This 1964 Folk Standard-Turned-Pop Hit Was Originally an Attempt to Stand Out at Chuck Berry Concerts

A great song has no true expiration date, which is why a song that The Animals frontman Eric Burdon first heard when he was ten years old was still able to translate into a chart-topping hit when he released his rendition of it thirteen years later. Even more interestingly, The Animals began covering this particular song to set themselves apart from the rock ‘n’ roll style that was dominating the early 1960s music scene, proving that sometimes, genre is equally unimportant.

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The song that transcended both time and trend was “House Of The Rising Sun”, a traditional folk tune that, in its most recognizable forms, dates back to the early 1900s. Previous incarnations are thought to be even older, dating as far back as the 16th century. The enduring melody stuck with Burdon, even years later, when he was the lead vocalist for The Animals.

In the early 1960s, The Animals landed a gig opening for the American rock ‘n’ roll legend Chuck Berry. To set themselves apart from Berry and other rock acts that joined him on the tour, The Animals opted to perform their version of “House Of The Rising Sun”. The audience loved it.

The Animals Released “House Of The Rising Sun” After Testing It on the Crowd

Following the overwhelmingly positive response to “House Of The Rising Sun”, The Animals convinced producer Mickie Most to let them cut their cover version. The engineer on the recording session pointed out that the song was over four minutes long, which practically guaranteed no radio play in the early 1960s. But Most pushed back, saying, “We’re in a microgroove world now. We will release it,” per 1,000 U.K. Number One Hits. And whether they were truly in a microgroove world or not, the song proved to be a success.

“Everything was in the right place, the planets were in the right place, the stars were in the right place, and the wind was blowing in the right direction,” Most recalled. “It only took fifteen minutes to make, so I can’t take much credit for the production. It was just a case of capturing the atmosphere in the studio.”

A few weeks after The Animals released their version of the traditional folk tune, it was topping the charts worldwide. “When we knocked The Beatles off the top in America, they sent us a telegram which read, ‘Congratulations from The Beatles (a group)’,” drummer John Steel recalled.

Indeed, it would appear that this version of “House Of The Rising Sun” not only set The Animals apart from other rock ‘n’ rollers, including Chuck Berry. The hit single set the band apart from everyone, The Beatles included, which was no small feat at the height of Beatlemania in 1964.

The song remains a beloved staple today and has since received several accolades—something Burdon predicted, in a roundabout way, even at ten years old.

Photo by David Redfern/Redferns