{"id":884634,"date":"2026-09-05T19:10:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T19:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/884634\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T19:10:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T19:10:23","slug":"on-this-day-in-1964-the-animals-hit-no-1-with-the-song-that-inspired-bob-dylan-to-go-electric-and-reshaped-popular-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/884634\/","title":{"rendered":"On This Day in 1964, the Animals Hit No. 1 With the Song That Inspired Bob Dylan to Go Electric and Reshaped Popular Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this day (September 5) in 1964, the Animals<\/a> started a three-week run at the top of the Hot 100 with \u201cThe House of the Rising Sun.\u201d Bob Dylan and countless others had already covered the folk tune. However, the British rock band\u2019s rendition was different. Their combination of folk and early rock and roll struck a chord with listeners everywhere and shifted the landscape of popular music.<\/p>\n

The Animals began performing their version of \u201cThe House of the Rising Sun\u201d in early 1964, while touring with Chuck Berry. Other acts who opened for Berry ended their sets with their most intense rocker. Eric Burdon and the band wanted to do something different to make them stand out. This haunting ballad was their solution.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tVideos by American Songwriter\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

The Animals Record the First Folk Rock Hit<\/p>\n

The band wanted to record the song earlier. However, producer Mickie Most didn\u2019t believe the song had potential. Then, he saw how audiences reacted to it night after night. Eventually, he agreed to let them cut it. \u201cWe played Liverpool on May 17, 1964. Then, we drove to London, where Mickie had booked a studio for ITV\u2019s Ready Steady Go! Because of the reaction we were getting to \u2018Rising Sun,\u2019 we asked to record it,\u201d recalled<\/a> drummer John Steel.<\/p>\n

They were already in the studio to record a backing track for their appearance on the show. So, Most said they could record it during the same session. After hearing the finished song, the producer was a believer. \u201cEverything was in the right place, the planets were in the right place, the stars were in the right place, and the wind was blowing in the right direction,\u201d Most said of the session. \u201cIt only took 15 minutes to make, so I can\u2019t take much credit for the production. It was just a case of capturing the atmosphere in the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Legacy of \u201cThe House of the Rising Sun\u201d<\/p>\n

The Animals and Mickie Most knew they\u2019d captured lightning in a bottle with \u201cThe House of the Rising Sun.\u201d However, they couldn\u2019t have predicted the single\u2019s impact on the wider music world.<\/p>\n

Their version of the song has been regarded as the first folk rock song. A year later, the Byrds followed in the British rockers\u2019 footsteps with their jangly rendition of Bob Dylan\u2019s \u201cMr. Tambourine Man.\u201d Then, Dylan released a trio of albums with rock arrangements\u2013Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde\u2013 between 1965 and \u201966. This helped further the folk rock boom of the mid-1960s, which birthed bands like Buffalo Springfield. \u201cThe House of the Rising Sun\u201d inspired Dylan to pick up an electric guitar.<\/p>\n

[RELATED: 4 of the Best Renditions of \u201cHouse Of The Rising Sun\u201d]<\/a><\/p>\n

Dylan\u2019s electric phase was a monumental, controversial, and highly influential period. At the same time, the scene that fostered bands like the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield also produced Poco, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons, and the Eagles. All of those legendary acts have a bit of \u201cThe House of the Rising Sun\u201d in their musical DNA.<\/p>\n

Featured Image by Archive Photos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On this day (September 5) in 1964, the Animals started a three-week run at the top of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[24985,49,48,7021,75,341,306896],"class_list":["post-884634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-1960s","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-classic-rock","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-the-animals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}