House of the Rising Sun

If you didn't learn to play the guitar part from this song, you probably didn't grow up listening to 1960s music! Before Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, or Deep Purple came along, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and this very song were at the top of the charts: “House of the Rising Sun”—a traditional American folk song, sometimes called “Rising Sun Blues.” It was The Animals who made it famous worldwide, recording it in a single take on May 18, 1964. The track was released as a single a month later and almost immediately became a number-one hit on the British charts as well as in the U.S. and Canada. The song appeared on the U.S. edition of The Animals’ album—their 1964 debut album on the American market—and features a shortened radio edit of the hit. The song was not included on the British release.