Sandi Thom: Mystery origins of House Of The Rising Sun led me back to
Scotland
Feb 6 2011 John Dingwall, Sunday Mail
SANDI THOM made a pilgrimage to New Orleans to research the origins of
her latest single House Of The Rising Sun - and discovered it is
probably a Scottish folk song.
The singer, from Banff, has recorded a documentary of her travels after
seeking out the inspiration and roots of the song made famous by famous
artists including The Animals, Bob Dylan and Nina Simone.
Sandi's research led back to 18th century Scottish church services and
the coal mines of Lowestoft.
She said: "My brother Chris and I went out to New Orleans. We talked to
historians and librarians who had researched the origins of the song and
we interviewed the guy who runs the House Of The Rising Sun B&B and
discovered he was an Englishman from Romford, in Essex, who has lived
there for 25 years.
"His wife is from the Appalachian mountains and they do historical
talks. He has about 50 versions of the song, including my own, on his
website. These people are all fanatical about the song and its origins."
Sandi's journey took her right back to the late 1700s.
She said: "Bob Dylan was fascinated with the version by Georgia Turner
back in 1937 and she heard it from her grandmother.
"The song goes back as far as the late 1700s and is most likely to be
Scots Irish. So much of the music that arrived with all the Scots-Irish
migrants came from Scotland and became the foundation for popular
music."
Sandi's latest version of the song is available on the deluxe version of
her current album Merchant & Thieves and as a download single.
And you can get it free as a download, thanks to the Sunday Mail.
Sandi's fascination for the Sixties classic is down to Sandie Shaw, who
asked her to sing it at a festival.
Sandi said: "Sandie Shaw invited me to sing House Of The Rising Sun at
the Vintage music festival in Surrey alongside Sophie Ellis Bextor and
Micha Paris.
"We did it with the Heritage Orchestra. I'd sang it on my own on guitar
but I had never sung it with an orchestra and it sounded great. Micah
was adamant I should record it. I got the band together and went into a
studio in North London.
"When you release a song, you have to register it. The song is listed as
traditional which means it is public domain. I was like, 'who the hell
did write it?' Nobody knows. Something in me said, 'let's go to New
Orleans.'
"We interviewed dozens of people about it from hobos to bands busking in
the street. It is really colourful and very cool. The whole thing has
grown arms and legs."
Despite her transatlantic search, the origins of the song remain
shrouded mystery - and no-one is more pleased than Sandi.
She said: "The song has been covered by so many people and stands the
test of time. It is very mysterious. I met Eric Burdon of The Animals.
He has done a lot of research and believes it is a Scots-Irish song too.
"We just concluded in the end that it is better not to know, because the
intrigue keeps it alive.
"Nobody believes the House Of The Rising Sun existed though a couple of
places lay claim to being it.
"There is a place that was called The Rising Sun hotel. They excavated
it and found rouge pots. The only problem is the neighbourhood it was
located in was not known for having establishments like that.
"We stood on the site of the original building, which is now a research
centre.
"We also visited a place that laid claim but is now a boring estate
agents. Eric believes if there is a House Of The Rising Sun, that's it.
"There is also a theory that it was about a New Orleans prison. But
Rising Sun was a popular name for bars and hotels in Britain.
"Even to this day, there is a Rising Sun hotel in Lowestoft. Some people
believe it came from there because Lowestoft is in the most easterly
part of England and you get rising suns.
"Eric first heard the song from a Geordie folk artist called Johnny
Handle, whose dad used to work down the Rising Sun pit."
As well as talking to broadcasters, Sandi now plans to feature some of
the footage as bonus material on an album set for release later this
year on her own label, Guardian Angels.
Having shot to international fame with her million-selling single I Wish
I Was A Punk Rocker in 2006 and debut album Smile... It Confuses People,
Sandi admits being dropped by Sony after her second album The Pink & The
Lily may have been a blessing in disguise.
She said: "I was really pleased with the reaction to Merchants &
Thieves. It had great reviews from people who had never reviewed my
other records. People respected that I had done it off my own back. I
was chuffed to bits at getting four stars on Mojo. I finally felt I had
shrugged off the past image of the girl with the flowers in her hair and
was being taken seriously as a musician.
"My whole life from age five has been all about music. It is great to
have that recognised with this record. I've experienced both extremes -
the sudden rise to fame and everything that comes with it. You get swept
away by it all.
"I've also had the cold, hard thud back to earth that makes it all real
again. It's great that I have gone through that because it is a lesson
in life.
"I currently have a small but growing independent label and I get
creative freedom to do what I want to do. That would be a very different
situation if I was still with a major. Sony don't put albums out like
Merchants & Thieves. It's too raw. It's a pop label.
"It's great to make music and the only opinion to consider is your own
and the people who are going to buy it.
"Major labels go wrong by trying to please everybody in the office. It's
all politics. Everybody forgets about the music buyers. By the time it
reaches their ears it's like there is no life left in it because it has
been reconstructed a thousand times over."
Sandi is also enjoying her ongoing romance with blues rocker Joe
Bonamassa, despite missing out on a Christmas vacation in the States due
to a bout of swine flu which saw her admitted to Skegness District &
General.
She said: "In the middle of the last night of a tour, my keyboard player
took me to hospital. I was told I had swine flu. They had all the
windows open and wouldn't let me cover myself up because they wanted to
get my temperature down.
"When it finally came down they discharged me. I couldn't move from the
hotel room for six days until I caught a cab to Newcastle and only then
because the cabbie made a bed in the back of the cab. My mum was there
to meet me.
"I was on my back for so long. I haven't sang since then because I had
such a horrendous cough. I had nausea and a really high temperature. I
am still teetering on the edge.
"Flu can do horrible things to someone's voice. It's brutal, so I went
to see a voice specialist because I was scared I had damaged my vocal
chords.
"Now I am on a health kick and taking 20 vitamins a day and no booze.
The worst part was that I was supposed to go to Florida to meet Joe and
his parents because he was out there finishing his tour but I never made
it.
"I've had common colds and viral stuff but I have never understood the
true definition of flu until now. It was horrible. I have never been
that ill in my life. It almost killed me."
The couple have since reunited. Sandi said: "I flew to the US last month
and met his mother for the first time. His parents are great. His dad is
good fun and his mum is the sweetest soul on earth.
"Joe also came to Scotland at Hogmanay. He slept the whole time. I had
to wake him up for the bells.
"We had our one year anniversary the other week. We went back to the
same place we first met. He and I are really similar people in so many
ways. It wouldn't work if one of us was a real rock star. He just puts
on his jeans and t-shirt and baseball cap. He's not living the rock
lifestyle and neither do I. He is a great performer, a great musician
and very sweet person.
"He has adopted the Scottish culture. I got him a kilt for Christmas and
a good-looking sporran. He was chuffed.
"But he is exactly like my father, which is scary. We love music, we
love guitars, we like cars and we like wine. We are impulsive and little
bit scatty. We work well together."
--
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/music-news/2011/02/06/sandi-thom-mystery
-origins-of-house-of-the-rising-sun-led-me-back-to-scotland-86908-22903525/
Via InstaFetch
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