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| "(Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey" | |
|---|---|
1902 sheet music cover, words and music written by Hughie Cannon published by Howley, Haviland and Dresser
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| SongbyAl Hirt | |
| Written | 1902 |
| Published | Howley, Haviland and Dresser |
| Genre | Dixieland jazz, jazz standard |
| Composer(s) | Hughie Cannon |
"(Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey", originally titled "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please.... Come Home?" is a popular song published in 1902. It is commonly referred to as simply "Bill Bailey".
Its words and music were written by Hughie Cannon, an American songwriter and pianist, and published by Howley, Haviland and Dresser. It is still a standard with Dixieland and traditional jazz bands. The simple 32-bar chord sequence of its chorus also underpins many other tunes played mainly by jazz bands, such as "Over the Waves", "Washington and Lee Swing", "Bourbon Street Parade", "My Little Girl", and the final themes of "Tiger Rag" and "The Beer Barrel Polka".
Cannon wrote the song in 1902 when he was working as a bar pianist at Conrad Deidrich's Saloon in Jackson, Michigan. Willard "Bill" Bailey, also a jazz musician, was a regular customer and friend, and one night told Cannon about his marriage to Sarah (née Siegrist). Cannon『was inspired to rattle off a ditty about Bailey's irregular hours. Bailey thought the song was a scream (i.e. very good), and he brought home a dashed-off copy of the song to show Sarah. Sarah couldn’t see the humor...[but] accepted without comment the picture it drew of her as a wife.』Cannon sold all rights to the song to a New York publisher, and he died from cirrhosis at age 35. Willard and Sarah Bailey later divorced; He moved to Los Angeles with their daughter Frances, he died in 1954, and Sarah died in 1976, age about 102. (See New York Times archives 1976, unknown date)
