From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu May 23, 2002  1:13 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Arthur Gunter
 
ARTHUR GUNTER (By Shaun Mather)

Born 23 May 1926, Nashville, Tennessee
Died 16 March, 1976, Port Huron, Michigan

Vocalist / guitarist. Arthur Gunter earned a place in the history books as
the first artist to score a hit for the Excello label. It came in early 1955
with Baby, Let's Play House (# 12 R&B), his very first record. Written by
Gunter as an answer to Eddy Arnold's I Wanna Play House With You, it
was also covered by a young Elvis Presley and is undoubtedly one of his
greatest moments on Sun Records.
Born in Nashville, Gunter was a regular at the record shop owned by Excello
chief Ernie Young and the association led to his fairly short-lived recording
career. Gunter's work was in a laid back r'n'b style that could easily have
picked up more rock 'n' roll cover versions. He recorded a dozen singles
for Excello and had one LP release. In 1961 Excello dropped him from the
label. Arthur later gave up music, relocated to Michigan where he worked on
an auto assembly line until winning the Michigan state lottery in 1973 and
retiring to a life of well deserved leisure. He died of pneumonia at the age of
49.

Recommended listening :
Baby, Let's Play House - The Best Of Arthur Gunter - AVI Excello