"Wonder When My Baby's Coming Home" is a song written by

Kermit Goell Kermit Goell (1915 – December 4, 1997) was an American songwriter and archaeologist. Biography Born in Brooklyn, Goell received his BSC in agriculture from Cornell University and served in the Army Air Forces during World War II. As an amateur ...

and

Arthur Kent Arthur Kent (born December 27, 1953) is a Canadian television journalist and author. He rose to international prominence during the 1991 Persian Gulf War during which he acquired the nickname "The Scud Stud". He is the brother of Canada's forme ...

. It was first recorded on May 21, 1942 by

Kay Kyser James Kern Kyser (June 18, 1905 – July 23, 1985), known as Kay Kyser, was an American bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s. Early years James Kern Kyser was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Emil ...

and His Orchestra. Charles Brown and his Band recorded a version as "I Wonder When My Baby's Coming Home" in March 1950. The best known cover of the tune is by American country music artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...

who released in January 1975 as the second single from the album ''

This Time I Almost Made It ''This Time I Almost Made It'' is the third solo studio album released by American country singer, Barbara Mandrell, released in 1974. This would be Mandrell's last album with record company Columbia before the label dropped her. She would later s ...

''. It was one of Mandrell's early single releases in her career and reached the top 40 of the American country songs chart.

History

"Wonder When My Baby's Coming Home" was first recorded on May 21, 1942 by

and His Orchestra.

Shep Fields Shep may refer to: People Given name *Shep Fields, American band leader *Shep Goodman, American music producer and songwriter *Shep Gordon, American talent manager, Hollywood film agent, and producer * Shep Mayer, Canadian ice hockey player *Shep ...

and His New Music with vocalist

Ken Curtis Ken Curtis (born Curtis Wain Gates; July 2, 1916 – April 28, 1991) was an American singer and actor best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the CBS western television series ''Gunsmoke''. Although he appeared on ''Gunsmoke'' earlie ...

, Swing and Sway with

Sammy Kaye Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs fr ...

Joan Merrill Joan Merrill portrait Joan Merrill (January 2, 1918 – May 10, 1992) was an American singer and actress. Career Merrill began her career in the 1930s on radio and later sang at nightclubs across the United States, including at the Copacabana ...

and

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards "I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People ...

recorded it with his orchestra in June 1942. Johnny "Scat" Davis recorded it with his orchestra in July 1942. Charles Brown and his Band recorded a version as "I Wonder When My Baby's Coming Home" in March 1950.

Bull Moose Jackson Benjamin Clarence "Bull Moose" Jackson (April 22, 1919 – July 31, 1989)Allmusic biography Accessed January 2008. was an American blues and rhythm-and-blues singer and saxophonist, who was most successful in the late 1940s. He is considered a p ...

and His Buffalo Bearcats recorded the tune in May 1951.

Mandrell recording

Barbara Mandrell made a series of a charting top 40 country singles during her stint with Columbia Records in the early 1970s. Her Columbia recordings cut with producer

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger best known for his association with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Gle ...

combined country with

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

together. Among these songs was "Wonder When My Baby's Coming Home". Sherrill served as the producer for "Wonder When My Baby's Coming Home". It was recorded at the Columbia Recording Studio, located in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The session took place in April 1974. "This Time I Almost Made It" was released as a single on Columbia Records on January 20, 1975. It was backed on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

by the song "Kiss the Hurt Away". The track was issued by the label as a seven inch vinyl single. The single peaked within the top 40 of the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart, peaking at number 39. It among Mandrell's final single releases for Columbia before moving to a different record label in 1975. The song was released on Mandrell's third studio LP, also titled ''

''. The album was released in September 1974.

Track listing

7" vinyl single * "Wonder When My Baby's Coming Home" – 2:10 * "Kiss the Hurt Away" – 2:28

Charts

References

{{Barbara Mandrell songs 1942 songs 1975 singles Columbia Records singles Barbara Mandrell songs Song recordings produced by Billy Sherrill