eagles and the Unlikely Path It Traveled to Becoming a Hit
• Charts
• Bars 3 & 4
• Popular Rock Bands Whose Biggest Hit Is a Cover
• The Animals' version
• The Meaning Behind “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals

He was a big player in the folk-blues scene and performed regularly in Greenwich Village during the late 50s and early 60s. White learned the song from a "white hillbilly singer", who might have been Ashley, in North Carolina in 1923. The Animals' version of the American folk song is considered one of the 20th century’s British pop classics. While the original version was sung in the character of a woman led into a life of degradation, the Animals' version is told from the view of a young man who follows his father into alcoholism and gambling ruin.

The Meaning Behind “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals – Final Thoughts

Still, it feels like House of the Rising Sun belongs to The Animals. Here we’re playing an F chord, but from the root on the 4th string instead of the 6th string root. So when playing the F chord we have 4 strings as well and end up with the same picking pattern as the D chord in Bar 3, doubling up the F note on the 1st string.

House of the Rising Sun: Leadbelly, 1944 – The Bowdoin Orient - The Bowdoin Orient

House of the Rising Sun: Leadbelly, 1944 – The Bowdoin Orient.

Posted: Fri, 30 Sep 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The Meaning Behind “Peaceful Easy Feeling” by the Eagles and the Unlikely Path It Traveled to Becoming a Hit

The chords for The House of the Rising Sun are based out of the key of A minor, but uses a major IV chord (D) in place of the Dm and a major V chord (E) in place of the Em. Both of these chords are borrowed from the parallel major key of A major. But he still goes and knows that the temptations of the place are like a ball and chain that he is condemned to carry.

Charts

The Animals were on tour with Chuck Berry and chose it because they wanted something distinctive to sing. I don’t know a single classic rock aficionado who doesn’t count ‘The House Of The Rising Sun’ by The Animals among their favorite tunes! This eerie, soulful song was released in 1964 during the height of the British invasion and it’s one that’s stood the test of time with use in movies and television since its release.

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. As a traditional folk song recorded by an electric rock band, it has been described as the "first folk rock hit". Almost every track on Baez’s first album covered traditional folk songs.

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. In 1960, Miriam Makeba recorded the song on her eponymous RCA album. Joan Baez is one of the most well-known folk singers in American history. Civil rights and social causes were as much a part of her upbringing as any basic human necessity.

Popular Rock Bands Whose Biggest Hit Is a Cover

But, he later admitted when they had finished it, he knew it was special. Grandfather Enoch was married at the time of the American Civil war, which places the timeframe we are looking at in context. 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 song was first collected in Appalachia in the 1930s, but probably has its roots in traditional English folk song.

The song is often heard in the soundtracks of popular TV shows (The West Wing and Supernatural) and movies (Suicide Squad). Colombian band Los Speakers covered the song under the title "La Casa del Sol Naciente", in their 1965 album of the same name. The single also charted in Australia (number 14), France (number 36), and Italy (number 54). With social commentary songs like Mississippi Goddam, Simone remained dedicated to civil rights and black empowerment throughout her lifetime.

The Meaning Behind “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals

The two additional 16th notes can, again, be a little tricky so start slow and build up to tempo. Before we get to the riff itself, it’s important to make note of time signature used for The House of the Rising Sun as it’s not the traditional 4/4 time. This song is played in 6/8 time, which means there are 6 beats per measure with the 8th note getting the beat. In 6/8 time, the emphasis falls on the 1st and 4th beats, which gives it a waltz feel. 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. As a result, Price gets the majority of the song’s royalties.

Dylan promptly recorded a version of the song, using Van Ronk’s arrangement, before asking permission. Bob Dylan was part of the same folk scene of the New York early 60s as Dave Van Ronk, Woody Guthrie, and Joan Baez. He recorded his cover of House of the Rising Sun on his debut album in 1962. Nina Simone released two versions of House of the Rising Sun.

Alan Lomax produced several field recordings of locals singing their version during the 1940s. The riff we’re going to breakdown is the intro riff to The House of the Rising Sun. While the intro is slightly different from the verse riff in terms of the actual chord progression, the picking pattern and feel are the same. This is a song that is instantly recognized by those first seven or eight guitar notes. And it is a song that has become more than special in the history of Rock and Blues Music. It is a great song for them to perform, but it wasn’t the only one that raised the roof.

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. Dillard Chandler of Madison County, North Carolina sang a variant of the song beginning "There was a sport in New Orleans". Like many folk songs, "The House of the Rising Sun" is of uncertain authorship. Simone grew up in North Carolina and studied piano from an early age. She established herself as a singer in the 1950s in the New York City area. She recorded over 40 albums and has been given countless awards, both in life and posthumously.

The Animals, from the English coal town of Newcastle, changed the gender in the lyrics, and keyboardist Alan Price created the new arrangement. In 1962, Bob Dylan had sung this grim tale of a Southern girl trapped in a New Orleans whorehouse. Since his debut single "I'm On Fire" in 1975, Dwight has been providing Spinal-Tap moments and misadventure. Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. It was a brothel named after Madame Marianne LeSoleil Levant (which means “Rising Sun” in French). If the music sounded almost supernatural, Burdon’s vocal gave the song its terrestrial heart, one rent in two by the loaded dice and lost bets.

They released four albums in the early 70s and toured with heavy Detroit bands like MC5 and The Stooges. They speak to the life of common folk – a tailor, a gambler, a most likely a prostitute. Old versions of the song talk of the ruin of girls and some later versions of boys.

However, it seems more likely it is a metaphor for his addictions to drinking and gambling. In that version, you will find a similar tune and words, with Lowestoft, a seaside town in the UK, replacing New Orleans. The mystery deepens when you learn that there is a pub in Lowestoft called ‘The Rising Sun.’ Opened before 1964, I might add. A song that, when you try to get to the bottom of what it is all about and where it came from, asks more questions than it answers.