The only version of House Of The Rising Sun that I’d ever heard until today was Sinéad O’Connor’s, which is one of my top three songs by her (and I have every one). She uses such a wide vocal range in that song and the mood it sets pulls you in and it’s so dark…I just love it.
Today, I heard Dolly Parton’s version. The two couldn’t be more different. Dolly’s version is upbeat, country-ish, and changes the lyrics around almost completely. I don’t like it. Unless they had the same title, I may not have known they were supposed to be the same song.
when we were in Nawlins (New Orleans) a few weeks ago, we saw the REAL “House of the Rising Sun” - the house that “Leadbelly” aka Huddie Ledbetter, grew up and and wrote the song about. So, you really need to find a recording of him doing it to get the “real” song.
According to a quick google search, besides the Animals (the version most people think of) there’s been 250 covers done of this song!
And, of course, there is the little trivia about fitting the tune to “House” with the words to “Amazing Grace” and vice versa. Makes playing at funerals kinda hard to do with a straight face!
House of the Rising Sun is almost certainly a traditional American song. I have seen it attributed to both Leadbelly and Woodie Guthrie, but Alan Lomax found many versions of it and believed it went back to at least the 1700’s.
I havent’ heard the Joan Baez version. She’s great. Awsome voice.
I just watched a DVD about Bob Dylan on tour in England in '64. Joan does a few songs as she’s present throughout the video.
Vassar Clement does a pretty good bluegrassy fiddle version of HOTRS.
