R.I.P.: Jerry Samuels, aka Napoleon XIV, Performer-Songwriter

Jerry Samuels (1938-2023)

 Jerry Samuels, who as “Napoleon XIV” wrote and recorded one of pop music’s most unusual hit singles, 1966’s “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!,” died Friday (March 10, 2023). Samuels, 84, had operated a Philadelphia-based talent agency for the past four decades, reports BestClassicBands.com. 

Jerry Samuels

News of his passing was shared by his wife, Bobbie Samuels, on her Facebook page. “My friends,” she wrote, “Jerry died early this morning. He was my rock and the greatest love of my life. He taught me to be strong.”

Samuels, born May 3, 1938, was a recording engineer in New York City. He came up with an idea: a song about a poor guy who’s so distraught over his girlfriend leaving him that he’s driven to madness. He took on the name Napoleon XIV, credited his composition to N. Bonaparte and somehow got Warner Bros. Records to agree to release it in July 1966. With only a snare drum and a tambourine as accompaniment, Samuels recites—never sings—his tale of woe.

The single’s B-side was “!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT ot gnimoC er’yehT,” the same recording played backwards.

A few years earlier, Sammy Davis Jr. earned a #1 R&B / #17 pop hit with a Samuels composition, “The Shelter of Your Arms.”