New Orleans Legend May Prove to Be Reputable
Sun Mar 20, 7:55 AM ET
By Scott Gold Times Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS — A century ago, sung in the Appalachian hills from the point of view of a young and weary prostitute, it was about the pitfalls of sin. In the 1940s, Woody Guthrie turned it into an anthem to working-class America. In the 1960s, it was about daring sexuality.
At every turn, even as its words wrapped themselves around new eras and sensibilities, "House of the Rising Sun" remained a song of New Orleans. The simple folk song in a minor key always spoke to the sultry allure of this city from its first words, an opening line seared into one generation after another: "There is a house in New Orleans they call the Rising Sun."
No one has figured out — and many have tried — if the song depicts an actual bordello, and, if it does, where the real Rising Sun was. But a collection of pottery shards pulled recently from the ruddy soil of the French Quarter could prove to be the key that would unlock that beloved mystery.
This winter, a nonprofit organization called the Historic New Orleans Collection decided to expand. The organization, which runs a museum and research center, owned seven buildings in the heart of the French Quarter but needed another to serve as a vault. The group bought a one-level, ramshackle parking garage on Conti Street — pronounced KAHNT-eye — and announced plans to tear it down.
(snip)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&e=16&u=/latimests/neworleanslegendmayprovetobereputable