"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]
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
Elvis 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]
^Colin Larkin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music: Grenfell, Joyce - Koller, Hans. MUZE. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4. Colin Larkin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of the Blues. Virgin. ISBN 978-0-7535-0226-6.
^Colin Larkin (September 1998). The Virgin encyclopedia of fifties music. Virgin. ISBN 9780753502686.
^Martin Hawkins (November 2006). A shot in the dark: making records in Nashville, 1945-1955. Vanderbilt University Press & Country Music Foundation Press. ISBN 9780826515322.
^"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
^Wenner, Jann (1972). Lennon Remembers. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin. p. 128.
^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.
^"Elvis Presley Songs". How Stuff Works. 28 June 2007. Retrieved December 28, 2014.