I Don't Wanna Play House
"I Don't Wanna Play House" is a song written by Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton. In 1967, the song was Tammy Wynette's first number one country song as a solo artist. "I Don't Wanna Play House" spent three weeks at the top spot and a total of eighteen weeks on the chart.[1] The recording earned Wynette the 1968 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The song was released in the UK in 1976 and made the Top 40.
| "I Don't Wanna Play House" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Tammy Wynette | ||||
| from the album Take Me to Your World / I Don't Wanna Play House | ||||
| B-side | "Soakin' Wet" | |||
| Released | July 1967 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:38 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Billy Sherrill | |||
| Tammy Wynette singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| "I Don't Wanna Play House" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Connie Francis | ||||
| B-side | "Am I Blue" | |||
| Released | August 1968 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:05 | |||
| Label | MGM Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Billy Sherrill Glenn Sutton | |||
| Producer(s) | Bobby Russel Buzz Cason | |||
| Connie Francis singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Content
In the song, the narrator, a young mother whose husband has left her, overhears her daughter describing to a neighborhood boy their broken home, and informing him that she doesn't want to play house since, after observing her parents' troubles, she knows that it cannot be fun.
Chart performance
| Chart (1967) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 3 |
| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.K. Singles Chart[2] | 37 |
Barbara Ray versions
In 1973, South African singer Barbara Ray recorded a version that was a number-one hit in her home country[3] as well as a top 10 hit in Australia, reaching No. 3 later in the year.[4] Her version was South Africa's highest-selling single of 1973.[5]
Charts
| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] | 3 |
Other versions
- Connie Francis released a cover version of the song in August 1968. It peaked at # 40 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Charts.[7]
- Skeeter Davis covered the song on her 1968 album Why So Lonely?.
- Lynn Anderson (then the wife of the song's co-writer, Sutton) covered the song in 1970 on her album Rose Garden.
- Loretta Lynn covered the song on her 1968 album, Fist City.
- Mona Gustafsson recorded the song on her 2010 album Countrypärlor.[8]
References
- Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 399.
- "TAMMY WYNETTE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
- "SA Number 1s 1965 - 1989". South African Rock Lists. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
- "Australian Weekly Single Ccharts (David Kent) for 1973". Retrieved June 7, 2018.
- "Top 20 Hit Singles of 1973". South African Rock Lists. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 247. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 97.
- "Countrypärlor" (in Swedish). Svensk mediedatabas. 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2011.