Ahab the Arab

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"Ahab the Arab" (pronounced the American colloquial way, "A-rab" or /'eɪræb/, to rhyme with "A-hab") is a novelty song recorded by Ray Stevens in 1962.

The song portrays a "sheik of the burning sands" named Ahab. He is highly decorated with jewelry, and every night he hops on Clyde, his camel, on his way to see Fatima, who is the best dancer in the Sultan's harem, and is apparently a fan of various aspects of American culture. Fond of jewelry herself, Fatima has "rings on her fingers and bells on her toes and a bone in her nose, ho ho". During the ride, Ahab "speaks" (actually, sings/chants in Arabian style) in a mock Arabic. (A later version adds the exclamation "Sold, American!" to the end of one chant.) When Ahab finds Fatima in her tent, she is "eating on a raisin, and a grape, and an apricot, and a pomegranate, a bowl of chitterlings, two bananas, three Hershey bars and sipping on an RC cola, listening to her transistor, watching the Grand Ole Opry, and reading Mad Magazine while singing 'Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor (On the Bedpost Overnight.)' by Lonnie Donnigan. The second time, that Ahab speaks in his phony Arabic chant, the translation is the Chubby Checker song, "Let's Twist Again"("like we did last Summer"). Ahab loves Fatima, which apparently doesn't sit too well with the Sultan, and later prompts an escape attempt. (The later version neglects to mention the escape attempt at all, instead ending the song with Fatima saying, "Crazy, baby!")

Along with "The Streak", it was one of Stevens' biggest hits and contributed greatly to his popularity. It reached number 5 on the Billboard top 40 during July of 1962.

A later song by Stevens, a Christmas novelty number called "Santa Claus Is Watching You", features a "cameo" by Clyde. The intrepid camel is pressed into service in place of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the famous reindeer having been sidelined by an injury incurred during a Twist contest. The song also repeats the "Ahab the Arab" schtick of reciting a random list of objects, in this case gifts for "all the good little girls and boys."

Stevens has said that Clyde the camel was named after rhythm-and-blues singer Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead singer of The Drifters. Clyde is arguably the most memorable character of the song, due to Stevens' exaggerated imitation of a camel's braying vocalization. Clyde has become something of a mascot for Stevens, and for several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s the artist released albums and video entertainment under the label "Clyde Records" (complete with camel-shaped logo). Ahab is also the name of Stevens' music publishing company, Ahab Music Inc.

A cover version of Stevens' song was released in July 1962, by Jimmy Savile, backed by the English pop group The Tremeloes, featuring Brian Poole. Kinky Friedman also recorded a version of the song on his 1977 album, "Lasso from El Paso."

Coggy Cooper also covered this track, renaming it to Aw-hab the aw-rab.

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