Rising Sun

[Explicit]

J.A.Stewart

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Description

It's been almost 50 years since Eric Burdon and The Animals had a huge hit with their update of this old Public Domain chestnut.

Although there have been some interesting versions of the song since then (including several posted here on MacJams), I thought I'd like to give my own spin on it, so a few years ago I laid down some temporary tracks of my ideas and a "scratch" vocal track with a few lyrical tweaks to match the times. What you hear is largely spontaneous... done in only one or two passes. I want to make the vocal a bit grittier and the mix isn't where I'd like it to be, but I'll get back to it someday, when I feel inspired again.

In the meantime, rather than have it just lying around, I thought I would post this early version as a preview... and see what you think.

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Song Stats

Hits: 1201
Comments: 50
Fans: 25
Plays: 134
Downloads: 0

Uploaded: Mar 29, 2012 - 04:35:48 PM
Last Updated: Mar 31, 2012 - 12:44:04 AM Last Played: Apr 29, 2013 - 01:45:49 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Keywords:

House of the Rising Sun (1), The Animals (1), Eric Burdon (1), New Orleans (15)

Comments

alackbass	alackbass said 415 days ago (March 29th, 2012)
	Rising Sun A contemporary take on a classic. I like the heavy drums and screaming lead guitar. Strong vocals too! Check out my latest song called Just Ain't Worth a Song (2 Track)

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 415 days ago (March 29th, 2012)
	RE: Rising Sun... Thank you, Andrew. I'm glad you liked this version. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

RochaMalhada

RochaMalhada said 415 days ago (March 29th, 2012)

...and the other of steel

a great take on this classic. "Gritty" would be a good curve, but the vocals are ok to me as is.

That hi-hat or whatever it is a little robotic or something to me -

Interesting you did this - I've been thinking that 16 tons could be a cool tune to revive in a rockish format.

BTW - where did you get the lyrics? I'd like to see those; nice, and a little freshness departing from my memory of them...

. - Harold

Check out my latest song called Ascent of a Tree (w Mike_D & FEEL)

J.A.Stewart

J.A.Stewart said 415 days ago (March 29th, 2012)

Re: ... and the other of steel...
Thanks, Harold. I remembered the lyrics from the Animals' version and just adjusted the Mother's occupation to seamstress instead of a tailor and the Father as a traveling salesman, instead of a gambler (I don't think The Big Easy is a big gambling destination any longer). In addition, I added a line about what satisfies Pop. ;)

--- Joe

Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

paul f. page

paul f. page said 415 days ago (March 29th, 2012)

Amazing....
...that this tune is public domain. It is such a great classic and you do it a very good turn with your cool back-up track that just flies about with great abandon...Plenty of grit there. ... Your vocal is right on in terms of pitch and the interpretation is personal while retaining enough of the original to remain clearly recognizable and distinct. I'm glad you posted this. You've done a really good job reinventing this great song and giving it such a tasteful twist so many years later.

Check out my latest song called I Speak Of Love

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 415 days ago (March 29th, 2012)
	Re: Amazing... Thank you for your observations, Paul. I always find it interesting how it is possible to take tunes and songs in so many different directions. On this song, I wanted to get away from the arpeggiated Animals version to something with a bit more exotic rock feel to it. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

PeterB7858	PeterB7858 said 415 days ago (March 29th, 2012)
	Nice adaption Nice adaption, J.A. Like the guitars and bass, and the syncopated drums give it a different feel. It is a great chord progression to play around with and jam to. Thanks, Peter. Check out my latest song called The Long Way (w/ Saltaireguru77)

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 414 days ago (March 31st, 2012)
	Re: Nice Adaptation... Thanks, Peter. I think I took a few liberties with the classic progression, using some chord fragments on the guitar which I thought gave it a bit of an exotic feel. But yes, fun to jam with. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

gadzooks	gadzooks said 414 days ago (March 30th, 2012)
	Rising Sun This is a cool version of a classic tune. Big drums and cookin' guitar ... yeah! Nice performance and a rockin' mix, Cheers SG Check out my latest song called A Fly

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 414 days ago (March 31st, 2012)
	Re: Rising... Thank you, Stan. I am pleased you liked this early version. I have listened to several of your songs and find your musical and mixing skills very impressive. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

dimm witness	dimm witness said 414 days ago (March 30th, 2012)
	nice riffage bro I'd give anything to be able to play guitar like that! how guitar is supposed to sound. just think if your version had come out in 1964 the world would be a much better place ;) we need a time machine. Check out my latest song called conflation

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 413 days ago (March 31st, 2012)
	Re: Nice Riffage... Re: nice riffage... Thanks, Eddie. I largely play leads by sense of smell... I set my fingers loose and they eventually find their way to what sounds sweet. What good would a time machine do us? We'd still be too old to be relevant... or if we could be young again, we'd have to deal with zits again! LOL! --- JOE Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

Philip18

Philip18 said 413 days ago (March 31st, 2012)

Rising Sun
I like the wailing guitar especially. I agree about the need for a grittier vocal. Given what the song is about I think it needs to either be angrily regretful or sad: if the former, which is where this is heading, the vocal does need to have to have a rough edge to it. No doubt from what you have done here that you have the versatility in your voice for it to be whatever you want it to be. Always interesting to hear the way this song can be interpreted!

Check out my latest song called Close to Midnight w/ alackbass, rok41, paul f. page, & KyasheMusic

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 413 days ago (April 1st, 2012)
	Gritty Need Thank you for your comments, Philip. I really had no preconceived notion about where I wanted to take the vocal, so I winged it for this version. There are aspects of it I like and others that I think I can improve. Maybe I'll try gargling with sand before my next vocal session. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

magnatone

magnatone said 413 days ago (March 31st, 2012)

Rising Son
I'm still cracking up from your "zits" comment below - LOL!! This is absolutely terrific Joe - what a great take - your vox sounds really great and the guitar work in here is quite amazing. to my ears there's absolutely nothing in here that needs to be more or less of anything - you've got a real gem here!

Check out my latest song called Blind Love (Seeing Heart) - Orchestral Version

J.A.Stewart

J.A.Stewart said 413 days ago (April 1st, 2012)

Re: Rising Son
Thanks, Karen. I'm generally happy with all the elements of the mix, but they need to be more defined in the final mix to flesh out their interplay.

As far as *zits* are concerned, I always find it fascinating how we look back on youth as an idyllic time --- the acme of our life... forgetting about the ACNE of our life and other unpleasant aspects of that period. ;)

--- Joe

Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

Char	Char said 413 days ago (April 1st, 2012)
	Rising Sun revisited. It sounds good as is. I don't know if you were planning on trying some harmonies or doubling of some end phrases or a few screaming ah's along with more grit. Sounds as if you have a winner no matter what else you add. Thanks. Check out my latest song called The Sea

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 413 days ago (April 1st, 2012)
	Re: Revisited... Thank you, Char. I'm glad you liked the concept. I really don't know what I'll do with the vocal portion of the song, but I'll experiment with different ideas and see which one feels right for this arrangement. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

Jarvoid

Jarvoid said 412 days ago (April 1st, 2012)

Interesting take on the Rising Sun...
I had a go at this, but it seems not to be here so it shall be in the future....but enough of me ,this is greqat stuff....the vocals work for me,they have the sound of despair in them (as is appropriate to the song )just running it again ,yes a sort of angst.....the drums are spot on and I like the twisting and corruscating guitars ....how the hell do you get that to work....pedals ?....I have only just tried pedals ....aint they great....Down the ....bollocks ...I just glanced up and see there is no D/L button....tsk !

Still,a good listen

Cheers

Jarvo

Check out my latest song called Cripple Creek Revised........By Jarvoid and the Banjo Bedraggled Manic Mandolin Accordion Squeezers

J.A.Stewart

J.A.Stewart said 412 days ago (April 1st, 2012)

Re: Interesting take...
Thanks, Chris. No pedals were harmed or stomped upon during the recording of this song... just the pure sound of my hot-rodded Les Paul, played through a software plug-in, with some heavy pulls and releases on the strings. I'm pretty old school and haven't used any pedals in years.

Sorry about the no download, but I felt this take was a little too early in the process to set it loose. ;)

--- Joe

Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

grah3am	grah3am said 411 days ago (April 2nd, 2012)
	True Grit Great so far. As you have pointed out, you need gritty vocals. Berserk would be even better, but if you ever want to speak again, perhaps best not. The guitar is very good. I look forward to the more developed version. Check out my latest song called To the Dump

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 411 days ago (April 2nd, 2012)
	Re: True Grit... Thank you, Graham. John Lennon egged his buddy, Harry Nilsson on in some screaming recording sessions and it cost Harry his voice. I think I'll find a way to avoid any primal scream sessions. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

Warren Smith

Warren Smith said 410 days ago (April 3rd, 2012)

House music
It seems to me there is a distinction between a cover and an interpretation of an existing song .. where a cover is performed in a similar fashion for the pure joy of doing it that way .. whereas an interpretation is more an act of creativity. It's clear here you are trying to re-interpret and re-imagine this old standard.

Which is not always an easy thing to do. If you delve into the history of this song you quickly realize it has been presented in a number of different ways and subjected to a number of different spins (for example, does it refer to a brothel or a prison or someplace else?). I think one of the ways to let that happen is to do what you are doing here - just letting it go and letting it take you where it wants to go .. whether that's wailing away with your guitar .. or holding on to that long note vocally.

I like your changes to seamstress and salesman. Those little tweaks help us break through the set-in-our-ways of listening to an iconic piece and allows us to hear it with fresh ears. Ditto for the that heavy drum beat that opens the soundtrack - it tells us .. immediately .. this is not the Sixties anthem version we grew up with.

Should the voice have more grit? I don't think it is necessary. The voice here works well with the tone of the lead guitar. Would the guitar have to become grittier, too, if the voice changes?

But we become slaves to our imagination. It's always easy to imagine something better. What I'm saying: this is good as it is.

Check out my latest song called Love Shack

J.A.Stewart

J.A.Stewart said 410 days ago (April 3rd, 2012)

Re: House music...
Thank you very much for your thoughtful comments, Warren. It is the kind of response that makes me glad I posted this early version.

I spent a good deal of my musical career in *Cover* bands and got pretty good at faithfully recreating the sound of the original recordings we played — note-for-note and nuance-for-nuance. That experience provided me with a sort of *reverse engineering* knowledge of the endless variety of musical elements that can be molded together to create a unique and pleasing song. It later helped me better imagine my own experiments with the endless pool of musical elements as a songwriter.

The thing about this particular recording is that it is mostly spontaneous. That is particularly true of the vocal... I hadn't really considered how I would perform it before I laid down the backing instrumental tracks. As a result, the performance has yielded a mixed bag of positives and negatives.

On the plus side, it is raw and honest, performed entirely as a real-time emotional response to the backing tracks. On the minus side, the performance is uneven in spots, lacking the same emotional attachment and conviction as other parts, and... it also lacks the tonal confidence that comes from rehearsing and *living with* a performance for awhile.

It's not that I'm dissatisfied with how this turned out. No, I agree with you... it is good as it is. I just believe there are elements that can be improved upon. ;)

--- Joe

Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

Moviz	Moviz said 410 days ago (April 3rd, 2012)
	You really did bring this up to date Joe... apart from that heavy drum beat, I think its the backing guitar style that modernises it, as well as the vocal styling..... you can still do it my boy..... great version, cheers M Check out my latest song called Monet's Garden (new)

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 409 days ago (April 4th, 2012)
	Re: You... Thanks, Maurice. I don't have the pipes that Eric Burdon had, but I try to make the best out of what I do have. I'm glad you enjoyed my version. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

dave_b	dave_b said 409 days ago (April 4th, 2012)
	Rising Sun I like the stretched out groove anchored by the heavy bass. Phrasing and vocals were tweaked well to fit over the groove. Nice lead fills, strong vocal. Check out my latest song called Llarions Blues

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 409 days ago (April 4th, 2012)
	Re: Rising... Thank you, Dave. I appreciate your listening and commenting on this version and I'm glad you liked this arrangement. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

DWL	DWL said 402 days ago (April 11th, 2012)
	Driven by that heavy bass and drums it's a very contemporary take on the song. Remarkably tight for what you say is virtually a jam! Great work and I'll be interested if you do anything more with it (a touch of distortion on the vox perhaps?) Cheers Dick Check out my latest song called Not For The Likes of You

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 402 days ago (April 11th, 2012)
	Re: Driven... Thanks for your comments, Dick. I think the busy mix helps conceal some of the flaws and flubs of my jam tracks. Of course I hear every one of them. LOL A touch of distortion on the vox would be a quick and easy experiment... I think I'll give that a go and see if it works. Thanks for the suggestion. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

JBurns	JBurns said 401 days ago (April 12th, 2012)
	cool i like to jam on this tune myself and have my own take on it. I have never heard some of these lyrics though, I like it. Thx enjoyed it! Check out my latest song called spaceman cometh

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 401 days ago (April 12th, 2012)
	Re: cool... Thank you, Jay. I modernized some of the lyrics (poetic license... LOL!). I look forward to hearing your take on this classic. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

Roxylee	Roxylee said 391 days ago (April 22nd, 2012)
	Real good version I like yours better than the Animals. More feeling to it, and you make it much more interesting. Check out my latest song called Emma, by davisamerica

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 390 days ago (April 23rd, 2012)
	Re: Real Good... Thanks, Roxy. I did try to give a somewhat more exotic musical soundscape, so I am pleased you picked up on it and found it interesting. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

BirdmanWayne94	BirdmanWayne94 said 345 days ago (June 7th, 2012)
	Yeah! There's definitely a contemporary feel to this, especially with the drums, but I love it! It's different but it still has that classic sound of the original. Much enjoyed! Thank you :) Check out my latest song called (An Untitled) Intro

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 345 days ago (June 7th, 2012)
	Re: Yeah!... Thank you, Yeman. I'm glad you liked my interpretation... good to have you back and to hear how your talent is progressing. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

B. Flat	B. Flat said 271 days ago (August 20th, 2012)
	Sun I love that heavy back beat and the howling guitar, Joe! Check out my latest song called Dreaming (Woodstock 2012)

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 270 days ago (August 21st, 2012)
	Re: Sun Thank you, Donald. I'm pleased you enjoyed my version. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

MarkHolbrook	MarkHolbrook said 211 days ago (October 19th, 2012)
	Doesn't matter how it's done. This song will always strike a chord with me. It was I believe the first tune I learned on guitar. I spent hours and hours duplicating the picking. This take is exquisite in every way. Typical of JA Stewart. Nicely done my friend! Check out my latest song called My 911

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 211 days ago (October 19th, 2012)
	Re: Doesn't Matter Thanks, Mark. This old chestnut has received a lot of different treatments over the years and they seldom disappoint. I'm pleased you enjoyed my version and appreciate your remarks. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

Fire_Angel	Fire_Angel said 186 days ago (November 13th, 2012)
	Powerful. Takes some nerve to try and follow the Animals version, but this succeeds in being just as powerful. Once again, what a voice! Check out my latest song called An Eventful Walk.

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 185 days ago (November 14th, 2012)
	Re: Powerful... Thank you, FA... The Animals version was a monster hit and introduced this obscured old folk song to generations of music lovers, including me. I just re-imagined it. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

Trillian

Trillian said 186 days ago (November 13th, 2012)

Dang!!!! Subdued Humbled but...
powerfully knowing, been there, dun wrong that, soul filled still searching for truth ~ rendition of a classic. Send this one to my friend, Vic Holman.... see what he thinks ~ He and Amagi (Calchas) did a version of this classic also. But, I don't know why ~ this somehow soul weary passing on of knowledge really moved me, stirred up emotions inside me in a way the "Original version" didn't. Maybe it was the humility with which it was delivered... Kudos CJ

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 185 days ago (November 14th, 2012)
	Re: Dang!!!!... I am so pleased my interpretation of this old classic resonated on an emotional level with you, Carole. There is really no higher praise for a performance than that. I sincerely appreciate hearing this from you... thanks. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

richard13	richard13 said 183 days ago (November 16th, 2012)
	Excellent take! Especially for a "scratch" vocal. I, for one, am hoping you get inspired again soon. Cheers, and thanks. Check out my latest song called Caledonia

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 183 days ago (November 16th, 2012)
	Re: Excellent take... Thank you, Richard. I like to "live" with my arrangements for awhile... and discover their potential nuances before I feel comfortable and committed to the vocal. Chances are I won't revisit this one until I'm inspired to produce a CD of my unpublished new music. Maybe in 2013... Time's 'a Waisting, I know. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

richard13	richard13 said 182 days ago (November 17th, 2012)
	Gee... I was hoping you could get it done before Dec. 21st ;-) Check out my latest song called Caledonia

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 182 days ago (November 17th, 2012)
	Re: Gee... Oh! There Is... THAT! LOL! Well, perhaps then I'll just save it for my work with the... Heavenly Choir. ;) --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

richard13	richard13 said 182 days ago (November 17th, 2012)
	Well, shoot! I guess I'll never hear the improved version then ;-) Check out my latest song called Caledonia

J.A.Stewart	J.A.Stewart said 181 days ago (November 18th, 2012)
	Re: Well, shoot!... Well, you never know... thanks to Joe Hollywood's exploits, I may end up on the hot seat myself. :P --- Joe Check out my latest song called A Chance To Dream

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Artist Info

Name: J.A. Stewart
Location: Somewhere In Time USA

Played in a variety of Folk/Rock, Pop and Rock bands for more than a decade. After collaborating on a musical, I got hooked on songwriting and recording. After years of intense "lobbying," (to buy souvenirs for friends) I finally "entered" The Rock a... [see more]

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The blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on a pentatonic scale and a characteristic twelve-bar chord progression. The form evolved in the United States in the communities of former African slaves from spirituals, praise songs, field

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