"But no act of musical theft is quite as infamous as the one concerning Dave Van Ronk’s arrangement of 'House of the Rising Sun.'"

"Van Ronk, the inspiration behind the forthcoming Coen Brothers film, Inside Llewen Davis, took the grim and foreboding old weeper—about a young woman afraid she’ll spend the rest of her life in a whorehouse in New Orleans—and brilliantly made it his own."

Van Ronk recalled that after Bob Dylan had learned Dave’s version of “House of the Rising Sun,” Dylan approached him and asked if he could record it for his first album. Van Ronk replied, “I’d rather you not, I’m planning on recording it soon myself.” Dylan said “uh oh.” Van Ronk had to stop performing it because everyone accused him of getting it from Dylan. However, Dylan himself had to stop playing it when the Animals made a top hit out of it, and people accused him of getting it from them.

You can listen to Van Ronk's "House of the Rising Sun" at the link, and here's the big "Down In Washington Square" collection of Van Ronk's music that's coming out in conjunction with the movie.

Here's Dylan's version. And everyone knows the great Animals one.