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Who wrote 'The House of the Rising Sun'?

Question #36627. Asked by Bryce-.
Last updated Dec 10 2020.
Originally posted Sep 30 2016 12:16 AM.

Related Trivia Topics: Literature   People  
Demios
Answer has 7 votes
Demios
23 year member
22 replies

Answer has 7 votes.
It was an old negro spiritual song but there's no record of who actually penned it. The story goes that when The Animals recorded it they were all under the impression that the credit became theirs - as a group. Alan Price knew better and registered the credit in HIS name only. This caused an unhealable rift between him and the rest of The Animals - especially Chas Chandler and even more so Eric Burden. The enmity was compounded when every time the group performed the track or it was aired on TV or radio, the royalties went solely to Alan Price!
Since then Chas Chandler has openly stated on TV that should he come across Alan Price in the flesh he will 'chastise' him...I get the impression that that is an understatement.

link https://www.psychodramathes.gr/site/who-wrote-the-house-of-the-rising-sun-6ffed7.


Response last updated by gtho4 on Dec 10 2020.
Jun 28 2002, 5:48 PM
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rossian star
Answer has 17 votes
Currently Best Answer
rossian star
19 year member
153 replies avatar

Answer has 17 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
Wiki describes it as a traditional folk song which probably originated in England. It was first recorded in the 1930s, with the version by The Animals being the best known.

'The House of the Rising Sun' is a folk song by an unknown author. The version recorded by the British group 'The Animals' is the most popular and is considered a folk-rock hit.
"House of Rising Sun" was said to have been known by miners in 1905. The oldest known recording of the song, under the title "Rising Sun Blues", is by Appalachian artists Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster, who recorded it for Vocalion Records on 6 September 1933.

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_the_Rising_Sun

Some sources credit Georgia Turner with the earliest recording of the song that best fits the version that all modern covers are based on.
Georgia Turner (1921-1969) (born Georgia Bell Turner known after marriage as Georgia Turner Connelly), was an American folk singer. She is credited with an early recording of "Rising Sun Blues", produced by Alan Lomax in 1937, in Middlesboro, Kentucky. Her adaptation of this American folk classic, better known as "House Of The Rising Sun," has become the standard, the ancestor of covers by hundreds of later performers, including Dave Van Ronk, Bob Dylan, The Animals, Joan Baez, Tracy Chapman, Muse, and even Andy Griffith.

link https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Turner

Response last updated by Terry on Oct 17 2016.
Feb 03 2013, 8:02 AM
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