Come On-a My House

For the Hey! Say! JUMP song, see Come On A My House.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Come On-a My House" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

1951 single by Rosemary Clooney

"Come On-a My House"

Single by Rosemary Clooney
B-side| "Rose of the Mountain"[1]
Released| 1951
Recorded| June 6, 1951 (1951-06-06)[1][2]
Genre|

* Traditional pop
* novelty[3]

Length| 2:02
Label| Columbia
Songwriter(s)| Ross Bagdasarian, William Saroyan
Producer(s)| Mitch Miller
Rosemary Clooney singles chronology
| "The Lady Is a Tramp"
(1951)  | "Come On-a My House"
(1951)  | "Find Me"
(1951)

|
|

"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

[edit]

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

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

1. ^ a b "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.

* 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"

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work

|

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template