Standards

Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home chords & key

Key: G major
Form: ABAC
Bars: 32
Groove: Medium-up swing
Time signature: 4/4

“Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home” is a jazz standard by Hughie Cannon. Most bands play it in G major, medium-up swing; the tune runs 32 bars in ABAC form. Harmonically it contains 3 major ii–V–I cadences, uses 11 different chords and moves between the key centres G major and C major. In this atlas it appears on 24 album tracks.

Chord changes

to key

Showing in: Concert (C) — G major

GG♯^dim7

A^m7

D⁷

A^m7D⁷

D^m7

G⁷

C♯^dim7

G_/D

E⁷

A⁷

D⁷

A^m7D⁷

Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.

Harmonic analysis

3Major ii–V–I

0Minor ii–V–i

4ii–V moves

0Tritone substitutions

2Dominant chains

11Different chords

Most used chords

G×12
D⁷×10
A^m7×3
C×3
G♯^dim7×1
D^m7×1

Key centres reached by ii–V

G major and C major

Characteristics

ABAC song form

Recorded on these albums

1956	In Person Jimmy Durante · “Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?”
1956	Out of the Roaring Twenties With Meade Lux Lewis Meade Lux Lewis
1957	Plays Hi-Fi Jazz Charlie Ventura
1958	In Concert Volume Two Chris Barber · “Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home”
1959	Swing Me an Old Song Julie London · “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?”
1960	Meet Me In Chicago Jimmy McPartland, Art Hodes · “Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home”
1961	Red Allen Plays King Oliver Red Allen · “Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home”
1963	Sassy Swings the Tivoli Sarah Vaughan · “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey”
1963	The Amazing Jimmy Smith Jimmy Smith · “Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey”
1964	Live Session! Cannonball Adderley & Ernie Andrews · “Bill Bailey”
1964	Beauty and the Beard Al Hirt ⦁ Ann-Margret · “Bill Bailey”
1966	For the Night People Julie London · “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey”
1976	Muggsy Spanier, Volume II Muggsy Spanier · “Don't You Come Home, Bill Bailey”
1989	A Monday Date Earl Hines · “Bill Baley, Won't You Please Come Home”
1990	Sarah’s Blues Sarah Vaughan · “Bill Bailey Won’t You Please Come Home”
1993	The Wonderful World of Bobby Darin Bobby Darin · “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home”
1993	Hines Shines Earl Hines · “Won't You Go Home Bill Bailey”
1995	Back on the Street Earl Hines, Jonah Jones, Buddy Tate & Cozy Cole · “Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey”
2001	BaBalu Michael Bublé · “Bill Bailey”
2003	Portrait of the Greatest Slideman Ever Born Kid Ory · “Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home”
2008	Della Reese with Duke Ellington & his orchestra Della Reese · “Bill Bailey won't you please come home”
2014	The Complete Columbia Session 1946 Kid Ory · “Bill Bailey”
2021	The A Sides Bobby Darin · “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home”
—	Hushabye Chris Barber

Historic 78 rpm recordings

Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home Clancy Hayes and His Washboard Five · Clancy Hayes archive.org ↗
BILL BAILEY WON'T YOU PLEASE COME HOME THE DIXIE FIVE · Frank Gillis · Andy Bartha · Eph Kelley · Clyde… archive.org ↗

Standards with similar changes

Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.

Title	Composer	Key	Form	Groove
Solitude 40%	Duke Ellington	E♭ major	AABA · 32	Ballad
Them There Eyes 39%	Tracy-Tauber-Pinkard	A♭ major	ABAC · 32	Up-tempo swing
Don't Get Around Much Anymore 36%	Duke Ellington	C major	AABA · 32	Medium swing
Do Nothin' Til You Hear From Me 35%	Duke Ellington	B♭ major	AB · 32	Medium swing
Old Cape Cod 35%	Rothrock-Vakus-Jeffrey	E♭ major	AABA · 32	Ballad
Bunko 32%	Lennie Niehaus	F major	AABA · 32	Medium swing
Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man 32%	Jerome Kern	E♭ major	AABA · 32	Slow swing
Strike Up The Band 32%	George Gershwin	E♭ major	ABCD · 32	Up-tempo swing

Frequently asked questions

What key is Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home in?

Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home is usually played in G major. For B♭ instruments that is A major, for E♭ instruments E major.

Who wrote Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?

Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home was written by Hughie Cannon.

What is the form of Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?

Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home has 4 sections (ABAC) with 32 bars in total.

How fast is Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home played?

The usual groove is Medium-up swing.

What are the chord changes to Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?

The opening bars are G | G | G | G. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.