Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby

Words & Music by Billy Austin & Louis Jordan
Recorded by Louis Jordan*, 1944 (#2)

Am     G7alt        F7     E7   Am    Fdim    F7      E7
I got a gal that's always late, ev'ry time we have a date,

      DM7       Dm+7  E7    A    AM7   F#7
But I love her,       yes I love her,

Am      G7alt        F7         E7       A    C#m7-5   F#7      
I'm gonna walk right up to her gate and see if  I  can get it straight,

         D9       E7           A          F#7
'Cause I want her,   I'm gonna ask her.


A           C#7              D     D6
Is you is or is you ain't my baby?

     E7       Cdim     E7    E7/6      A   Edim  Bm7-5  E7  
The way you're actin' lately makes me doubt

Dm6 Dm+7 E7     E7/6    A     F#7
Yous is still my baby, baby --

Dm6      Bm7-5    E7/6         Fdim E7/6  A
Seems my flame in your heart's done gone out.

  D          Cdim     B7       D9  Bm7-5        A     
A woman is a creature that has al - ways been strange;

 D               Cdim 
Just when you're sure of one, 

               B7               E7
You find she's gone and made a change.

A           C#7               D     D6
Is you is or is you ain't my baby?

E7    Cdim     E7     E7/6  A     AM7   F#7
Maybe baby's found somebody new,

   B7         Fdim     E7    A  
Or is my baby still my baby true?


*I'm crediting Jordan here principly because he co-wrote and popularized the song, but I've listened to several versions -- notably Dinah Washington's from 1956 and Diana Krall's from 1994 -- and each have their advantages.


 
The lyric and guitar chord transcriptions on this site are the work of The Guitarguy and are intended for private study, research, or educational purposes only. Individual transcriptions are inspired by and and based upon the recorded versions cited, but are not necessarily exact replications of those recorded versions.