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"
ReleasedJuly 1967
StudioColumbia (Nashville, Tennessee)
GenreCountry
Length2:38
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Billy Sherrill
Tammy Wynette singles chronology
"Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad"
(1967)
"I Don't Wanna Play House"
(1967)
"Take Me to Your World"
(1967)
"I Don't Wanna Play House"
Single by Connie Francis
B-side"Am I Blue"
ReleasedAugust 1968
GenreCountry
Length3:05
LabelMGM Records
Songwriter(s)Billy Sherrill
Glenn Sutton
Producer(s)Bobby Russel
Buzz Cason
Connie Francis singles chronology
"Somebody Else Is Taking My Place"
(1968)
"I Don't Wanna Play House"
(1968)
"The Wedding Cake"
(1969)

Content

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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

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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

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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

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Chart (1973) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 3

Other versions

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References

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  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 399.
  2. ^ "TAMMY WYNETTE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  3. ^ "SA Number 1s 1965 - 1989". South African Rock Lists. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Australian Weekly Single Ccharts (David Kent) for 1973". Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  5. ^ "Top 20 Hit Singles of 1973". South African Rock Lists. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 97.
  8. ^ "Countrypärlor" (in Swedish). Svensk mediedatabas. 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2011.