I've been rediscovering a song that I have a big emotional attachment to. I've been away from it for quite a while, which is good, because I used to get terribly incensed whenever I heard The Animals' version of it.
I've talked to sources that insist the song comes from the 1890's, and was originally known as The Prostitute's Lament. Somebody told me once that it was written by Blind Lemon Jefferson, but that is unlikely. Apparently, the original author is lost in obscurity. The oldest recording of it I ever came across was on an old Best of Woody Guthrie record. The version was probably recorded in the '30's or '40's, and was about two and a half minutes long. To be honest, I don't remember much else about it.
The version that Eric Burdon (of The Animals, who gets erroneous credit for writing the song) heard was from Bob Dylan's first album. Dylan actually stole the arrangement from Dave Van Ronk, who was playing it in Greenwich Village and had planned on recording it himself until it showed up on Dylan's album. That version has eight verses. Burdon took the five he liked best, which brought it down to a better length for a single.
Burdon also changed the subject of the song from female to male. "And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy . . ." No, dammit, it wasn't. Many a boy with enough money for a good time came and went from the House of the Rising Sun, but it was poor girls for whom it was the ruination. Also, for your information, Frijid Pink did yet another arrangement of the song in 1969, that rocks the socks off the Animals' version in my humble opinion.
Here’s an interesting piece on the song from the BBC’s website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A12460772
Enjoy.
