"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
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
Promotional photo of Elvis Presley, 1954Elvis Presley - lead vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
In July 1956, the Johnny Burnette Trio 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.[citation needed]
On July 6, 1957, John Lennon covered "Baby Let's Play House" in the evening set at the Woolton church fete. Note: this was the day Lennon met Paul McCartney.[14]
In 2008, a
Spankox remix of the song made number 84 in the UK.[15]
