Cook had a habit of buying obscure vinyl records and sampling elements that he liked. Throughout the 1990’s he built up a library of these samples on floppy discs to create collages.[7] He loaded these into an Atari ST S90 sampler and a computer with C-Lab Creator software to record and manipulate the samples. For most of the songs he added the bassline and sampled the other elements in a Big Beat style.[7] In early 1998 Cook had success with several remixes while trying out some of the obscure records during his DJ sets.[7] Through the use of a time-stretch method and collaborating with his mixer/engineer Simon Thornton, Cook compiled the songs at his home studio in Brighton, known as the House of Love.[3][7][8]
The title You've Come a Long Way, Baby was derived from a marketing slogan for Virginia Slims cigarettes.[9] The previously released "The Rockafeller Skank" single liner notes revealed that a once tentative title for the album had been Let's Hear It for the Little Guy.
Conceived by Red Design, the album's primary cover art features an obese young man dressed in a T-shirt bearing the words "I'm #1 so why try harder" while holding a cigarette in his left hand.[10][11] The original photograph was taken at the 1983 Fat People's Festival in Danville, Virginia, and provided by the Rex Features photo library.[12] Despite a series of inquiries, the man has not been identified.[13]
Additional photography for the You've Come a Long Way, Baby liner notes was provided by Simon Thornton.[10] The cover image was changed in North America to an image of shelves stacked with records.
You've Come a Long Way, Baby received critical acclaim.[24] According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, it "came damn close to being the definitive big beat album... a seamless record, filled with great imagination, unexpected twists and turns, huge hooks, and great beats."[1] In 2000, the album was ranked number 81 in Q magazine's readers' poll of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[25] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[26]
"Right Here, Right Now" contains samples of "Ashes, the Rain, and I", written by Dale Peters and Joe Walsh and performed by the James Gang, and a line from the 1995 Strange Days, spoken by actress Angela Bassett.
"The Rockafeller Skank" contains samples of "Vinyl Dogs Vibe", written and performed by Lord Finesse, "Sliced Tomatoes", written by Winifred Terry and performed by the Just Brothers, "Beat Girl", written by John Barry and performed by John Barry and his Orchestra, "Join the Gang", written and performed by David Bowie, "I Fought the Law", written by Sonny Curtis and performed by the Bobby Fuller Four, "Who You Wit II", written and performed by Jay-Z, "Twistin' N' Twangin'", written and performed by Duane Eddy, "Why Can't You Love Me", written by Brian Poole and Alan Blakely and performed by Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, and "Soup", written by Karl "J.J." Johnson and performed by the J.J. All-Stars.
"Gangster Trippin" contains samples of "Entropy", written and performed by DJ Shadow (Josh Davis), "Beatbox Wash", written and performed by the Dust Junkys (Sam Brox, Ganiyu Pierre Gasper, Stephen Jones, Nicholas Lockett and Myke Wilson), "Word Play" and "The Turntablist Anthem", written and performed by the X-Ecutioners, "Change the Mood", written and performed by Jackie Mittoo, "Sissy Walk", written by J.C. Hill, J. Stiles and J. Hopson and performed by Freedom Now Brothers, and "You Do It", written and performed by Ann Robinson.
"Build It Up – Tear It Down" contains samples of "The Acid Test", written by Patricia Miller and performed by the Purple Fox.
"Soul Surfing" contains samples of "I'll Do a Little Bit More", written by Earl Nelson and Fred Smith and performed by the Olympics.
^Jonze, Tim (15 August 2013). "Fatboy Slim: 'My weirdest gig? The House of Commons'". 30 Minutes With ... The Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2013. We still haven't ever found the fat kid from the cover of You've Come a Long Way, Baby. He's still never identified himself, despite me putting out appeals. I would actually like to give him some money!
^Paoletta, Michael (21 August 2004). "Dance Acts Go Beyond The Dancefloor"(PDF). Billboard. p. 31. Retrieved 13 September 2020 – via World Radio History.