Ghost of Smokey Joe

History

A Halloween-appropriate riff on the classic Minnie the Moocher cocktail, created by fellow Discerning Drinker, John Champion and shared via a comment on our Minnie the Moocher recipe page.

The Ghost of Smokey Joe was one of Cab Calloway's follow up songs to his Jazz Age classic, Minnie the Moocher, performed in the 1930s at the famous Cotton Club. The lyrics, sung in the first-person by the ghost of Smokey Joe who "just climb right through the wall" to spook his fellow "cokies" (users of cocaine) bragging about his "A zillion dollar coffin" and his surprise to learn that Minnie the Moocher had "Quit kickin' the gong around" (kicked her opium habit).

You didn't see me climb through the window
Nobody had to open that door
I just climb right through the wall and I want you one and all
To stand aside and let me have the floor

Take a look, I'm not such a stranger
Here's a face you cokies all ought to know
You can tell me I'm not wanted, but the joint will still be haunted
'Cause I'm the ghost of Smokey Joe

Remember when I kicked the bucket
In my mansion up on Strivers' Row
When they came and took me off in
A zillion dollar coffin
'Cause I'm the ghost of Smokey Joe

Tell me, do you remember Minnie? (Yeah, we remember Minnie)
That frail I never found
You never recognize your Minnie (You never recognize your Minnie)
You mean to say that Minnie
Quit kickin' the gong around?

I got a date on my estate S 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

Yes, I remember Minnie
She's that frail I never found
You mean to say that Minnie
Quit kickin' the gong around?

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 Ghost of Smokey Joe lyrics, 1939