"Baby Let's Play House" is a song written by

Arthur Gunter Arthur Neal Gunter (May 23, 1926 – March 16, 1976) was an American blues guitarist and musician. He was best known for his song "Baby Let's Play House", which was later a hit single for Elvis Presley. Biography Gunter was born in Ogletho ...

and recorded by him in 1954 on the Excello Records label
and covered by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

the following year on

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny ...

. A line from the song ("I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man") was borrowed by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

for his

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

song '' Run for Your Life'', released on '' Rubber Soul'' in 1965.

Elvis Presley version

Elvis' version differs greatly from the original: Elvis started the song with the chorus, where Gunter began with the first verse, and he replaced Gunter's line "You may get

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

" with the words "You may have a Pink Cadillac", referring to his custom-painted '55

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed ...

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, and became the first song recorded by Elvis to appear on a national chart when it made #5 on the Billboard Country Singles chart in July 1955. Elvis's version also starts out with Elvis introducing the lyric-stutter to the music pundits. These lyrics and melodies are not found in the original Arthur Gunter version.

Personnel

Elvis Presley - lead vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar *

Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic ...

- electric lead guitar * Bill Black - double bass

Charts

Weekly charts

Notable cover versions

*In July 1956, the

Johnny Burnette Trio John Joseph Burnette (March 25, 1934 – August 14, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter of rockabilly and pop music. In 1952, Johnny and his brother, Dorsey Burnette, and their mutual friend Paul Burlison formed the band that became k ...

released "Oh Baby Babe" (Coral 9–61675) which, though credited to "J. Burnette, D. Burnette, P. Burlison, A. Mortimer", was "Baby Let's Play House" with altered lyrics. *In 2008, a

Spankox Agostino Carollo, also known as Spankox, is an Italian musician, disc jockey, singer and producer who is currently signed with EMI. Originally a classical violinist, he specializes in pop and dance music, including remixes of songs such as KC a ...

remix of the song made #84 in the UK. *In 2022, Austin Butler did a cover of the song for

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

's ''Elvis'', which samples Gary Clark Jr.'s &

Junkie XL Tom Holkenborg (born 8 December 1967), also known by his stage name Junkie XL or occasionally JXL, is a Dutch composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, and engineer. Originally known for his trance productions, he has moved to producing ...

cover song "

Come Together "Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on their 1969 album ''Abbey Road'' and was also released as a single coupled with " Somethi ...

References

External links

* Arthur Gunter version * Elvis Presley version {{authority control 1954 songs 1955 singles Elvis Presley songs Buddy Holly songs The Newbeats songs RCA Victor singles Rockabilly songs