I'll here collect references to and examples of humour and comedy that crop up in Jimi's music or interviews - IF there is a clear link to the early days of his career. Here are direct links to what is Included on this page so far:
JACKIE "MOMS" MABLEY
- the Band of Gypsys recorded a "cover" version of a Moms Mabley -scetch in December 1969
PETER GUNN/CATASTROPHE
- Jimi, Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell recorded these Duane Eddy & Frankie Laine "covers" in May 1970
RED SKELTON
- Jimi, Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell recorded at least two "covers" of "Holiday For Strings" in 1970, a song from 1942 used as a theme for The Red Skelton Hour television series between 1951 and 1970 - which may or may not be why it apparently was a band favorite
JACKIE "MOMS" MABLEY
As an introduction here are three quotes from the Moms Mabley biography at www.blackpast.org:
"Jackie “Moms” Mabley found fame and fortune as a stand-up comedian during the twentieth century. Beginning as a staple on the chitlin’ circuit and late night talk show favorite, she went on to become an internationally known entertainer whose career spanned five decades."
[...]
"By the end of the decade, she became the first female comedian to perform at the Apollo Theater. By the 1950s Mabley earned $10,000 a week at the Apollo, making her one of the most highly paid performers of that era. She would also appear there more than any other entertainer in the history of the theater."
[...]
Mabley recorded several albums in the 1960s beginning with her 1961 debut, The Funniest Woman Alive. Moms Mabley at the “UN,” which was also recorded in 1961, cracked the Billboard Top 20.
Follow the link to the BlackPast-website for the full biography - I won't actually write about Moms Mabley herself here as there (as far as I know) is no direct link between her and Jimi Hendrix.
Band Of Gypsys
The above quotes tell us Moms was very well known in the same circles that Jimi worked in and he was clearly at least aware of her work. As evidence for this we have a "cover version" of a Moms Mabley routine recorded by the Band of Gypsys in late December 1969 during rehearsals for the upcoming Fillmore East concerts.
The Moms Mabley "cover" is just one of the several bits of humorous fooling around between takes by Jimi, Buddy Miles & Billy Cox. The snippet has been released officially on the Dagger Records mail order cd The Baggy's Rehearsal Sessions, it follows after track 3 "Message To Love" finishes.
1960 USA LP ON CHESS
The "cover version" or rather "re-enactment" is very loose and clearly just a bit of spontaneous fun, it's not a serious attempt at anything, Jimi and Buddy just quote the bits that they like - or can remember. So the recording doesn't follow the Moms Mabley -sketch very closely at all but it's clear that Jimi and Buddy were both well familiar with it.
The original "Moms" Mabley -sketch can be found on the A side of her first album Moms Mabley On Stage (Chess LP 1447) USA 1960(?). 1 The relevant part starts at 12.34 into this YouTube-clip (the playback starts at the correct spot when you click the link).
The Isley Brothers
Another (indirect) connection with Jimi is this "Moms" Mabley cover version of "It's Your Thing" by the Isley Brothers.
PETER GUNN/CATASTROPHE
Jimi's versions of "Peter Gunn" and "Catastrophe" aka "Jealousy (Jalousie)" were first released on the LP war heroes in 1972. A longer version of the same recording was later released on the West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology -boxset in 2010.
Peter Gunn
Jimi's cover of "Peter Gunn" was recorded at the Record Plant in New York City on 15 May 1970 with Billy Cox on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums. This version of "Peter Gunn" was just a jam, a bit of fun probably not seriously considered for any sort of an official release - but still a quite long run through and not just a teaser.
Originally "Peter Gunn" was composed and recorded by Henry Mancini and was the theme music for the TV series of the same name. Jimi's version however is not a cover of the recording on the original 1959 TV series sound track LP, the music from PETER GUNN. Instead the band played a (partial) version of the arrangement used by Duane Eddy on his version released in the USA in 1960.6 The clear difference between the two versions is that circa 38 seconds into the Duane Eddy -version there's a sax break which Jimi replicates on guitar - the original soundtrack arrangement doesn't have this. Jimi was 17 years old when Duane Eddy's version of "Peter Gunn" came out as a single in the US and it seems to have left a lasting impression.
45 Duane Eddy His "Twangy" Guitar And The Rebels - "Peter Gunn / Along The Navajo Trail" (Jamie 1168) USA September 1960
The Duane Eddy single was reviewed in Music Vendor 26 September 1960
"PETER GUNN (Northridge Music Co.,ASCAP)
/ALONG THE NAVAJO TRAIL(Leeds Music
Co.,ASCAP) - Duane Eddy - JAMIE 1168
Duane follows up his smash Kommotion with another good one, Peter Gunn. Duane, his great work on the guitar, and the Rebels ought to be able to turn this European hit into a solid smasher here. Flip side, Navajo Trail, features echoing chorus. Look for them on the charts."
The single was a "Pick of the Week" in the 1 October 1960 issue of Cash Box:
"“PETER GUNN” (2:23) [Northridge ASCAP—Mancini]
“ALONG THE NAVAJO TRAIL” (2:28)
[Leeds ASCAP—Markes, Charles]
DUANE EDDY (Jamie 1168)
Duane Eddy & Co. hop on the ‘bandwagon to revive short-while-back clicks’ with this new Jamie offering. It’s a thumping, hard beat, twangy guitar-growling sax treatment of the big “Peter Gunn” TV theme. Strings and sans lyric chants accompany the easy-going, much-older-vintage entry on the flip. Can also step out. Producers are Sill & Hazlewood."
Jimi may also have played "Peter Gunn" with King Curtis. A live version recorded as part of a medley of "Peter Gunn / Get Long Cindy" is included on the King Curtis LP Live At Small's Paradise released in 1966. Jimi doesn't play on the recording but he had been in the band just a few months earlier so it's quite likely that the set list would have been pretty similar. The King Curtis -version however clearly wasn't the basis for Jimi's 1970 cover.
Catastrophe
Back to 15 May 1970, after "Peter Gunn" falls apart there's some messing around in the studio and Jimi then follows with "Catastrophe". So the two tracks aren't really a medley despite often being called that but rather just played quite soon after one another - or at least this is how the surviving recording / official releases / edits make it seem.
Jimi had recorded another unreleased / uncirculated take of "Catastrophe" the previous day, 14th of May,5 which the book Ultimate Hendrix says followed after a take of "Freedom" as "Hendrix then lurched into a high-pitched, woefully off-key rendition of Frankie Laine's "Catastrophe." At it's conclusion Kramer deadpanned , "At $150 an hour, that's pretty good."
Jimi's "Catastrophe" is a piss-take of "Jealousy", a tune written by Danish composer Jacob Gade. Originally titled "Jalousie Tango Tsigane" the song started out as an instrumental piece of music published in 1925. The Danish Det Kongelige Bibliotek has the original sheet music in their collection and along with it they described the song as follows on the archived version of their website:
"From 1921 to 1927 the composer and conductor Jacob Gade (1879-1963) was employed in the fashionable cinema Paladsteatret as conductor of a large orchestra. During these years a number of silent movies were shown which the orchestra accompanied with suspense music, a part of which Gade himself had composed. Thus Jalousie. Tango Tsigane was written for the Copenhagen premiere of the silent movie Don Q starring Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Astor in September 1925, and was published that same year."
Frankie Laine had a hit with ""Jealousy (Jalousie)" in 1951 and this is the version that Jimi's "Catastrophe" is commonly thought to be based on - and it does seem likely though by 1970 many many different versions and variations of Jalousie / Jealousy had been released all over the world. Jimi was 8 years old when the Frankie Laine -single came out, it was released in two formats
45 Frankie Laine - "Jealousy (Jalousie) / Flamenco" (Columbia 4-39585) USA late October 1951 7
78 Frankie Laine - "Jealousy (Jalousie) / Flamenco" (Columbia 39585) USA late October 1951 7
AN AD IN BILLBOARD MAGAZINE 3 NOVEMBER 1951
The lyrics used by Frankie Laine were written by Vera Bloom and seem to have first been first published in the form of sheet music in the USA in 1931 by Harms Inc. in New York City. Jimi doesn't however use any of the Vera Bloom lyrics for his "Catastrophe". Who composed the melody line for the vocals is another question, as the Gade composition was an instrumental one must assume Vera Bloom also composed the melody line for the vocals and not just the lyrics? The melody of the vocals of course follows the original Gade composition but some re-arranging must have been necessary so maybe the Hendrix-version should actually be credited to Jimi Hendrix / Vera Bloom / Jacob Gade? Assuming of course that Jimi actually "composed" the lyrics to "Catastrophe" himself.... 4
And finally as a bonus - Frankie Laine also recorded a song with the title "Hey Joe" which also is a story about a woman and a "rival lover". Purely a coincidence I'm sure but a funny coincidence.
RED SKELTON
Jimi didn't, to my knowledge, ever make any direct references to Red Skelton by name but there is a likely musical reference that he was recorded making at least twice.2
The instrumental track "Holiday For Strings" was released in April 1942 - around 7 months before Jimi’s birth. 3
David Rose and his Orchestra "Our Waltz / Holiday For Strings" (Victor 27853)
David Rose’s original composition was much later used as a theme song in comedian Red Skelton’s television series between 1951 and 1970. There are at least two recordings available of Jimi and Billy Cox playing "Holiday For Strings":
Record Plant, New York City, 23 January 1970
Right after the band finishes playing "Burning Desire" Jimi can be heard saying "Holiday for Strings, Holiday for Strings" (though the word in the middle could also be "of" rather than "for") followed by him playing a quick bit of the song on guitar and Billy playing the melody on bass as a response. The recording is available on the Dagger Records album Burning Desire.
Isle of Wight, UK, 30 August 1970
Shortly after the band finishes playing "Machine Gun" Jimi scats the melody for "Holiday For Strings" followed by Billy Cox repeating the same melody on the bass. This part has been edited out on official releases of the show, it's only available on audience recordings and bootleg versions of the soundboard recording.
As Jimi clearly knew the original title of the song (instead of just calling it something like "Red Skelton Theme") he was most likely familiar with it from other connections as well, he had after all probably been listening to the song on the radio ever since he was born.
It is however highly likely that he would have known about "Holiday For Strings" being associated with Red Skelton so therefor it's also possible that he (and Billy Cox) played the song as some sort of a comedy reference or an inside joke.
As both recorded occurrences take place between or after songs Jimi and Billy playing the tune could also be directly related to the title, "Holiday for Strings": a reference to tuning up or other technical problems, or taking time out. Or, since "Holiday for Strings" played over the end credits of The Red Skelton Hour Jimi & Billy playing the tune may also have been a reference to the band messing up somehow during the preceding song and "rolling the credits" afterwards.
But with almost seven months separating the two recorded versions by Jimi & Billy it would seem clear that "Holiday for Strings" was some sort of a running gag for the band. Probably only Billy Cox would be able to tell us the true story now.
Here's an episode of The Red Skelton Hour on YouTube, originally broadcast on 2 October 1962. "Holiday For Strings" plays over the credits starting at 50.25, David Rose is credited as "Musical Director":
SOURCES
1 Discographies seem to mostly list this LP with the title "the funniest woman in the world". Billboard issues from 1961 however list the lp as "Moms Mabley On Stage" and indeed that is the title with the considerably larger font on the front sleeve.
I haven't so far been able to find anything resembling a confirmed release date for this lp. Moms Mabley gets a mention in the 13 October 1960 issue of the California Eagle:
"Jackie "Moms" Mabley's only slightly risque material is getting a play on some local stations. She fractures this column with her rib tickling jests"
Moms Mabley is also among the artists listed in a Bob Jones Record Shop ad for "Party Records" in the 2 December 1960 issue of The Charlotte Observer. Neither of these two mentions include the name of the lp. The Smithsonian lists the release date as 1961. A late 1960 release date seems to me to be likely, it seems that the lp came out in 1960 but sales only properly took off and the lp charted in 1961?
2 I wrote an article titled Holiday Tubas about the song "Holiday For Strings" for issue 102 of Jimpress magazine, the text on this page uses that article as it's basis. So again, a thank you for help with the original Jimpress article to Joel J. Brattin, Doug Bell, Renwick MacNeill, Tim Greenhall & Steve Rodham.
3 Several newspapers reviewed the 78 in April 1942, for example Ledger-Star 17 April 1942 and The Atlanta Journal 19 April 1942. Many of these reviews mention that this is David Rose's debut record release and include very specific biographical details so review copies seem to have been accompanied by a PR letter
4 both the book Ultimate Hendrix and the liner notes for the West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology -boxset have the same error referring to the song as "Frankie Laine's "Catastrophe"". This is of course just a typo as the text is meant to say "Frankie Laine's "Jealousy""... the West Coast Seattle Boy liner notes also say that the two tracks form a medley which they don't.
West Coast Seattle Boy credits "Peter Gunn/Catastrophe" to "Mancini/Bloom/Gade" which doesn't acknowledge that the "lyrics" were (probably) actually written by Jimi - he doesn't use any of the original Vera Bloom lyrics.
The original US issue of war heroes credits "Peter Gunn" and "Catastrophe" as two separate tracks on the sleeve but only lists "Peter Gunn" on the record label thus not listing any composer credits at all for "Catastrophe". "Peter Gunn" is credited to "Henry Mancini".
5 the recording dates in Ultimate Hendrix seem logical listing the unreleased version of "Catastrophe" for the 14th of May and the released take for the 15th of May - on the released take Mitch clearly knows what's coming as he asks Kramer to not let him hear Jimi's vocal on his headphones so it isn't the first time that the band play the song.
The liner notes for West Coast Seattle Boy however state that the released version was recorded on the 14th of May, not the 15th - I assume this is a typo / mistake and the correct date actually IS 15 May 1970.
6 for some reason currently not known to me the Duane Eddy version had already been released in various European countries in 1959 - or 1958? There are two versions of the London UK 45, one says "RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED 1958" and the other states "RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED 1959". Both labels however state that the song had been "Recorded by JAMIE, Pennsylvania" so for some reason the track, even though recorded in the USA years earlier, only came out in the US in 1960.
7 as an ad in the 3 November 1951 issue of Billboard states that the record was "JUST OUT!" a late October 1951 release date seems likely. www.45cat.com lists a very precise "26 Oct 1951" release date but no source for that information is provided. The single was included in a Columbia ad titled "WEEKLY CHECK LIST OF BEST SELLERS FOR DEALERS, OPERATORS, JOCKEYS" which was "Based on actual sales figures for week ending November 2" in the 10 November 1951 issue of Billboard.
The record entered the Cash Box "Best Selling Records" chart in the 24 November 1951 issue - but listed under the flip "Flamenco". The previously mentioned Billboard ad however confirms that "Jealousy" was considered to be the A side right from the start.