"Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep)" is a popular song written by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and

Al Hoffman Al Hoffman (September 25, 1902 – July 21, 1960) was an American song composer. He was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number-one hits through each decade, many of wh ...

, and published in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

Background

The lyrics are intended to sound like Italian non-sense, cooed to a baby as a lullaby.

Perry Como recording

The song was popularized by

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

. The recording was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-2259. The record first reached the ''Billboard'' charts on May 30, 1947, and lasted 12 weeks on the chart, peaking at No.1. The flip side of the record, " When You Were Sweet Sixteen", was also a big hit, reaching No.2 on the chart.

Other recordings

Adelaide Hall Adelaide Louise Hall (20 October 1901 – 7 November 1993) was an American-born UK-based jazz singer and entertainer. Her long career spanned more than 70 years from 1921 until her death and she was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Hal ...

appears in the earliest post-war BBC

telerecording Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940 ...

singing "Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep" live at RadiOlympia Theatre on October 7, 1947, for a BBC TV show entitled ''

Variety in Sepia ''Variety in Sepia'' is a television Variety special that was filmed live on 7 October 1947 at the RadiOlympia Theatre, Alexandra Palace, London, and was aired on BBC TV. Historical significance ''Variety in Sepia'' is significant to televisio ...

''. When the show was originally broadcast on BBC TV it was 60 minutes in length and also included performances from Winifred Atwell, Evelyn Dove, Cyril Blake and his Calypso Band,

Edric Connor Edric Esclus Connor (2 August 1913 – 13 October 1968) was a Caribbean singer, folklorist and actor who was born in Trinidad and Tobago. He was a performer of calypso in the United Kingdom, where he migrated in 1944 and chiefly lived and wor ...

and Mable Lee and was produced by Eric Fawcett. The six-minute footage of Miss Hall is all that survives of the show."Variety in Sepia (1947)"
IMDb. *Other recordings of the song were made by

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

, by Blue Barron, and by The Charioteers about the same time. The Wiggles also sang this song on their album and DVD ''Pop Go the Wiggles'' for Anthony Field's newborn son, Antonio who debuted himself, although the song was not featured on the US version of the DVD.

References

1947 songs Perry Como songs Songs written by Al Hoffman Songs written by Jerry Livingston Songs written by Mack David Number-one singles in the United States {{pop-standard-stub