Sometimes the contributions of a lesser-known musician plays an integral part of in the success of a song. Such is the case with The Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine, who is credited with coming up with the iconic opening riff to the British band’s classic 1964 song, “The House of the Rising Sun.” Valentine died this week at age 77.

Like Ed King, whose casual and generally unremarked noodling of the famous intro to “Sweet Home Alabama” inspired Lynyrd Skynyrd’s great song, Valentine’s guitar work laid the foundation for House, which soon became synonymous with Eric Burden, the band’s lead singer, who lamented on Instagram that Valentine’s “opening opus” would never sound the same now that he’s gone.

Neither The Animals, nor Valentine, wrote the song, which is classified as “traditional” and of unknown origin, and has been played extensively over the years, from Leadbelly to Woody Guthrie, the latter dating to 1941. But it was The Animals’ early rock take on the tune, which warns listeners of the perils of life in New Orleans, that introduced the song to millions, reaching the top of the charts in both the US and UK and registering as one of the top songs of the ‘60s.

Nearly 60 years later, Burden and The Animals are still performing their signature song, and even though Valentine only lasted four years with the band at the outset, it will undoubtedly, as Burden says, never sound the same.

Viva Valentine!

Lyrics

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I’m one

My mother was a tailor
She sewed my new blue jeans
My father was a gamblin’ man
Down in New Orleans

Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and trunk
And the only time he’s satisfied
Is when he’s on a drunk

Oh, mother tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the House of the Rising Sun

Well, I got one foot on the platform
The other foot on the train
I’m goin’ back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain

Well, there is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I’m one