Annotation:Whatcha gonna do with the Baby? (1)
X:1 T:Whatcha gonna do with the Baby? [1] M:2/4 L:1/8 B:Kuntz – Ragged but Right Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:G [DA] [DB][DA]|[DB][Dd] [D/d/][D/A/][D/B/][D/A/]|[DB] [D2d2] [D^A]|[DB][Dd] [Dd]>[DB]| A G2 [D^A]|[DB]d d>d|e d2 (g|g)/g/e/d/ B>G|[DA] G2 [D^A]|| [D/B/][D/d/][D/B/][D/A/] GA|[G/A/][G/B/][G/B/][G/A/] [GB][DA]|[D/B/][D/d/][D/B/][D/A/] GA|[G/A/][G/B/][G/B/][G/A/] [G2B2]|[Dd][D/B/][D/A/] G>A|[DB] G2||
WHATCHA GONNA DO WITH THE BABY? AKA – “Baby-O,” "Hell Up Hickory Holler," “What Shall We Do with the Baby-O?” “What’ll We Do with the Baby?” "She wouldn't give Me Sugar in My Coffee-O." Old Time, Breakdown/song. USA; Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina. G Major. Standard or GDad (Estill Bingham) tunings (fiddle). AB. Jeff Titon (2001) identifies the tune was a play-party song that was well-known in the upland South. He found the tune of several of the lists of fiddlers’ repertoires compiled in 1915 by students from Berea, Kentucky. English collector Cecil Sharp noted a version in Kentucky in 1917, and Jean Ritchie had a well-known version among ‘folk revivalists’ in the 1960’s. The fiddle/guitar duo of G.B. Grayson and Henry Whitter cut a version in Memphis, Tennessee, in October, 1929, for Victor Records. The tune was even set as a New England style country dance by New York state fiddler Claudio Buchwald (1975
The baby laughs, the baby cries,
Stuck my finger in the baby's eyes.
Refrain:
Whatcha gonna do with the baby?
Whatcha gonna do with the baby?
Wrap it up in calico,
Send it back to Georg i o.
Wrap it up in a tablecloth,
Toss it up in a stable loft.
I love that pretty little thing,
Baby is a dandy;
I love that pretty little baby,
God bless its mammy.
"What are you going to do with the baby" was widely known in the upland South, and is similar to several other song/tunes such as "(She) Wouldn't give me Sugar in My Coffee-O," "Prettiest Little Girl in the Country-O," and "Cornstalk Fiddle and Shoestring Bow."
