Come On-a My House: Difference between revisions

"Come On-a My House"
"Come On-a My House"
Single by Rosemary Clooney
B-side	"Rose of the Mountain"
Released	1951
Recorded	June 6, 1951
Genre	Traditional pop; novelty;
Length	2:02
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Ross Bagdasarian, William Saroyan
Producer(s)	Mitch Miller
Rosemary Clooney singles chronology

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"Come On-a My House" is a song written by Ross Bagdasarian and William Saroyan and originally released by Rosemary Clooney in 1951. Cousins Bagdasarian, a songwriter, and Saroyan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, wrote the song while driving across New Mexico in the summer of 1939. The melody is based on an Armenian folk song, and the lyrics reference traditional Armenian customs of hospitality.

The song was first performed during a 1950 off-Broadway production of The Son, and did not become a hit until the release of Clooney's recording. It is Saroyan's only known effort at popular songwriting and one of Bagdasarian's few successes from prior to his adopting the stage name David Seville, under which he found success with the song "Witch Doctor" and as the creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Rosemary Clooney version

Clooney's version of the song was the first of a number of dialect songs she did. She recorded it in early 1951 with Mitch Miller leading an ensemble of four musicians including harpsichordist Stan Freeman. The single reached number one on the Billboard charts for six weeks.

Clooney also sang the song in the 1953 film The Stars Are Singing.

Although she performed "Come On-a My House" for many years, Clooney later confessed that she hated the song and only recorded it because Miller said that she would be fired if she did not. In a 1988 interview, Clooney said that she could hear anger in her voice from being forced to sing the song.^[4]^[5]

Cover versions

A version was released through Coral at the same time as Clooney's in 1951, performed by the song's composers Bagdasarian and Saroyan.
American country-music artist K. T. Oslin covered the song on her 2001 album, Live Close By, Visit Often. Her version reached number 40 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts. It spent six weeks on the chart before peaking in June 2001. It is her only song to chart on the Dance Club songs list.^[6]
Actress and singer Bernadette Peters covered the song playing concert hall manager Gloria Windsor in Mozart in the Jungle in 2015.^[7]
In late 1951, MGM Records released a novelty answer song, "Where's-a Your House?", which charted on the Cash Box Hot 50 list. Sung by Robert Q. Lewis in dialect, the tune details the singer's frustrated attempts to follow up "Rosie's" invitation. Mickey Katz also released a Yiddish parody of the song for Capitol Records that year.

In popular culture

In 1974, Sparks titled their third album Kimono My House as a pun on the song's title.

The 1978 M*A*S*H episode "Major Topper" features "Boot" Miller (Hamilton Camp) singing the song.^[8]^{[unreliable source?]}

References

^ ^a ^b "The Rosemary Clooney Palladium | Discography". Rosemaryclooney.com. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
^ "COLUMBIA 78rpm numerical listing discography: 39000 - 39500". www.78discography.com. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
^ Scapeletti, Christopher (1998). "The Chipmunks/Alvin & the Chipmunks". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 231.
^ "Lears 290". www.rosemaryclooney.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
^ Steyn, Mark (1998-04-09). "The Worst Songwriter of All Time". Slate.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-24. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
^ ""Come-On-A My House" chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
^ "Bernadette Peters' 'Come On a My House' from 'Mozart in the Jungle' Released". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
^ "Major Topper". IMDb. 27 March 1978.

[rosemaryclooney._com-1] "The Rosemary Clooney Palladium | Discography". Rosemaryclooney.com. Retrieved 2015-02-22.

[2] "COLUMBIA 78rpm numerical listing discography: 39000 - 39500". www.78discography.com. Retrieved 2021-12-02.

[3] Scapeletti, Christopher (1998). "The Chipmunks/Alvin & the Chipmunks". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 231.

[4] "Lears 290". www.rosemaryclooney.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2022.

[5] Steyn, Mark (1998-04-09). "The Worst Songwriter of All Time". Slate.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-24. Retrieved 2015-02-22.

[6] ""Come-On-A My House" chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 17 January 2021.

[7] "Bernadette Peters' 'Come On a My House' from 'Mozart in the Jungle' Released". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved 31 January 2024.

[8] "Major Topper". IMDb. 27 March 1978.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Distinguish|Kimono My House}}
+{{for|the Hey! Say! JUMP song|Come On A My House}}
+{{More citations needed|date=February 2015}}
-{{for|the [[Hey! Say! JUMP]] song|Come On A  My House}}
-{{Refimprove|date=February 2015}}
 {{Infobox song
-| name       = Come on-a My House
+| name       = Come On-a My House
 | cover      =
 | alt        =
@@ Line 9: / Line 8: @@
 | artist     = [[Rosemary Clooney]]
 | album      =
-| B-side     = "Rose of the Mountain"<ref name="rosemaryclooney. com">{{cite web|url=http://www.rosemaryclooney.com/discography.html |title=The Rosemary Clooney Palladium &#124; Discography |publisher=Rosemaryclooney.com |date= |accessdate=2015-02-22}}</ref>
+| B-side     = "Rose of the Mountain"<ref name="rosemaryclooney. com">{{cite web|url=http://www.rosemaryclooney.com/discography.html |title=The Rosemary Clooney Palladium &#124; Discography |publisher=Rosemaryclooney.com |access-date=2015-02-22}}</ref>
-| released   = {{Start date|1951|6|6}}<ref name="rosemaryclooney. com"/>
+| released   = 1951
+| recorded   = {{Start date|1951|6|6}}<ref name="rosemaryclooney. com"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=COLUMBIA 78rpm numerical listing discography: 39000 - 39500|url=http://www.78discography.com/COL39000.htm|access-date=2021-12-02|website=www.78discography.com}}</ref>
-| format     = [[Gramophone record|78&nbsp;rpm record]]
-| recorded   = 1951
 | studio     =
 | venue      =
-| genre      = [[Traditional popular music|Traditional pop]]
+| genre      =
+* [[Traditional popular music|Traditional pop]]
+* [[Novelty music|novelty]]<ref>{{cite book|first= Christopher |last= Scapeletti |editor1-first= Gary |editor1-last= Graff |editor2-first= Daniel |editor2-last= Durchholz |year= 1998 |title= MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |chapter= The Chipmunks/Alvin & the Chipmunks |publisher= [[Visible Ink Press]] |location= Detroit |page= 231}}</ref>
 | length     = 2:02
 | label      = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 }}
-"'''Come on-a My House'''" is a song performed by [[Rosemary Clooney]] and originally released in 1951. It was written by [[Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.|Ross Bagdasarian]] and his cousin,  [[Armenian American]] [[Pulitzer Prize]] winning author [[William Saroyan]], while driving across New Mexico in the summer of 1939. The melody is based on an Armenian folk song. The lyrics reference traditional Armenian customs of inviting over relatives and friends and providing them with a generously overflowing table of fruits, nuts, seeds, and other foods.
+"'''Come On-a My House'''" is a song written by [[Ross Bagdasarian]] and [[William Saroyan]] and originally released by [[Rosemary Clooney]] in 1951. Cousins Bagdasarian, a songwriter, and Saroyan, a [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning writer, wrote the song while driving across [[New Mexico]] in the summer of 1939. The melody is based on an [[Music of Armenia|Armenian folk song]], and the lyrics reference traditional Armenian customs of hospitality.
-It was not performed until the 1950 [[Off-Broadway|off-Broadway production]] of ''The Son''. The song did not become a hit until the release of Clooney's recording.
+The song was first performed during a 1950 [[off-Broadway]] production of ''The Son'', and did not become a hit until the release of Clooney's recording. It is Saroyan's only known effort at popular songwriting and one of Bagdasarian's few successes from prior to his adopting the stage name David Seville, under which he found success with the song "[[Witch_Doctor_(song)|Witch Doctor]]" and as the creator of [[Alvin and the Chipmunks]].
+==Rosemary Clooney version==
-It was probably Saroyan's only effort at popular songwriting, and it was one of Bagdasarian's few well-known works that was not connected to his best-known creation, [[Alvin and the Chipmunks]]. Bagdasarian, as David Seville, went on to much fame with his Chipmunks recordings.
+Clooney's version of the song was the first of a number of dialect songs she did. She recorded it in early 1951 with [[Mitch Miller]] leading an ensemble of four musicians including [[harpsichord]]ist [[Stan Freeman]]. The single reached number one on the [[Billboard magazine|''Billboard'']] charts for six weeks.
+Clooney also sang the song in the 1953 film ''[[The Stars Are Singing]]''.
-==Rosemary Clooney's original hit version==
-The song was first performed during 1950 in an [[Off-Broadway|off-Broadway production]] of ''The Son'', but did not become a hit until the release of Clooney's recording.
+Although she performed "Come On-a My House" for many years, Clooney later confessed that she hated the song and only recorded it because Miller said that she would be fired if she did not. In a 1988 interview, Clooney said that she could hear anger in her voice from being forced to sing the song.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rosemaryclooney.com/lears290.html |title=Lears 290 |website=www.rosemaryclooney.com |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301174344/http://www.rosemaryclooney.com/lears290.html |archive-date=1 March 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Steyn |first=Mark |url=http://slate.com/id/2898/ |title=The Worst Songwriter of All Time |publisher=Slate.com |date=1998-04-09 |access-date=2015-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624022438/http://slate.com/id/2898 |archive-date=2009-06-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
-A major hit for Clooney in 1951, it was the first of a number of dialect songs she did. She recorded it in the early part of 1951, with [[Mitch Miller]] leading an ensemble of four musicians, including [[harpsichord]]ist [[Stan Freeman]]. It reached #1 on the [[Billboard magazine|''Billboard'']] charts, staying in the top position for six weeks.
-Clooney sang the song in the 1953 film ''[[The Stars Are Singing]]'', in a scene where she ended up mocking it, remarking that no one would listen to it.
-Although she performed "Come on-a My House" for many years, Clooney later confessed that she hated the song. She said she had been given a practice record of it and had told Miller it wasn't for her. Miller gave her an ultimatum: record the song or be fired. During a 1988 interview, Clooney said that whenever she listened to the recording she could hear the anger in her voice from being forced to sing it.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090301174344/http://www.rosemaryclooney.com/lears290.html ]</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Steyn |first=Mark |url=http://slate.com/id/2898/ |title=The Worst Songwriter of All Time |publisher=Slate.com |date=1998-04-09 |accessdate=2015-02-22}}</ref>
 ==Cover versions==
+*A version was released through Coral at the same time as Clooney's in 1951, performed by the song's composers Bagdasarian and Saroyan.
-The song was covered by [[Ella Fitzgerald]], as one side of a single whose other side was also a cover of a Clooney hit, "[[Mixed Emotions (1951 song)|Mixed Emotions]]," on [[Decca Records]] (catalog number 27875).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://78discography.com/Dec27500.htm |title=DECCA (USA) numerical listing discography: 27500 - 27999 |publisher=78discography.com |date= |accessdate=2015-02-22}}</ref>
+*American country-music artist [[K. T. Oslin]] covered the song on her 2001 album, ''Live Close By, Visit Often''.  Her version reached number 40 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts. It spent six weeks on the chart before peaking in June 2001. It is her only song to chart on the Dance Club songs list.<ref>{{cite magazine |title="Come-On-A My House" chart history |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/k-t-oslin/chart-history/dsi/ |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=17 January 2021}}</ref>
+*Actress and singer [[Bernadette Peters]] covered the song playing concert hall manager Gloria Windsor in [[Mozart in the Jungle]] in 2015.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Bernadette Peters' 'Come On a My House' from 'Mozart in the Jungle' Released |url=http://filmmusicreporter.com/2015/12/30/bernadette-peters-come-on-a-my-house-from-mozart-in-the-jungle-released/ |magazine=[[Film Music Reporter]] |access-date=31 January 2024}}</ref>
-[[Louis Prima]] covered it (with an Italian spin) alongside [[Keely Smith]] on ''Sing Loud'', released in 1960 by Coronet Records.
+*In late 1951, [[MGM]] Records released a novelty [[answer song]], "Where's-a Your House?", which charted on the ''Cash Box'' Hot 50 list. Sung by [[Robert Q. Lewis]] in dialect, the tune details the singer's frustrated attempts to follow up "Rosie's" invitation. [[Mickey Katz]] also released a [[Yiddish]] parody of the song for [[Capitol Records]] that year.
-He also recorded it in 1951 on Robin Hood Records, and again in 1958 on Moonglow.
-The song was also a hit for [[Kay Starr]], who added a few lines with funny, nearly surrealistic details and ended with an even more explicit offer. In 1952, Japanese singer [[Chiemi Eri]] covered the Kay Starr version. [[Della Reese]] also recorded the song, and it is her version that [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] mimes to in the [[Swept Away (2002 film)|remake]] of ''[[Swept Away (1974 film)|Swept Away]]''. Many have offered an untraditional twist, such as  [[Mickey Katz]] singing in [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]], [[Julie London]] oozing a more blatant sexiness in her version, and [[Eartha Kitt]] performing a rendition in Japanese.
-It was later used as the theme for the [[reality television]] series ''[[The Girls Next Door]]'', performed by the Nasty Tales and their orchestra. The [[Surf Punks]] remade the song in the late 1980s.
-The composers themselves performed it &ndash; Bagdasarian singing, Saroyan offering occasional narration &ndash; for [[Coral Records]].  Bagdasarian also performs the song on his album ''The Mixed-Up World of Ross Bagdasarian'' and [[Alvin and the Chipmunks]] sang it for their 1994 [[Thanksgiving]] television special ''A Chipmunk Celebration''.  In the 1987 animated movie ''[[The Chipmunk Adventure]]'', it is sung briefly by Miss Miller, voiced by [[Dody Goodman]].
-American Country music artist [[K. T. Oslin]] covered the song on her 2001 album, ''Live Close By, Visit Often''.  Her version reached #40 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts.
-It was covered by [[Captain & Tennille]] as a bonus track on their 2002 ''More Than Dancing...Much More'' CD.
-Actress [[Janis Hansen (manager)|Janis Hansen]] can be heard singing a version ''[[a cappella]]'' while showering in "To Steal a Battleship," an episode of the 1968 television series, ''[[It Takes a Thief (1968 TV series)|It Takes a Thief]]''.
-Salsa Legend [[Celia Cruz]] also did a cover called "Ven A Mi Casa" with both Spanish and English lyrics.
-[[Bette Midler]] included a version of the song on her 2003 Rosemary Clooney covers album ''[[Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook]]''.
-Actress/Singer [[Bernadette Peters]] performs a cover in the Amazon series ''[[Mozart in the Jungle]]'' (Season 2, Episode 4, "Touché Maestro, Touché") <ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/arts/television/mozart-in-the-jungle-where-classical-music-meets-soap-opera.html</ref>
-==Parody==
-In late 1951 [[MGM]] Records released a novelty [[answer song]], "Where's-a Your House?", which charted on the Cash Box Hot 50 list. Sung by [[Robert Q. Lewis]] in dialect, the tune details the singer's frustrated attempts to follow up "Rosie's" invitation.
+==In popular culture==
-In 1974, American rock band [[Sparks (band)|Sparks]] titled their third album ''[[Kimono My House]]'', a [[pun]] on the song's title.
+In 1974, [[Sparks (band)|Sparks]] titled their third album ''[[Kimono My House]]'' as a pun on the song's title.
-In 1978, on the episode of [[M*A*S*H (season 6)]] entitled "Major Topper," the eccentric "Boot" Miller (played by [[Hamilton Camp]]), apparently believing that he ''is'' Rosemary Clooney, sings "Come On-a My House" into a ladle in the mess tent.<ref>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638357/</ref>
+The 1978 [[M*A*S*H (season 6)|''M*A*S*H'']] episode "Major Topper" features "Boot" Miller ([[Hamilton Camp]]) singing the song.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638357/|title = Major Topper| website=[[IMDb]] |date = 27 March 1978}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=August 2024}}
 ==References==
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 {{Rosemary Clooney}}
+{{K. T. Oslin}}
+{{authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Come On-A My House}}
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 [[Category:1951 singles]]
 [[Category:Columbia Records singles]]
-[[Category:Novelty songs]]
+[[Category:Songs written by Ross Bagdasarian]]
-[[Category:Songs written by Ross Bagdasarian Sr.]]
 [[Category:Rosemary Clooney songs]]
+[[Category:K. T. Oslin songs]]
+[[Category:Song recordings produced by Mitch Miller]]
+[[Category:Armenian-American history]]

v t e Rosemary Clooney
Studio albums	Irving Berlin's White Christmas (1954) Blue Rose [with Duke Ellington] (1956) Ring Around Rosie [with The Hi-Lo's] (1957) Swing Around Rosie [with the Buddy Cole trio] (1958) Fancy Meeting You Here [with Bing Crosby] (1958) A Touch of Tabasco [with Perez Prado] (1959) How the West Was Won [with Bing Crosby] (1960) Rosie Swings Softly (1960) Clap Hands! Here Comes Rosie! (1960) Rosie Solves the Swingin' Riddle! (1961) Rosemary Clooney Sings Country Hits from the Heart (1963) Love (1963) Thanks for Nothing (1964) That Travelin' Two Beat - Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney [with Bing Crosby] (1965) Look My Way (1976) Nice to Be Around (1977) A Tribute to Duke (1977) Everything's Coming Up Rosie (1977) Rosie Sings Bing (1978) Here's to My Lady (1979) Rosemary Clooney Sings the Lyrics of Ira Gershwin (1979) With Love (1981) Rosemary Clooney Sings the Music of Cole Porter (1982) Rosemary Clooney Sings the Music of Harold Arlen (1983) My Buddy with Woody Herman (1983) Rosemary Clooney Sings the Music of Irving Berlin (1984) Rosemary Clooney Sings Ballads (1985) Rosemary Clooney Sings the Music of Jimmy Van Heusen (1986) Rosemary Clooney Sings the Lyrics of Johnny Mercer (1987) Show Tunes (1989) Rosemary Clooney Sings Rodgers, Hart & Hammerstein (1990) For the Duration (1991) Girl Singer (1992) Do You Miss New York? (1993) Still on the Road (1994) Demi-Centennial (1995) Dedicated to Nelson (1996) White Christmas (1996) Mothers & Daughters (1997) At Long Last [with the Count Basie Orchestra] (1998) Brazil [with John Pizzarelli] (2000) Sentimental Journey: The Girl Singer and Her New Big Band (2001)
Live albums	The Last Concert (2002)
Soundtrack albums	Red Garters (1954)
Songs	"Come On-a My House" "Tenderly" "Half as Much" "Botch-a-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina)" "Blues in the Night" "Hey There"/"This Ole House" "Mambo Italiano"
Related	Discography The Edsel Show José Ferrer (first husband) Miguel Ferrer (son) Dante DiPaolo (second husband) Tessa Ferrer (granddaughter) Betty Clooney (sister) Nick Clooney (brother) George Clooney (nephew)

v t e K. T. Oslin
Discography
Studio albums	80's Ladies This Woman Love in a Small Town "My Roots Are Showing..." Live Close By, Visit Often Simply
Compilation albums	Greatest Hits: Songs from an Aging Sex Bomb
Video releases	Love in a Small Town
Songs	"Face to Face" "Round the Clock Lovin'" "Wall of Tears" "80's Ladies" "Do Ya" "I'll Always Come Back" "Money" "Hold Me" "Hey Bobby" "This Woman" "Didn't Expect It to Go Down This Way" "Come Next Monday" "Mary and Willie" "Come On-a My House"