Chasing the Rising Sun: The Journey of an American Song (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: karaoke box, many poor boy, folk revival, Rising Sun, New Orleans, Georgia Turner (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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.

From Booklist

Depending on age and background, folk-music fans associate "The House of the Rising Sun" with Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Josh White, or Bob Dylan. Many more remember what some consider its definitive rendition, recorded by the sixties English rock band the Animals. Anthony travels to places throughout America and a few beyond its borders to uncover the song's origins for this musical detective story that is also in part straightforward music history. We meet early country-music stars Clarence Ashley and Charlie Poole, several record collectors, and renowned folk-song collector Alan Lomax, who also recorded early commercial versions of the song. Anthony even hunts down the harmonica player at the 1937 session in which 16-year-old Georgia Turner recorded the song for Lomax. Anthony's travels take him from Middlesboro, Kentucky, to Springfield, Missouri, and down to New Orleans, where the house ostensibly operated. Although Anthony's style veers from the poetic to the prosaic, the tale he tells remains fascinating, especially for enthusiasts of traditional songs, folklore, and folk music. Sawyers, June
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (June 19, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743278984
• ISBN-13: 978-0743278980
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #641,141 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific book, June 21, 2007

By	G. Giovannetti (NYC, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

At one point in "Chasing The Rising Sun", author Ted Anthony references "The Wizard of Oz". Considering the journey he himself undertakes to find the source of the song "House of the Rising Sun", the reference could not be more appropriate. Like Dorothy on her own quest for home, Mr. Anthony ranges far and wide to places he never knew existed, he encounters interesting characters along the way and he discovers that the journey has changed him as a person.

"Chasing The Rising Sun" is about much more than the search for a classic song's genesis. It's about the making of modern American values and culture. It's an examination of who we are as a people and how we got here. And it's a look at how we tell our stories now and throughout our history.

Sprinkled with humor, history and pathos, "Chasing The Rising Sun" not only brought Ted Anthony to new places. It just may do the same for you. Sure, "there's no place like home". But what has that home become?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American journey, June 20, 2007

By	BookSearcher (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

On the most basic level, this is a book about a song that all of us know. And it tells that story beautifully - of Georgia Turner, the Kentucky hill woman sang it around her house in the 1930s, of the cranky New Yorker who recorded her singing it, and of the many musicians who did their own versions. But it's also a look at how culture spreads, and one man's journey to follow that culture. It's a wonderful book. The section when the author meet's Turner's children - and plays her recording for them for the first time - is absolutely riveting.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book!!!!!, July 25, 2007

By	DC Blood "DC" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This book "Chasing The Rising Sun: Journey Of An American Song", authored by Ted Anthony, has really moved me in a mighty way. I started playing bluegrass/folk music in 1962, when I was in college in Eastern Pennsylvania. I know it is one of the first songs I tried to learn to play after I started playing guitar, mandolin, etc. The minor sounds of it were mysterious and alluring. And when I finally got it, I was thrilled. Most of the "folkie" bands of the period had their own version of HOTRS, and I guess Joan Baez's version was my favorite. So when I saw this book I knew I wanted it, just to take me back to the "good ole days". It did that and much more. It took me on a journey with the author and his lovely wife. It took me right along with them to Tennessee, Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, New Orleans, and many other locations, in search of the song's origins and carriers. Mr. Anthony did this in a sometimes humerous, sometimes educational, and always in a way that made me want to see where we and the song were going next. I couldn't put it down, and it made me feel I was right there meeting and talking with the artists and the mountain people who sent this mysterious song on it's journey from Appalachia to the world. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to go along with the author to discover what lies along the way.