Is there really a house in New Orleans called the Rising Sun?

Answer 1

Yes, read on... Like many classic folk ballads, the authorship of "The House of the Rising Sun", sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues", is dubious. Folklorist Alan Lomax, author of the seminal 1941 songbook Our Singing Country, wrote that the melody was taken from a traditional English ballad and the lyrics written by a pair of Kentuckians named Georgia Turner and Bert Martin. Other scholars have proposed different explanations, although Lomax's is generally considered most plausible. The phrase "House of the Rising Sun" is a euphemism for a brothel, but it is not known whether or not the house described in the lyrics is an actual or fictitious place.

The oldest known existing recording is by Clarence Ashley and Gwen Foster and was released in 1934. Ashley thought he had learned it from his grandfather, Enoch Ashley. Texas Alexander's "The Risin' Sun", which was recorded in 1928, is sometimes mentioned as the first recording, but this is a completely different song. Roy Acuff, who recorded the song commercially on November 3, 1938, may have learned this number from such neighboring Smoky Mountain artists as versatile entertainer Clarence Ashley or the Callahan Brothers, an influential duet team of the '30s and '40s.

Many artists have covered the song, and it has been a standard cover for at least four decades by bar bands and major recording artists alike. In an interview by Martin Scorsese in his Dylan biopic No Direction Home, folksinger Dave van Ronk recounted that he had originally worked out the arrangement that Dylan then "borrowed" for his first album, and which was subsequently borrowed in turn by Eric Burdon, who, in 1964, took the song to newfound popularity when it was recorded by his British rock group The Animals. The Animals' version (which was arranged by the whole band but accidentally only credited to their keyboard player Alan Price) has become a staple of oldies and classic rock radio stations. In 1969 Frijid Pink released a particularly well-known psychedelic version. In his 2006 release, 9th Ward Pickin Parlor, Shawn Mullins provided a rousing rendition of the song sung from the woman's perspective.

The gender of the singer is flexible. Earlier versions of the song are often sung from the female perspective, a woman who followed a drunk or a gambler to New Orleans and became a prostitute in the House of the Rising Sun (or, depending on one's interpretation, an inmate in a prison of the same name), such as in Joan Baez's version on her self-titled 1960 debut album. The Animals version was sung from a perspective of a male, warning about gambling and drinking.


[edit] The real house?
Various places in New Orleans, Louisiana have been proposed as the inspiration for the song, with varying plausibility. Only two candidates have historical documentation as using the name "Rising Sun"; both having listings in old period city directories. The first was a small short-lived hotel on Conti Street in the French Quarter in the 1820s. An excavation and document search in early 2005 found evidence supporting this claim, including an advertisement with language that may have euphemistically indicated prostitution. The second was a late 19th century "Rising Sun Hall" on the riverfront of the uptown Carrollton neighborhood, which seems to have been a building owned and used for meetings of a Social Aid & Pleasure Club, commonly rented out for dances and functions. Definite links to gambling or prostitution, if any, are undocumented for either of these buildings, neither of which still exists.

It is possible that the "House of the Rising Sun" is a metaphor for either the slave pens of the plantation, the plantation house, or the plantation itself, which were the subjects and themes of many traditional blues songs. Dave van Ronk claimed in his autobiography that he had seen pictures of the old New Orleans Prison for Women, the entrance to which was decorated with a rising sun design. He considered this proof that the House of the Rising Sun had been a nickname for the prison

Answer 2

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RE:
Is there really a house in New Orleans called the Rising Sun?

Answer 3

The House of the Rising Sun", sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues", is dubious. Folklorist Alan Lomax, author of the seminal 1941 songbook Our Singing Country, wrote that the melody was "House of the Rising Sun" is a euphemism for a brothel, but it is not known whether or not the house described in the lyrics is an actual or fictitious place.

Answer 4

yes there is a house new orleans called rising sun

Answer 5

This is about a brothel in New Orleans. "The House Of The Rising Sun" was named after Madame Marianne LeSoleil Levant (which means "Rising Sun" in French) and was open for business from 1862 (occupation by Union troops) until 1874, when it was closed due to complaints by neighbors.

>>>It was located at 826-830 St. Louis St. <<<<<

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=830+St.+Louis+St,+new+orleans&ie=UTF8&z=15&om=1


The melody is a traditional English ballad, but the song became popular as an African-American Folk song. It was recorded by Texas Alexander in the 1920s, then by a number of other artists including Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White and later Nina Simeone. It was her version The Animals first heard.

No one can claim rights to the song, meaning it can be recorded and sold royalty-free. Many bands recorded versions of this after it became a hit for The Animals.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=439

Answer 6

My Grandfather was a patron on The Rising Sun on Conti St. It was, much to my grandmothers chagrin, a brothel.

Answer 7

No its called "The House of The Rising Sun."

Answer 8

As a New Orleans native I can tell you that I've never heard of it other than in the song.

Answer 9

It was a brothel in New Orleans, yes. Not there anymore.

Answer 10

Of course dear