Baby Let's Play House

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"Baby Let's Play House" is a song written and originally recorded by Arthur Gunter in 1954 on the Excello Records label, [1] [2] [3] and covered by Elvis Presley the following year on Sun Records. [4] A line from the song ("I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man") was borrowed by John Lennon for his Beatles song "Run for Your Life", released on Rubber Soul in 1965. [5] [6]

Contents

Elvis Presley version

"Baby Let's Play House"
EP Baby Lets Play House single 1955.jpg
Song by Elvis Presley
B-side "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone"
ReleasedApril 10, 1955
Genre Rockabilly [7]
Length2:15
Label Sun 217
Songwriter(s) Arthur Gunter
Elvis Presley singles chronology
"You're a Heartbreaker"
(1954)
"Baby Let's Play House"
(1955)
"Heartbreak Hotel"
(1956)

The Presley version differs greatly from the original: Presley started the song with the chorus, where Gunter began with the first verse, and he replaced Gunter's line "You may get religion" with the words "You may have a Pink Cadillac", referring to his custom-painted 1955 Cadillac auto, that had also been serving as the band's transportation at the time. "Baby Let's Play House" was on the fourth issue of a Presley record by Sun, [8] and became the first song recorded by Presley to appear on a national chart when it made number 5 on the Billboard Country Singles chart in July 1955. [9] Presley's version also starts out with him introducing the lyric-stutter to the music pundits. These lyrics and melodies are not found in the original Gunter version.

Personnel

Charts

Notable cover versions

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References

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    Colin Larkin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of the Blues. Virgin. ISBN   978-0-7535-0226-6.
  2. Colin Larkin (September 1998). The Virgin encyclopedia of fifties music. Virgin. ISBN   9780753502686.
  3. Martin Hawkins (November 2006). A shot in the dark: making records in Nashville, 1945-1955. Vanderbilt University Press & Country Music Foundation Press. ISBN   9780826515322.
  4. "Facts about Elvis - Elvis Presley's life - Elvis news: New Elvis Presley Remix "Baby Let's Play House" Available for Download on iTunes TODAY! 6/3/2008" Archived 2010-02-02 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved July 21, 2008
  5. Wenner, Jann (1972). Lennon Remembers. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin. p. 128.
  6. Everett, Walter (1999). The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 312. ISBN   978-0-19-512941-0.
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  8. Presley releases Archived 2012-07-22 at archive.today
  9. The Blue Moon Boys - The Story of Elvis Presley's Band. Ken Burke and Dan Griffin. 2006. Chicago Review Press. page 47. ISBN   1-55652-614-8
  10. "Elvis Presley – Baby Let's Play House". Top Digital Download.
  11. "Elvis Presley – Baby Let's Play House" Canciones Top 50.
  12. "Elvis Presley – Baby Let's Play House". Singles Top 100.
  13. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  14. "John Lennon and the Quarrymen - Baby Let's Play House". 6 July 1957. Retrieved 2023-05-11 via YouTube.
  15. "The Official Charts Company - Baby Let's Play House". The Official Charts Company. 4 April 2014.
  16. "Austin Butler - Baby, Let's Play House". YouTube . Retrieved 2022-10-25.