Chasing the Rising Sun: The Journey of an American Song by Ted Anthony

[RamboLiberal]

Heard the author recently on a local radio show and fascinating info on this tune which many of us know and love. Also like a lot of those who took up the guitar it was probably the only song I could play decently (or thought I could).

From Publishers Weekly
The song "House of the Rising Sun," which became a chart-topping hit in 1964 by the Animals, has a murky history, said to have originated in Appalachia, maybe New Orleans and perhaps even England, as well as having a thriving universal afterlife among cover bands and karaoke singers. Anthony, an editor for the Associated Press, crisscrossed the globe in search of the twisted roots and many spreading branches of this lonesome ballad of unknown origins. The song's ultimate odyssey began in 1937 when folklorist Alan Lomax recorded a version by 16-year-old Georgia Turner Connolly in Middlesboro, Ky. Lomax published the lyrics as "The Rising Sun Blues" and from there it grew in popularity and was performed and recorded by many, including Bob Dylan on his first record in 1962. The story seems promising, but Anthony's narrative is an uneasy mix of memoir, dissertation-like detail (with tedious repetitions of multiple versions of lyrics), journalistic feature writing and esoteric trivia. Anthony at times unconvincingly adopts the authoritative voice of an American studies expert, and he also lacks the musical or poetic knowledge to dissect the song. This exploration will be of most value to those who share Anthony's unbridled obsession with this ubiquitous ballad. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"Ted Anthony takes us on a journey into the very soul of America -- and what a grand trip (in both senses of the word) it is. Here is a book to savor -- one not just for folk music fans, but for anyone interested even faintly in the American journey. His book long awaited, Ted Anthony has fulfilled all expectations with Chasing the Rising Sun. Tracking a single, haunting lyric from folk tradition to popular song, from Kentucky to Kansas, across country and ocean, Ted Anthony offers a journey into the soul of America."
-- Ed Cray, author of Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie

"Chasing the Rising Sun documents the lineage of one of the great songs in the English language, providing a vivid panorama of American folk music and -- perhaps most important -- a smart analysis of the modern collision between oral and commercial cultures. Ted Anthony has written a valuable and revealing book."

-- Benjamin Hedin, editor, Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader

[dipsydoodle]

1. I remember seeing The Animals live

in '63, before they recorded that, in a celler venue under a pub in NW London. Standing in front of a speaker while Alan Price played low notes on his electric organ wasn't funny.....lol. Long John Baldry used to to play the same venue too and I recall the first time he let his new harmonia player sing - a kid with freaky hair named Rod Stewart.

Still strikes me as odd that an English group should make the what became the most famous version of an old American song. The moral to that is "never turn your back on your own music" Here it is : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31POnZYRPMA
And here's Nina's version ;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_0TDRfOuXQ&mode=related&search=
There don't seem to be one of Woody and Pete which is tragic really.

The actual reason "you" effectively turned you back on you your own music was the reluctance of your music companies to release original black recordings, especially
R & B at least not without cleaning up the words a bit.