"The House of the Rising Sun" - The Animals - Piano/vocal improvisation

"The House of the Rising Sun" Piano/vocal improvisationShow more

Piano/vocal improv of a great song by the Animals

"The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a life gone wrong in New Orleans; many versions also urge a sibling to avoid the same fate. The most successful commercial version, recorded in 1964 by British rock group the Animals, was a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart and also in the United States and France.[1] As a traditional folk song recorded by an electric rock band, it has been described as the "first folk rock hit"

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.[14]

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 man whose father was now a gambler and drunkard, rather than 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 that always closed with straight rockers.[15] It got a tremendous reaction from the audience, convincing initially reluctant producer Mickie Most that it had hit potential,[15] and between tour stops the group went to a small recording studio on Kingsway in London[15] to capture it.