Origins: I Had a Hat when I Came In (J Mooney)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Had a Hat when I Came In
From: GUEST,Dale
Date: 29 May 05 - 01:24 AM

Ah, that'd be the one you mentioned back in 03 wouldn't it, Clinton? At least now the source is clear.

Sometimes I don't read EVERYTHING in a thread.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Had a Hat when I Came In
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 May 05 - 02:27 AM

Dang... I was hoping for a better version..

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Had a Hat when I Came In
From: JedMarum
Date: 29 May 05 - 06:22 PM

I haven't recorded this song - but sing pretty frequently - at least when the crowd is feeling playful and seem to be willing to sing.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Had a Hat when I Came In
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 May 05 - 07:49 PM

When ya do record it Jed, I'd been keen to hear an mp3, just to hear yer take on it!

:-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Had a Hat when I Came In
From: kendall
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 09:58 AM

The hat story is well known here but told as a Maine incident.
In fact I think I put it on my Seagulls & Summer people album back in the mid 70s.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Had a Hat when I Came In
From: kendall
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 10:02 AM

Joe, that story reminds me of another.

Ira Crabtree wasn't a believer, but one day he had to be in court to answer a summons. He circled the court house three times looking for a parking space. Time was running out and he knew if he didn't show the judge would issue a bench warrant and he would be a fugitive.
Out of desperation he looked up and said, "Oh Lord, I'm in trouble, please find me a parking space." In less than a minute a space opened up and he said "Never mind, I found one."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Had a Hat when I Came In
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 12:06 PM

This information is from the British Library catalogue:

Author: Mooney, James.
Title: I HAD A HAT : WHEN I CAME IN.
Year: c1941.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Had a Hat when I Came In (J Mooney)
From: GUEST,Grandma Roses
Date: 01 Aug 10 - 04:16 PM

here is this song on YOUTUBE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL2BNRn20c8&NR=1

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Had a Hat when I Came In (J Mooney)
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 13 Oct 11 - 11:49 AM

Dan Dailey & Andrews Sisters, I HAD A HAT, Decca 24610, recorded 3/11/49.

is one classic recording, reissued on CDs like Music Lessons with the Andrews Sisters.

~Michael~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPhswUik2pU

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Had a Hat when I Came In (J Mooney)
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Jul 24 - 01:25 PM

(1) Has anyone got biographical data for James Mooney?

(2) I revised the third verse a titch:

"Casey kept on shouting, boys, till one-eyed Paddy Flynn
socked him across the whiskers with a bottle o' Tanqueray gin..."

Who has a rolling pin at an Irish wake?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Had a Hat when I Came In (J Mooney)
From: Pappy Fiddle
Date: 11 Jul 24 - 10:05 PM

I just found out some of my ancestors lived in County Antrim. I 'spose that and a quarter... but here.

So everybody got calmed down and the funeral resumed
The time came to open casket and Murphy was well groomed
But every eye was starin', will you look at that!

Now we just need one more line, someone?

Subject: RE: Origins: I Had a Hat when I Came In (J Mooney)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Jul 24 - 11:20 PM

As MGM Lion found, there's a 1949 recording by Dan Dailey and the Andrew Sisters. I always thought this was a music hall from the 1920s, but maybe the Andrews/Dailey recording was the first performance (although Jim Dixon found a 1941 publication date).

Here's a pretty good recent version by Shanneyganock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSk0SxaXgbw