"This Ole House" (sometimes written "This Old House") is a popular song written by Stuart Hamblen, and published in 1954.[1]
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Hamblen was supposedly out on a hunting expedition when he and his fellow hunter, actor John Wayne, came across a tumbledown hut in the mountains, many miles from civilization.[1] They went into the hut and there, lying amongst the rubbish and rubble of a crumbling building, was the body of a dead man.[1] This inspired Hamblen to write "This Ole House", which Rosemary Clooney and later Shakin' Stevens, treated as a bouncy rock n roll number, rather than the epitaph for a mountain man that it was meant to be.[1]
The recorded version of "This Ole House" by Rosemary Clooney, featuring bass vocals by Thurl Ravenscroft, reached #1 on the Billboard chart in 1954, as the flip side to her previous #1 song, "Hey There". Clooney's version also topped the UK Singles Chart, although there were other UK hit versions around by Billie Anthony, and Alma Cogan, both recorded in 1954. The recording by Alma Cogan and Vocal Group with Felix King, piano and orchestra was made in London on September 2, 1954. The song was released by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalogue numbers B 10761 and 7M 269. The flip side was "Skokiaan".
In March 1981, Shakin' Stevens took the song back to number one for three weeks in the United Kingdom. His version was re-released in 2005, after his appearance in the TV show Hit Me Baby One More Time, and reached number 20 in the UK chart.
The song was also covered by the Cathedral Quartet and Hovie Lister and the Statesmen as a Southern Gospel song with slightly modified lyrics, using the house as an analogy for an old body about to die and the soul about to go to heaven, usually tying the song in with "When the Saints Go Marching In".
The song was most recently recorded by Bette Midler (in ballad form) on her 2003 tribute to Rosemary Clooney, "Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook", and included on her compilation "Jackpot: The Best Bette" in 2008.
| Preceded by "My Son, My Son" by Vera Lynn |
UK Singles Chart number-one single (Rosemary Clooney version) November 26, 1954 |
Succeeded by "Let's Have Another Party" by Winifred Atwell |
| Preceded by "Jealous Guy" by Roxy Music |
UK Singles Chart number-one single (Shakin' Stevens version) 28 March 1981 - 11 April 1981 |
Succeeded by "Making Your Mind Up" by Bucks Fizz |
| Preceded by "Jealous Guy" by Roxy Music |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one single (Shakin' Stevens version) June 8, 1981 |
Succeeded by "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes |