"Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" is a song written by Tony Hazzard, first recorded by British pop group Manfred Mann. Hazzard claims the song "came out of the blue" though he did not demo it for weeks. Following recording a demo, he approached manager Gerry Bron, who liked it enough to want one of his groups, Manfred Mann, to record it. Manfred Mann recorded their version of the single on 10 February 1967 at Philips Studio in Marble Arch, London, together with producer Shel Talmy. It was the second of three singles Manfred Mann recorded to feature the Mellotron.
Upon release by Fontana Records on 24 March 1967, the single received mixed reviews by critics, who deemed it inferior to their previous single "Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James", and criticized its lightweight pop sound. Despite these critical setbacks it became a huge commercial success, reaching number 4 in the UK and number one in several other European, African and Oceanian countries. As it failed to chart in the United States, Mickie Most released a version by the Yardbirds there, becoming a minor hit for them.
Background and recording
Throughout 1966, Manfred Mann had been through a bit of crisis, losing both their lead singer Paul Jones and numerous other line-up changes hampering their efforts. However, riding on the charts with the number-one single "Pretty Flamingo", their commercial success was not declining. After securing a line-up featuring vocalist Mike D'Abo and bassist Klaus Voormann they signed with Fontana Records in June of that year. After their cover of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman" reached the top ten, it established their "commercial credibility" according to Bruce Eder of AllMusic. Following the success of their second single on Fontana, October 1966's Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James" the group began to "reshape their sound and image" to incorporate a more "pop-sound" into their music. However, both these tracks were written by outside writers, something which was standard for Manfred Mann. This led the group to look for new material from outside writers following the success of "Semi-Detached".
In the May 1967 issue of Beat Instrumental, Tony Hazzard claims to have "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" in his head "out of the blue" but states that it took him weeks to finally record a demo of it. Peter Dunbavan states that Hazzard then entered the offices of Manfred Mann's manager Gerry Bron, who had signed him in 1966. There, Hazzard played three demo recordings for Bron, who deemed them uncommercial. Following this, Hazzard became reluctant to play the fourth song he'd demoed, "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown", though at the insistence of Bron he did so. Bron liked the song well enough to almost demand Manfred Mann to record the song. Manfred Mann himself, however, was not keen on recording it:
On 10 February 1967, the group recorded the song at Philips Studio in Stanhope House, Marble Arch, London. The production was handled by Shel Talmy, who had collaborated with Manfred Mann on all their releases since the June 1966 recording of "Just Like a Woman". Neil Innes has claimed that the recording of the song took eight hours, as Gerry Bron would constantly nag about it to him. Drummer Mike Hugg instead states that the entire recording session lasted 22 hours, 12 of which were dedicated to the final master take of the song. As with "Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James", Manfred Mann plays the Mellotron Mark II on the recording, the second of three of their single A-sides featuring the instrument. However, Andy Thompson believes Mann's performance of the Mellotron on "Semi-Detached" is superior to the playing heard on "Ha! Ha! Said The Clown", though notes it is "still well worth hearing".
Release and commercial performance
In the United Kingdom, "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" would be released on 24 March 1967 through Fontana Records. Unusually for the UK at the time, the single was released in a picture sleeve, depicting a clown's makeup. The B-side "Feeling So Good" was written by Mann and drummer Mike Hugg, and once again followed the pattern of having self-composed B-sides contrasting to A-sides written by outside writers. According to Greg Russo, "Feeling So Good" was an "experiment with Mann and Hugg on lead vocals" where guitarist Tom McGuinness was mixed high and Klaus Voormann provided background vocals. Russo notes however that the nature of the record was never attempted again by the group. In the United States, "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" was released through Mercury Records on 30 March 1967. It would be the final Manfred Mann release until "Mighty Quinn" was released there in February 1968.