"Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" is a popular

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 written by Jean Schwartz

Jean Schwartz

Jean Schwartz was a songwriter.Schwartz was born in Budapest, Hungary. His family moved to New York City when he was 13 years old...

, with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis

Sam M. Lewis

Sam M. Lewis was a Jewish-American singer and lyricist, born in New York City, New York as Samuel Levine-Biography:...

 and Joe Young. The song was published in 1918.

Probably the best-known recordings of the song were by Al Jolson

Al Jolson

Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....

 (who introduced it), Sammy Davis, Jr.

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....

 (who frequently sang it in his live shows), and Judy Garland

Judy Garland

Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...

. It was also a hit for Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...

 in the 1950s. Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

 also recorded a lesser-known version of this song for her album "The Electrifying Aretha Franklin

The Electrifying Aretha Franklin

The Electrifying Aretha Franklin is the second studio album by Aretha Franklin for Columbia Records in 1962. The album which also known under its working title The Incomparable Aretha Franklin, was recorded at Columbia Recording Studios 799, Seventh Avenue, New York...

", which reached #37 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart in 1961, her first hit.

In the 1950s, it was issued on the Peter Pan Records

Peter Pan Records

Peter Pan Records is a record label specializing in children's music. It was created in the late 1940s. The label was owned by the Synthetic Plastics Company of Newark, New Jersey until the 1970s....

 label, aimed at children, on a 45 RPM record as the flip side of "When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)

When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)

"When the Red, Red Robin " was a 1926 popular song written by songwriter Harry M. Woods. The song was an instant hit for singers like "Whispering" Jack Smith, Cliff Edwards and the Ipana Troubadors...

".

Also Cher

Cher

Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...

 recorded the song for her album Bittersweet White Light

Bittersweet White Light

Bittersweet White Light was the ninth studio album by American singer-actress Cher. The album was released on April 1973 by MCA. It was the last solo Cher album produced by then-performing partner and husband Sonny Bono...

(1973).

Sample lyric:

A million baby kisses I'll deliver

If you will only play that "Swanee River"

Rock-a-bye your rock-a-bye baby

With a Dixie melody

Harvey Fierstein

Harvey Fierstein

Harvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...

 sang it to Katie Couric

Katie Couric

Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric is an American journalist and author. She serves as Special Correspondent for ABC News, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, This Week and primetime news specials...

 during her last day hosting the Today show, with the modified lyrics "Rock-a-bye your rock-a-bye Katie with a goodbye melody".

Renditions

• Rufus Wainwright
  Rufus Wainwright
  Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
  
   - Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall
  Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall
  Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall is the sixth album by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released through Geffen Records in December 2007. The album consists of live recordings from his sold-out June 14–15, 2006 tribute concerts at Carnegie Hall to the legendary American...
  
  (2007)