The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #124154 Message #2740393
Posted By: GUEST,Mr Red
07-Oct-09 - 10:23 AM
Thread Name: Origins: earliest recording of The Rising Sun
Subject: RE: Origins: earliest recording of The Rising Sun
I heard on BBC R4 plenty of references various artists singing it and earlier than 40's too. Elmore James may have been one, but Sun House certainly was one. The history in the US goes back more than 100 years, as I remember. The death reference in the song being about mercury used as a medicine to cure syphilis. Older versions have a woman as the narrator.