Wayne Newton: “(Won’t You Come Home) Bill Bailey” (Live)

Rousing version of popular ragtime song written by 16-year-old songwriter and pianist Hughie Cannon (1877–1912) and published in 1902, when it was a #1 hit for Arthur Collins.

He occasionally worked as a bar pianist in Jackson, Michigan, where he met local musician Willard "Bill" Bailey. Reportedly, on one occasion in 1902, Bailey was talking to Cannon about the state of 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. The tune is similar to an earlier song, "Ain't Dat a Shame" credited to Queen and Walter Wilson.