I first heard the song many years ago and like most people, I most often associated it with the Animals. Then I discovered they weren’t the original writers and that Bob Dylan recorded the song before they did. But it wasn’t long before I realized Dylan didn’t write it either. He only recored it because it was a popular song in the clubs and cafes down in the Village in the early 1960s when he was starting out in New York City. Its origins go back much farther and are shrouded in mystery. Like the oldest of songs, it’s changed many times over the years. The melody and the chords have often been changed with new lyrics being added and old ones taken away. And so it may hardly resemble its very first conception. That’s the way it goes with these songs. Some really do take on a life of their own and last through the ages. Some remain buried deep in the soil waiting to be discovered again…
Anyway, there’s a house in New Orleans…
They call it the Rising Sun…
Ren Michael 