Yes Sir, That's My Baby

Album: A Centennial Celebration: The Best of Eddie Cantor (1930)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson wrote this in 1925 - The Charleston era. The song was inspired by a pig, but not a real one. The composers were visiting Eddie Cantor one afternoon when Cantor's daughter Marjorie brought out one of her favorite toys, a walking mechanical pig. She wound it up and it started walking in rhythm while two notes kept coming from the little creature. Kahn was inspired and started working lyrics to these notes in rhythm with the pig, coming up with the title and opening line of the chorus in short order. Cantor turned it into a hit. Years later, Kahn commented that his take from the song constituted the largest amount of money a Jewish man had ever made from a pig. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Terry - Willmar, MN

Comments: 4

  • Joe The Pro from Springfield IlI got a good chuckle from a colleague when I did a song and dance to this song at work. I prefaced the song by asking if Yasser Arafat’s dad was happy at his birth? I then stated I heard he was so happy he was singing and dancing at the hospital. Yasser that’s my baby. Yasser I don’t mean maybe. Yasser that’s my baby now.
  • Raf from Clovis, New MexicoWhen did "Yes, sir, that's my baby'" come out and who wrote it?
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn September 30th 1960, Ricky Nelson appeared at the Mid-South Fair in Memphis, Tennessee...
    At the time Ricky had two songs on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; "I'm Not Afraid" was at #27* and the flip-side, "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" was at #34, and that was also the peak position for both songs on the Top 100...
    * "I'm Not Afraid" was at #27 for one weeks while "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" remained at #34 for two weeks.
  • Kim from Pocono Summit, PaStrange that this song is singularly associated with Eddie Cantor, who was one of many to record it. According to Joel Whitburn's "Pop Memories", there were 5 charted versions of it after Walter Donaldson and lyricist Gus Kahn composed it in 1925, and Cantor's wasn't one of them. Instead, it is mentioned as being #11 by The Coon-Sanders Orchestra; #10 by Ace Brigode; #5 by Ben Bernie; #2 by Blossom Seeley; and #1 by Gene Austin.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Oliver Leiber

Oliver LeiberSongwriter Interviews

Oliver Leiber talks about writing and producing hits for Paula Abdul, and explains his complicated relationship with his father, the songwriter Jerry Leiber.

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Meshell Ndegeocello

Meshell NdegeocelloSongwriter Interviews

Meshell Ndegeocello talks about recording "Wild Night" with John Mellencamp, and explains why she shied away from the spotlight.