Baby Won’t You Please Come Home | Chords + Lyrics
Intro (0:00)
| D7 | B7 | Em7 | A7#5 |
Verse 1 (0:14)
| D7 | B7 | Em7 | A7 |
Baby won’t you please come home, ’cause your mama’s all alone.
| D7 | B7 | Em7 | A7 |
I have cried in vain, never no more to call your name.
| D7 | B7 | Em7 | A7 |
When you left you broke my heart, ’cause I never thought we’d part.
Turnaround 1 (0:40)
| G G#dim7 | A7 B7 |
Every hour in the day you hear me say,
| Em7 A7 | D7 B7 | Em7 A7 | D7 A7 |
baby please come home, baby please come home.
Solo (0:54)
| D7 | B7 | Em7 | A7 |
| D7 | B7 | Em7 | A7 |
| D7 | B7 | Em7 | A7 |
| G7 G#dim7 | A7 B7 |
| Em7 A7 | D7 B7 | Em7 A7 | D7 A7 |
Verse 2 (1:32)
| D7 | B7 | Em7 | A7 |
Baby won’t you please come home, ’cause your mama’s all alone.
| D7 | B7 | Em7 | A7 |
I have cried in vain, never no more to call your name.
| D7 | B7 | Em7 | A7 |
When you left you broke my heart, ’cause I never thought we’d part.
Turnaround 2 (1:58)
| G G#dim7 | A7 B7 |
Every hour in the day you hear me say,
| Em7 A7 | D7 B7 | Em7 A7 | D7 B7 |
baby please come home, baby please come home.
| Em7 | Gm7 | D7 N.C | N.C D7 | D7 ||
I said Baby, please come on home.
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home’s chords and progressions
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home’s chords are classic jazz/blues territory with its I7 – VIx – IIm7 – V7, for the main part, and two II – V – I progressions for the turnaround. Here’s the verse progression:
||: D7 (I) | B7 (VIx) | Em7 (II) | A7 (V) :||
The Turnaround starts on chord IV and ascends, a great contrast to the verse, like this:
| G (IV) G#dim7 (#IVdim7) | A7 (V) B7 (VIx) |
| Em7 (II) A7 (V) | D7 (I) B7 (VIx) |
| Em7 (II) A7 (V) | D7 (I) A7 (V) |
These two simple chord progressions set a great testing ground for you to practice your modal scales and arpeggios.
On my top 10 chord progression list, Baby Won’t You Please Come Home’s chords use #4, the II – V several times, as well as a version of #7, the minor fall I – VI, although the VI is a major chord. This is very common in jazz.
You must fine-tune the way you hear these movements by recognizing them in every song you play.
Soloing with chord numbers
As you have played the progressions and thought of what number they all have, keep this in mind as you solo.
In order to use modes and arpeggios for soloing over this piece, you need to use the new chord = new scale/arpeggio method.
Should the chord be an Em7, then you think II which means E Dorian, or an Em7 arpeggio. The Conspirian scale would also work.
For the A7, which is chord V, you could use a Major Pentatonic, Mixolydian, or a Dom7 arpeggio.
It is absolutely imperative that you can do this to any chord of the progression, anywhere on the neck. From here, the next step will be to arpeggio substitute. By doing so you will create a bigger sound.
For the A7 you could play a C#m7b5 arpeggio and automatically hit some more wacky notes.
You could even think of this chord as a place where you could extend to Dom7b9. Use the upper part of that and you’ll find a Gdim7 arpeggio. A diminished arpeggio can be moved around in minor thirds, giving you the opportunity to move the same idea up or down the fretboard in minor thirds.
The rabbit hole goes seemingly deep, but really, it comes down to knowing the basics really well in all positions.
To achieve this you must practice in all five CAGED positions and practice all twelve keys.
In the course, we will do this, at the moment, there is only TAB available.
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home background and legacy
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home is a jazz/blues song, written by Clarence Williams.
Sung by Bessie Smith, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Ella Fitzgerald, it has earned the stripes to be referred to as a jazz standard.
As you learn Baby Won’t You Please Come Home, play the chord progression whilst simultaneously singing the root and saying the number of each chord as they pass by. Do this and you will soon feel the chords as roman numerals.
You must make this switch from thinking of chords as names to Roman numerals in order to successfully play jazz solos, there is simply no other way.
If you find doing this too difficult in a jazz context like this, start by recognizing my top 10 chord progressions.
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home chords | Related pages
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home – 8 guitar lessons
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home by Clarence Williams will soon be available as eight step-by-step guitar lessons.
Until then, TAB for what I play in the video is available.
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home – 8 guitar lessons.
Advanced Acoustic Songs
These songs use big chord extensions and sometimes, unique and complex chords that incorporate open strings.
Study these in-depth and you will gain a complete understanding of the guitar fretboard, including how to build any scale, arpeggio, or chord.
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home – 5 similar tunes
Clarence Williams
Clarence Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, promoter, vocalist, theatrical producer, and publisher.
Touring and recording with some of the most legendary blues artists of his time, Clarence Williams spent time with W.C Hardy, Bessie Smith, and Louis Armstrong.
Clarence Williams on the web
