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American singer (1938–2023) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jerrold Laurence Samuels (May 3, 1938 – March 10, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and talent agent.[1] Under the pseudonym Napoleon XIV, he achieved one-hit wonder status with the #3 hit novelty song "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" in 1966.[1] Samuels occasionally revisited the Napoleon XIV character to record other songs, usually comedy records with an insanity theme.
Napoleon XIV | |
|---|---|
Samuels in 1966 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jerrold Laurence Samuels |
| Also known as | Jerry Samuels |
| Born | May 3, 1938 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | March 10, 2023 (aged 84) Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Comedy, novelty |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1956–2021 |
| Labels | Warner Bros., Needlejuice |
Under the name Scott David (his son's name), he cowrote "As If I Didn't Know" with Larry Kusik, a top-10 hit for Adam Wade in 1961. Samuels also wrote "The Shelter of Your Arms", a top-20 hit for Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964.
Jerrold Laurence Samuels was born in Manhattan and was raised in the Bronx.[2] He played the piano and wrote music throughout his childhood, and began his recording career in 1956 when he cut the single "Puppy Love"/"The Chosen Few" for the Vik Records subsidiary of RCA Victor Records.[2][3]
Samuels was an acclaimed songwriter during the early 1960s. Under the name Scott David (his son's name), he cowrote "As If I Didn't Know" with Larry Kusik, a top-10 hit for Adam Wade in 1961. Samuels also wrote "The Shelter of Your Arms", a top-20 hit for Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964.
In 1966, Samuels concocted "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" while working at Associated Recording Studios in New York. The public found out his true identity when Cousin Brucie of WABC revealed his name. The record quickly climbed the charts, reaching the top ten nationally in just its third week on the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at #3 and sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[4] In the Cash Box Top 100 the record even climbed to No. 1 for one week in its second week on the charts.
The success of the single inspired a Warner Bros. album of the same name in 1966 (reissued by Rhino in 1985), most of which continued the mental illness theme, for example: "Bats in My Belfry" and "I Live in a Split Level Head", the latter of which features different vocal parts in each stereo speaker.[1] A second single of two recordings from that album went relatively unnoticed. His manager was Leonard Stogel.
In the following years, Samuels would occasionally revisit the Napoleon XIV character to record other songs, usually comedy records with an insanity theme.
His songs were often played on Dr. Demento's radio show.
In his later years, Samuels worked as a singer and agent who booked various performers in the Delaware Valley.[2] In 1984, he founded the Jerry Samuels Agency, and later operated it with his second wife, Bobbie. They retired in 2021.[2]
In February 2022, Needlejuice Records teased the release of "an album that's 50 years old".[5] The following year, they revealed that it was Samuels' long-lost second studio album, For God's Sake, Stop the Feces![6] The album was recorded between April 1968 and December 1970, but was rejected by Warner Bros. due to its unsettling content; notably, the eighth track, "Rape", which provides a detailed account of a sexual assault, and the fourteenth, "The Note", which portrays a man writing a suicide note. Stop the Feces was released on April 20, 2023, one month after Samuels died.
Samuels was married twice: first to Rosemary Djivre, divorcing in 1968, and then to Bobbie Simon from 1996 until his death. He was also in a relationship with Petra Vesters from 1973 to 1987. He had a son from his first marriage and another from his relationship with Vesters. Another son predeceased him.[2] Samuels was a longtime resident of the Oxford Circle neighborhood of Philadelphia, though he moved to an assisted living facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, after retiring.[2][7]
Samuels died from complications of Parkinson's disease dementia at a hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, on March 10, 2023, at the age of 84.[2][7]
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