“Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby?”

Davy: You know what, when we had the Monkees TV show, and we did all the recording, it was quite interesting, because they had all kinds of different songs, you know, because we had different type—kind of songwriters, people like Carole King, and Neil Diamond, and um Harry Nilsson, Neil Sedaka, Carole Bayer Sager, Leiber and Stoller, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart… Sears and Roebuck, Lord and Taylor, Neiman Marcus… is this on? Heh heh heh. And not only that, we were influenced also, as Micky was saying, by our parents. Our parents were—well, my mother used to play the organ at the church, my, my sisters ran the youth club, and I was in the boy scouts for about ten minutes ’til I got thrown out, but… I been thrown outta better places than that, I’ll tell ya! Ah-heh. But um, I came home early from school one day, and my mum was in the living room. She was playing some records, you know those 78 vinyl jobbies? And uh, when she passed away, which was way back in 1960, I was a fourteen year old boy, I never thought much about these records, but I kept ’em, and I op—I opened a package up a couple of years ago, and I took a couple out, and I presented one actually to Jerry Renino, our musical director, genius, man genius over there, and uh, he said that’s a good tune to do, so I thought I’d dedicate this to my mum, and to all the mums, the expectant mums—ooh, on that note, it is take a band member home night tonight, okay, so. And for all the other girls, are ya, are ya ready? Okay, here we go.

Now I’ve got a girl who is always late—go figure
Every time we have a date
But I love her
Yes, I love her, yeah

Davy: Ey, where you going? I’m singing a bloody song. Sit down, okay? Where do you think you’re going? I’m gonna come down there and get you. Where do you think you’re going? “Sorry, sorry, sorry”. Wait ’til Micky Dolenz comes out or somebody else, okay. Alright. Just sit your little butt down there, a nice one it is too. Thank you. Sorry about that, you know.

I’m gonna go up to her gate
And see if I can’t get it straight

Davy: Can I just climb over here please? You know, okay.

Because I want her
Yes, I want her, yeah

Davy: Maestro?

Is you is or is you ain’t my baby?
The way you’re actin’ lately makes me doubt
Now you is my baby, baby
It seems the fire in your heart don’t burn out

A woman is a creature who has always been strange
Just when you’re sure of one thing
She goes and makes a change, yeah

Is or is or is you ain’t my baby?
Or has my baby found somebody new?
Or is my baby still my baby true?

Now is you is or is you ain’t my baby?
The way you’re actin’ lately makes me doubt
Now you is my baby, baby
It seems the fire in your heart don’t burn out

A woman is a creature who has always been strange
Just when you’re sure of one thing
She goes and makes a change, yeah

Is you is or is you ain’t my baby?
Or has my baby found somebody new?
Or is my baby still my baby true?
Yeah

[break]
Yeah

A woman is a creature who has always been strange
Just when you’re sure of one thing
She goes and makes a change, yeah

Is you is or is you ain’t my baby?
Or has my baby found somebody new?
Or is my baby still my baby true?
Yeah

[break]

A woman is a creature who has always been strange
Just when you’re sure of one thing
She goes and makes a change, yeah

Is you is or is you ain’t my baby?
Or has my baby found somebody new?
Or is my baby still my baby true?
Or is my baby still my baby true?
Or is my baby still my baby true?
Yeah

Davy: Yeah! Thank you. That showed extremely good taste.


  1. ASCAP Repertory, https://www.ascap.com/repertory, 390145403.