In 1920s and 30s Indianapolis, there was beggar named Minnie, who would hang out around grocery stores begging for food, change, whatever. She was nicknamed “The Moocher” by those that recognized her in the neighborhood.
Bandleader Cab Calloway adapted a prior vaudeville hit called “Willie the Weeper” into a story about Minnie called “Minnie the Moocher“, most known for it’s “hi-de hi-de hi-de ho!” scat-singing. This became one of the biggest hits of the 1930s. Interestingly, the song is about Minnie and her friend (or dealer?) Smokey (who is a cocaine addict), and how they start smoking opium, and she dreams of a better life.
But who knew Smokey Joe is the original Jason Voorhees – sequel after sequel, of varying quality. Let’s see what happens next!
Cab followed the song up with a sequel – “Kickin’ the Gong Around“, in which Smokey Joe is stoned out of his gourd on opium and looking for his girlfriend Minnie when his stash gets low.
Joe must’ve found her, because in 1932 we got “Minnie the Moocher’s Wedding Day“, in which he and Minnie finally get married, amongst the opium smokers and “cokies”, and the King of Sweden (not sure what drug reference that is). A slight detour occurs with “Zaz Zuh Zaz”, which is more of just scatting over a tale of how much Smoke Joe and Minnie love each other.
There’s more.
There was a brief pause in the story of Minnie and Smokey, until 1938 brought us “Mister Pagonini, Swing for Minnie“, in which Smokey is begging the radio to play some Toscanini so she can get “hot”. Apparently classical music is her thing… or Toscanini was! Look at this hunk!
And then, in 1939, we finally get to “The Ghost of Smokey Joe”. We learn that ol’ Joe has died, on Striver’s Row in Harlem. His ghost is haunting the old opium dens that he and Minnie used to frequent – but we find out that Minnie has cleaned up! Joe has to get back to his punishment in Hell(!), where he patiently waits for Minnie.
I got a date on my estate down in Hades /
Call my chariot so I can go /
And should the Moocher walk in /
Just tell her you’ve been talkin’ /
To the ghost of Smokey Joe
The song has that classic 1930s big-band feel, with some great yowling by Calloway. Some nice horn blasts in the middle part, great call-and-answer with the band as he questions the whereabouts of Minnie. The song appears on lots of “Halloween Oldies” compilations.
Cab seems to have wrapped up the story here… or did he? In 1947, we learn that “Minnie’s a Hepcat Now”, in which she has become a swingin’ jazz queen with the best of ’em, leaving Ol’ Smokey Joe behind. “Whoa their ain’t no more Smokey Joe/ She’s fluffed off his hi-de-ho/ She’s a solid jitterbug/ And she starts to cut a rug/ Oh Minnie’s a hep cat now”
Poor Joe.
Cab Calloway had many many many more hits up through the 70s, and gained a whole new audience when he appeared in The Blues Brothers. He passed away in 1994. As for Minnie? Well, she died in the 50s.
From Jet magazine, November 1951:
Minnie “The Moocher” has died. She was a familiar figure in downtown Indianapolis. An 82-year-old woman whose real name was Minnie Gayton, she acquired the quaint nickname of “The Moocher” by regularly begging food from grocers and carting it off in a baby buggy. She slept in doorways, on porches and in garages. During the record-breaking blizzard, her body was found on a porch, blanketed with snow. She died from exposure.
Bonus: Calloway sang a version of “St. James Infirmary Blues” for a Betty Boop adaptation of Snow White (for reasons….). The video and performance are quite terrifying.