<P> Its words and music were written by Hughie Cannon (1877--1912), an American songwriter and pianist . 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". </P> <P> 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 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, 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 died from cirrhosis aged 35 . Willard and Sarah Bailey later divorced; he died in 1954, and she died in 1973 . </P> <P> It was a #1 hit for Arthur Collins in July 1902 . Among the artists who have covered the song are Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, Patsy Cline, Bobby Darin, Aretha Franklin from Take a Look (1967), Brenda Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Jimmy Durante, Phish, Danny Barker, Harry Connick Jr, Renee Olstead, Michael Bublé, Sam Cooke, Al Hirt and others . Singer and actress Della Reese recorded the song in 1961, and it entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number #98, and became a part of her performance repertoire . In Britain the Edwardian music hall star Victoria Monks (1884--1927) popularised the song in 1905 and thereafter it became her most demanded and remembered song . </P> <P> Most commonly it is performed in a truncated version based on the chorus . While the chorus is much more familiar than the verse, some artists continue to perform the verse as well, sometimes as an introduction . Without the lyrics of the seldom heard verse, one doesn't know who Bill Bailey is nor why he isn't home . (An unusual approach is Bobby Darin's version, as he added his own spoken word introduction, as an aside to the mythical Bailey .) </P>

Who sang won t you come home bill bailey
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