Baby Let's Play House

"Baby Let's Play House" is a song written by Arthur Gunter and recorded by him in 1954 on the Excello Records label,^[2] and covered by Elvis Presley the following year on Sun Records.^[3] It was the fourth issue of a Presley record by Sun,^[4] 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.^[5]

Presley's 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" with the words "You may have a Pink Cadillac", referring to his custom-painted 1955 Cadillac auto that had been serving as the band's transportation at the time.

The song was lip synched by Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the TV biopic Elvis: The Early Years, in a scene of Presley's 1955 Odessa Auditorium performance.

John Lennon used the line, "I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man," from this song for the opening line of the Beatles song, "Run for Your Life."

Buddy Holly recorded a cover of this song in 1955 at the Jim Beck Studio in Dallas. Holly's cover, cut as a demo for Columbia Records, and included on the 1985 Charly Records compilation Buddy Holly Rocks, sounds very much like the Elvis version.

The song was also recorded by Australian Lonnie Lee on Leedon Records in early 1960. The version was not unlike Elvis' in many respects. It was very popular at Lee's shows and a version of him singing it in 1960 on Australia's first Rock'n'Roll TV Show, 'Six O'Clock Rock' is still extant.

The Newbeats released a version of the song on their 1965 album, Big Beat Sounds by The Newbeats.^[6]

Ace Cannon released an instrumental version on his 1967 album Memphis Golden Hits.

In 2008, a Spankox remix of it made #84 in the UK.^[7]

In 2014, Drake Bell released a cover of "Baby Let's Play House" on Muzooka.com.^[8]

References