It is with utter amazement that I realised on receiving a request from a new fan, Pipp from Ireland, that I have never sung this classic before in public other than accompanying someone else. The first single record I ever bought as a young lad was The House Of The Rising Sun by the British group The Animals. It was a number one hit for them in the UK, and in the USA, Sweden and Canada. According to information gathered from Wikipedia: "The House of the Rising Sun" is a folk song from the United States. Also called "House of the Rising Sun" or occasionally "Rising Sun Blues", it tells of a life gone wrong in New Orleans. Depending on the version, the song may be sung from the perspective of a woman or a man. The most successful version was recorded by the English rock group The Animals in 1964, which was a number one hit in the United Kingdom, United States, Sweden and Canada. The Animals' version was also a part of the soundtrack for the Martin Scorsese 1995 film Casino. Like many classic folk ballads, the authorship of "The House of the Rising Sun" is uncertain. Some musicologists say that it is based on the tradition of broadside ballads such as the Unfortunate Rake of the 18th century which were taken to America by early settlers. Many of these had the theme of "if only" and after a period of evolution, they emerge as American songs like "Streets of Laredo". The tradition of the blues combined with these in which the telling of a sad story has a therapeutic effect. Alan Price of the Animals has claimed that the song was originally a sixteenth-century English folk song about a Soho brothel, and that English emigrants took the song to America where it was adapted to its later New Orleans setting. The oldest known existing recording is by versatile Appalachian artists Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster and was made in 1933.  Ashley said he had learned it from his grandfather, Enoch Ashley.  Alger "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.

I have just produced an eBook containing 50 songs (first volume hopefully provided it sells) which can be seen and purchased by following this link: 

http://store.blurb.com/ebooks/316519-50-songs-from-the-threelegsoman-collection

House Of The Rising Sun

Hyfrydol is a Welsh hymn tune written by Rowland Prichard. According to Wikipedia: Hyfrydol has been used as a setting for William Chatterton Dix's hymn Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!, Charles Wesley's Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, I Will Sing the Wondrous Story, and Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus, as well as many other hymns from a variety of faith traditions.

I heard it played by Jo Ann Smith on a diatonic autoharp and felt the urge to try it for myself on my chromatic 'harp. Using only three chords, F Bb and C, it is relatively easy to play and it sort of 'pulls you in', or at least it did me, so if I seem to have got a bit carried away with it, please make allowances. :-))

If you check out my YouTube version, in the annotations, I have written each chord to press for each note of the tune.

Autoharp Hyfrydol Instrumental

This is my own version of The Skye Boat Song played on the autoharp.

Autoharp: The Skye Boat Song

This is a tune which accompanies a traditional dance performed at Manx weddings by the bride and groom, best man and maid of honour to prove they are not drunk! At the end of the dance, the musician(s) playing the tune finish with words to the tune which state: The man is not drunk, not half drunk, not half drunk for he can dance Peter O'Tavy!

Peter O'Tavy Guitar And Autoharp

Using the chord progression C   G   Am   Em   F   C    F   G  a free interpretation of the piece.

Autoharp: Instrumental based on Pachelbel's Canon

This is an original composition inspired by the lovely sunsets I can see from my living room windows written especially for the autoharp, but with a guitar accompaniment as well.

Guitar and Autoharp Sunset

Three songs performed live at Mooragh Park, Ramsey, Isle of Man on 17th August 2014

Party In The Park 13    Wind Beneath My Wings

Party In The Park 12    Side By Side

Party In The Park 11     Where Are We Going          Original Song written by myself

Myself and my friend Beastie singing at a concert at Maughold in the Isle of Man in 2011. Beastie is playing the autoharp, I am playing the 12-string guitar.

threelegsoman

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