THE ANIMALS - House Of The Rising Sun

In 1964, Eric Burton's English pop band The Animals hit number one in the UK and in the US with their rendition of Rising Sun Blues. The traditional folk song has been covered countless times, and it is older than the first known recording from 1937. Woody Guthrie recorded the song in 1941, and Lead Belly recorded it in 1944 and again in 1948. In the late 1950's it was recorded by Frankie Laine, and by Andy Griffith. And in the early 1960's the song was featured on debut albums of both Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. In 1962 Nina Simone released her first version of the song, which is said to have inspired The Animals to cover it. The Animals first used the song in 1964 as a closing song when they were touring London with Chuck Berry. Because of the huge response they were getting, they found a small studio to record the song between gigs. They recorded The House Of The Rising Sun in just one take, and it has come to be their signature song. It appeared on their second album, a second self-titled album from the band.  Other successful recording followed - Frijid Pink recorded the song in the late 1960's, and Dolly Parton recorded it in the early 1970's. More recently it has been recorded by rock band Five Finger Death Punch. Nobody can claim rights to the song, and it can be recorded and sold by anyone royalty-free.