"Baby Let's Play House" is a song written by Arthur Gunter 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. 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's ''Elvis'', which samples Gary Clark Jr.'s & Junkie XL cover song " Come Together".

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