Minnie the Moocher

History

Adapted from a recipe in Charlie Conolly's The World Famous Cotton Club: 1939 Book of Mixed Drinks.

Minnie the Moocher
1 ounce Dry Gin
1 ounce Dry Vermouth
1 ounce Benedictine
2 or 3 drops of Absinthe
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Shake all ingredients with cracked ice.
Strain into a cocktail glass.

Charlie Conolly, 1939

This Jazz Age cocktail takes its name from the Minnie the Moocher jazz song, first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and his Orchestra. This became their signature song with Calloway earning the nickname "The Hi De Hi De Hi Man" due to his call-and-response scat with audiences when performing this song at the Cotton Club and other famous jazz nightclubs. (Remember, this cocktail comes from The World Famous Cotton Club 1939 book.)

Folks, here's a story about Minnie the Moocher
She was a lowdown hoochie coocher
She was the roughest, toughest frail
But Minnie had a heart as big as a whale

Hidee hidee hidee hi
Hode hode hode ho
Hee dee hee dee hee dee hee
A hidee hidee hidee ho

She messed around with a bloke named Smoky
She loved him though he was cokey
He took her down to Chinatown
And he showed her how to kick the gong around

Minnie the Moocher lyrics, 1939

Drug references litter the song's lyrics:
"hoochie coochie" = a style of belly dancing considered lecherous at the time.
"Smokey" "was cokey" = a user of cocaine.
"kick the gong around" = slang for smoking opium.

Incidentally, the "hi-de-ho" scat lyrics that made the song so famous resulted from Calloway forgetting the lyrics while performing the song during a live radio concert. Calloway would start with "He De Hi De Hi De Hi," which the audience could easily sing back, but he'd end with more challenging scats such as "Skeedle-a-booka-diki biki skeedly beeka gookity woop!"