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Yes! We Have No Bananas

Bailey's Lucky Seven

Irving Kaufman, Miff Mole, Phil Napoleon , Sam Lanin

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This record was cut in New York City on May 11th 1923 by "Bailey's Lucky Seven" directed by Sam Lanin, and featuring personnel including Phil Napoleon trumpet, Miff Mole trombone, and Irving Kaufman piano & vocals.

*"Yes! We Have No Bananas" co-written by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn. The song was originally introduced by Eddie Cantor in the 1922 Broadway revue "Make It Snappy".

Influenced by a Greek fruit stand owner who began every sentence he spoke in English with a resounding "YES" percussionist Frank Sliver wrote the famous chorus and Irving Cohn his British-American collaborator was responsible for fitting it to the music. It would seem that the song was actually inspired by a shortage of Gros Michel bananas, the main variety the United States imported at the time.

The song was so popular that it even inspired the follow-up publication "I've Got the Yes! We Have No Bananas Blues", recorded by Billy Jones and others in 1923.