Baby Lets Play House - Elvis Presley

> _**Oh, lets play house, baby!**_

**Elvis Presley**s cover of Baby Lets Play House reveals a story you wont hear anywhere else. **Baz Luhrmann**s 2022 ELVIS nails it: **Tom Hanks**, as Colonel Tom Parker, narrates, In that moment, in a flash of lightning, I watched that skinny boy in the pink suit transform into a superhero. **Austin Butler**s Elvis rips into the song at the Louisiana Hayride, hips swiveling, girls screaming, capturing the magic of Elvis real [Baby Lets Play House](https://youtu.be/OfeyZ8cRCIM "") performance from Shreveports Municipal Auditorium on Saturday, August 20, 1955, broadcast live on radio.

A teenage Elvis likely picked up his copy of **Arthur Gunter**s R&B Baby Lets Play House at Poplar Tunes in Memphis, alongside **Ray Charles**' [Ive Got a Woman](https://youtu.be/PjM5fq9Kkfs "") (Atlantic 1050, 1954) and **The Eagles** [Tryin To Get To You](https://youtu.be/mBHd3lXpXiQ "") (Mercury 70391, 1954). Rays hit and The Eagles R&B groove were part of Elvis love for music. Hed later record [I Got a Woman](https://youtu.be/q1jHfts9UhE "") on January 10, 1956, for his debut RCA Victor LP, _Elvis Presley_ (LPM-1254), which ruled the Billboard chart for ten weeks. [Trying to Get to You](https://youtu.be/LTXSa6geGHY "") was cut in July 55 at Sun Records but not released until 1956 on that same RCA LP.

In February 1955, Elvis, **Scotty Moore** on electric guitar, and **Bill Black** on stand-up bass hit Sun Studio. They tried I Got a Woman and Trying to Get to You but couldnt nail themproducer **Sam Phillips** wasnt sold. Up next was Baby Lets Play House. Elvis, just 20, transformed Gunters plodding R&B track into a rock n roll fireball. His hiccoughing, snarling vocals, Scottys blazing guitar, and Bills thumping bass turned it into a playful, irresistible anthem. It was Elvis staking his claim, bursting with ambition and confidence.

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**Transpose by -10**
**Tempo: 105 BPM**

j - d - a - [9d] - [9a] d 9 d [Qd] d [9d] - [qk] - 9 d 9 [9d] [9d] - [9d] d 9 d [9d] [9d] [qg] [qg] [0f] f w d w [wd] [wyd] - [wa] d w k 0 - [wy] E e - [9y] d 9 [9d] [9ed] - [9d] [9d] [9y] p r - e Q 0 d [ef] [pf] T [of]f [0e] p T [of] [EYH] [gj] [yh] [Og] [ey] [df] [Td] [ad] [9y] - [yd] - [9e] a y i [I9y] d y s [9e] [az] y i [I9yz] d [yl] s [9ej] a [yj] [ij] [I9yh] [dg] [Gy] s [9e] a y i [I9y] [dl] [yl] s [9el] [aj] y [il] [I9y] d y - [ys] [9e] a - [ty] - [9pz] - l - j - j l - l j l - j l j [yl] - [rj] - [ej] h Q f [0g] - [9d] - [0f] g Q h w h [ig] - [9yg] - f [id] [ad] w - g i f [9y] - d i [ah] w [gh] i f [9yg] - d [id] [ad] w - g i f [9y] - d i - [el] [Lp] T o [euj] [pj] [Tj] [oh] [EH] g y [Od] [ef] f [Td] [od] [9y] - [yd] - [9e] a y i [I9y] d y - [ys] [9e] [az] - [ty] [iz] [I9yz] d [yl] s [9ej] a [yj] [ij] [I9yh] [dg] [Gy] s [9e] a y i [I9y] [dl] [yl] s [9el] [aj] y [il] [I9y] d y s [9e] a y - [9pz] - l - j - j l - l j l - j l j [yl] - [rj] - [ej] h Q f [0g] - [9d] - [0f] g Q h w h [ig] - [9yg] - f [id] [ad] w - g i f [9y] - d i [ah] w [gh] i f [9yg] - d [id] [ad] w - g i f [9y] - d i - [el] [Lp] T o [euj] [pj] [Tj] [oh] [EH] g y [Od] [ef] f [Td] [od] [9y] - [yd] - [9e] a y i [I9y] d y a [9e] p I - y - [gj] - e --- [ygj] -- [gj] e - d p - y - [gj] -- e -- [ygj] -- [gj] e d p - w - [gj] - 9 --- [wgj] -- [gj] 9 - d p - y - [gj] -- e -- [ygj] -- [gj] e d p - e - h -- 0 [Sh] [Sh] - [wag] -- [ag] - 9 [ag] [ag] - [9y] - [yd] - [9e] a y i [I9y] d y s [9y] [az] - [ty] [iz] [I9y] d [yl] s [9ej] a [yj] [ij] [I9yh] [dg] [Gy] s [9e] a y i [I9y] [dl] [yl] s [9el] [aj] y [il] [I9y] d y - [ys] [9e] a - [ty] - [9pz] - l - j - j l - l j l - j l j [yl] - [rj] - [ej] h Q f [0g] - [9d] - [0f] g Q h w h [ig] - [9yg] - f [id] [ad] w - g i f [9y] - d i [ah] w [gh] i f [yg] d [id] [ad] w g i f y d i - [el] [Lp] T o [0ej] - [pj] [Tj] [oh] [EH] g y [Od] [ef] f [Td] [od] [9y] - [yd] - [9e] a y i [(Iy] d y ap[ya]p[jz] - t - [yz] - j -- [ehl] - [hl] - [ygj] -- [gj] e [jz] -- z [yjz] [jz] [jz] -- [ehl] [hl] [hl] - [ygj] -- [gj] e [jz] -- z [yjz] [jz] [jz] -- [ehl] [hl] [hl] - [ygj] -- [gj] e - [gj] - 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 - q - w - [yag] - [9] [ad] y i w [ag] y [ad] 9 [ag] y i w - [yag] - [9y] [ad] y i w [ag] y [ad] [9y] [ag] y i e p T o - [0e] p T o E g y O [ei] f 0 o [9y] - [yd] - [9e] a y i [I9y] d y - [ys] [9e] [az] - [ty] i [I9yz] d [yl] s [9ej] a [yj] [ij] [I9yh] [dg] [Gy] s [9e] a y i [I9y] [dl] [yl] s [9el] [aj] y [il] [I9y] d y s [9y] a - [ty] - [9pz] - l - j - j l - l j l - j l j [yl] - [rj] - [ej] h Q f [0g] - [9d] - [0f] g Q h w h [ig] - [9yg] - f [id] [ad] w - g i f [9y] - d i [ah] w [gh] i f [yg] d [id] [ad] w g i f y d i - [el] [Lp] T o - [0ej] [pj] [Tj] [oh] [EH] g y [Od] [ef] f [Td] [od] [9y] - [yd] - [9e] a y i [I9y] d y - [ia] [9yh] p - [tyj] - [9y] - 9 - [9e] d 9 a [9yd] - [9a] d [9ek] 9 q Q [9y] d 9 a [9ed] - [9a] d [9y] d [9d] d [9eg] [9g] [0f] f [wd] d w d [wyd] d [wd] d w j w - [ey] e w - [9y] d 9 d [9ed] - [9d] d [9y] p 9 - [Qe] Q q - [ef] [pf] T [of] [0ed] - p T [of] [EH] [Hg] [yh] [Og] [Ge] f [Td] [od] [9y] - [Iajz] [Iajz] - [Ieajz] - y - 9 -- [I9ajz]

MIDI sequenced by **Gary Rogers**

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The B-side, [Im Left, Youre Right, Shes Gone](https://youtu.be/28iR919jP_M ""), recorded March 5, 1955, was pure country, penned by **Stan Kesler** for this session. Elvis toyed with a bluesy take, [Im Left, Youre Right, My Babys Gone](https://youtu.be/lg9y81DdDLY ""), cut as a test acetate for radio. Sam Phillips wavered but went with the country version, spiced up with **Jimmie Lott**s drums. Radio loved it, but DJs later flipped the record over to Baby Lets Play House, which Elvis was tearing up live on tour throughout the South. Booked by his new agent, **Colonel Tom Parker**, the song broke out, hitting the national country chartsa first for Elvis Sun singles.

Elvis wasnt just a singer; he was a musical alchemist. Growing up in Tupelo and haunting Beale Street, he soaked up blues, gospel, and R&B, one of the few white kids digging into Black music. Like blues artists before him, Elvis reworked songs to make them his own. Take Baby Lets Play House. Gunters line, You may get religion, baby, dont you be nobodys fool, became Elvis You may have a pink Cadillac, but dont you be nobodys fool. Gunters version scolds a holier-than-thou girl; Elvis turns her into a flirty show-off with a flashy car. That pink Cadillac? It was Elvis dream ride, a 1950s status symbol hed later gift his mama. That one lyric change made the car iconic, tying it forever to Elvis swagger. His versionsexy, playful, electrifyingleft Gunters raw original in the dust.

Years later, during rehearsals for Thats The Way It Is (July 29, 1970, MGM Studio), a 35-year-old Elvis slipped back into [Baby Lets Play House](https://youtu.be/-teMAYzRoT8 ""), delivering Gunters original line, Well, you may go to college, may go to school, you may get religion, baby, but dont you be nobodys fool. Elvis was playing the way he heard it back in '55 as a 20-year-old dreamer with itty-bitty sideburns, lost in the song that started it all.

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Produced by Sam Phillips / Acoustic Rhythm Guitar: Elvis Presley / Electric Lead Guitar: Scotty Moore / Stand-up Bass: Bill Black