Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision: June 22, 2019
This pancocojams post showcase selected YouTube videos of the Jump Blues song "Hey! Ba Ba Re Bop" (and similar titles).
The lyrics to this song are included in this [updated] post.
This post is provided for its historical, folkloric, and aesthetic value.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Lionel Hampton and all others who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
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LYRICS: HEY BA BA RE BOP
(Written by Lionel Hampton and Curley Hamner)
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop)
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop)
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop)
Hey! Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop)
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop)
Yeah, my baby knows
Matilda Brown told ole' King Tut
Say if you can't pay me five, just keep your big mouth shut
Shoutin'
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop)
Hey! Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop)
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop)
Ye-es, your baby knows
Momma`s on the chair, Poppa`s on the cot
Baby`s on the floor blowin' his natural top
Sayin'
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop)
Mmm Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop)
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop (Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop)
Ye-es, my baby knows
Up in the mountains, mad as I can be
Lookin' for the cat that took my baby from me
Shoutin'
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
Mmm Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
Ye-e-es,. my baby knows
Now you've heard this song from start to end
Now take the title once again
Baby, Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
Source: http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/lionel_hampton/hey_ba_ba_re_bop-lyrics-478345.html
"Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Orchestra Peaked at # 4 in 1946
Competing version by Lionel Hampton hit # 9"
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/11/fired-up-feels-good-military-cadence.html for "Fired Up! Feels Good" Military Cadence (Examples & Comments) that features a USMC cadence that includes the Hey Ba Ba Re Bop lyrics.
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FEATURED VIDEOS
Video #1: Lionel Hampton 1956 Mr. Rock´n Roll-Coronation Night: Bravo Bravo - Hey! Ba Ba Re Bop
hoffmannjazz, Published on Aug 30, 2012
1956,"Mr. Rock and Roll", Param.Pict. shown 57/10/16; Charles S.Dublin (dir); Lionel Hampton & his orch.played in parts 1, 12 & 13: Coronation Night life: Bravo Bravo / Hey! Ba Ba Re Bop
http://www.lionelhampton.nl/1924-1959... I can not play those possible links there in Germany for copyright-reasons:
When I uploaded this I had no knowledge about any details -now found above- I hope copyright holders will tolerate this for exemplary jazz research with short clips "and fair use"
-snip-
Lyrics for Lionel Hampton's original version of "Hey Ba Ba Re Bop" from
http://www.uncamarvy.com/ReBop/rebop.html "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" By Marv Goldberg
..."Speaking of lyrics, there are a lot of ridiculous attempts on the Internet to figure out the words to "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" (especially the absurd "if you can't pay me five keep your big mouth shut"). Below are the actual lyrics from the 1946 sheet music (and, with one noted exception, they're exactly what Hampton is singing).
"Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop", copyright 1945 by Lionel Hampton and Curley Hamner
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop [Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop]
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop [Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop]
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop [Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop]
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop [Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop]
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop [Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop]
Yes, your baby knows
[NOTE: the above lines are what I'll be referring to as the "refrain".]
Matilda Brown told Old King Tut
If you can't say re-bop keep your big mouth shut
Singin'
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop [Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop]
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop [Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop]
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop [Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop]
Yes, your baby knows
Mama's on the chair, papa's on the cot
Baby's in the crib blowin' his natural top
(note that Hampton actually says "baby's on the floor")
Singin'
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop [Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop]
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop [Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop]
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop [Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop]
Yes, your baby knows
Up on the mountain, lookin' at the sea,
Lookin' for that cat that stole my baby from me
Sayin'
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
Sayin'
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
Yes, your baby knows
Other singers' versions would say "yes, your daddy knows" and "if you can't sing re-bop keep your big mouth shut", but those are minor differences."...
-snip-
Note that the "Mama's on the chair, papa's on the cot/ Baby's in the crib blowin' his natural top" is very similar to verses in the contemporary Tweleelee [hand game]
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Video #2: Wynonie Harris - Hey Ba Ba Re Bop 1946
Uploaded by David Henry on Jun 21, 2008
-snip-
The lyrics to this song are given in the Update below.
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Video #3: Helen Humes with Dizzy Gillespie
Uploaded by jimnick1 on Jul 1, 2007
The great jazz singer Helen Humes sings her hit Hey Baba Leba with Dizzy Gillespie and his orchestra c.1947
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Video #4: Thurston Harris - Be Baba Leba
Uploaded by HepKat59 on Oct 7, 2009
1958 Piano & Sax Rocker Original 45rpm
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UPDATE - 4/18/2012]
As a collector of children's playground rhymes, "The "Jack & Jill" verse is of particular interest to me. I thought those verses were contemporary compositions and not as old as 1946. However, I happened to hear the 1980 Gap Band song "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops Upside Your Head)" and realized that it includes the verse:
"Jack and Jill went up the hill
to have a little fun.
Stupid Jill forgot her pill
And now they have a son"
-snip-
A similar "Jack & Jill" parody verse is found in the 1946 Wynonie Harris - Hey Ba Ba Re Bop song.
Aside from the "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" refrain (in which he says "yes, your daddy knows"), these are the lyrics on side one.
Matilda Brown told Old King Tut
Say, if you can't say re-bop keep your big mouth shut
Jack and Jill went up the hill to get a pail of water
Jill came down with a five-dollar bill [What! No water?]
Mama's on the chair, papa's on the cot
Baby's on the floor blowin' his natural top
Side two is strictly instrumental, except for this, near the end:
Get with it
Don't quit it
'Cause if you ever get it
You won't want to quit it."
****
Here's a video of that Gap Band song:
Video #5: Gap Band - Oops Upside Your Head.avi
Uploaded by morrigu34 on Dec 1, 2009
-snip-
Incidentally, that "Jack & Jill" verse isn't included in the lyrics to this song that are found on various online sites, but it is clearly part of the lyrics for that song (Listen to 1:39 to 1:45 of Video #5 embedded above. That same verse is repeated later in that performance.)
The Gap Band's "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops Upside Your Head)" song is almost certainly the source of this "Jack & Jill" children's rhyme that is found on http://www.inthe80s.com/rhymes.shtml:
Jack and Jill went up the hill
to have a little fun,
Stupid Jill forgot the pill,
and now they have a son.
Jack and Jill went up the hill
to fetch a pail of water
Jack got horny, Jill got corny
and now they have a daughter.
Jack and Jill went up the hill
to smoke some marijuana
Jack got high, unzipped his fly
and Jill said "Ooh, I wanna."
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