alan abel:

"Alan Abel is devilishly clever, perhaps the greatest hoaxer of our times" NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

HOAXER, JAZZ DRUMMER, MUSIC COMPOSER, PERFORMANCE ARTIST, MEDIA SATIRIST, COMEDY WRITER

photo of Alan Abel by Denny Renshaw for Mental Floss Magazine [March/April 2012]

After launching a phony crusade to clothe animals using the slogan "A nude horse is a rude horse," Alan Abel ended up on the front pages of newspapers across America. He became a legendary professional prankster, and the nightmare of reporters everywhere. In ABEL RAISES CAIN - A Documentary About ALAN ABEL, Infamous Media Hoaxer, Abel's daughter, Jenny, along with her husband, Jeff Hockett, attempts to seek the truth behind Alan's gleeful exploitation of the media's gullibility.

Alan Abel and Jeanne Abel fell in love in the late 1950s, got married and pulled off pranks together for many decades. They were a creative team and considered early pioneers of "performance art."

Jeanne 

Abel & 

Alan Abel 

The Abels also made two films in the 1970s: Is There Sex After Death? and The Faking of the President

Pranksters for Parents - Meet the Abels

MUSIC by Alan Abel

Alan Abel the hoaxer was also an award-winning drummer and composer. He is often confused with another late Alan Abel, from Philadelphia, who did not compose any music, but was an innovator and highly respected among classical percussionists worldwide.

The music featured in the documentary, Abel Raises Cain, is music by Alan Abel (the hoaxer, drummer and composer).

Alan Abel (the hoaxer) began playing drums as a boy and won the title of "VFW snare champion" in 1946 and 1947. He founded the first Jazz Forum at Ohio State University. Throughout his career he performed with Glenn Miller, Sauter-Finegan, Sammy Kaye and the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra. 

Abel did solo performance and ensemble work. He released three LP recordings: Professor Paradiddle – Drums, Drollery and Drivel (1958), The Techniques of Percussion (1961) and The First Percussion Sextet (1962). 


Alan Abel's drum solos and percussion ensemble pieces include: "2040's Sortie," "524 Main Street," "Tom Tom Foolery," "Two of a Kind," "Ashland High," "Holiday Special," "Allegre Muchacho," "London Bridge," "Peach Grove Drummer," "Serenade to a Sand Dune," "Hi Ho Simpson," "Drummer's Debate," "Zoom Golly Golly," "Cincinnati Ratamatati," "Mambo Drumbo," and "Jennifer's Jog."

Alan Abel composed and arranged many other orchestral works that are quirky, catchy and unique. Listen to Music by Alan Abel on SoundCloud compositions featured in the documentary, Abel Raises Cain, by Jenny Abel and Jeff Hockett.

FOR MUSIC, MEDIA OR ARCHIVAL INQUIRIES: contact Jenny Abel