Manfred Mann recorded their version of the single on 10 February 1967 at Philips Studio in Marble Arch, London, together with producer Shel Talmy.

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.

[3] After securing a line-up featuring vocalist Mike D'Abo and bassist Klaus Voormann they signed with Fontana Records in June of that year.

[4] 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.

[4] 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.

[7] Peter Dunbavan states that Hazzard then entered the offices of Manfred Mann's manager Gerry Bron, who had signed him in 1966.

[10][11] 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".

[13] 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.

This is one of those songs.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.

[16][nb 1] However, Andy Thompson believes Mann's performance of the Mellotron on "Semi-Detached" is superior to the playing heard on "Ha!

Writing for Disc and Music Echo, Penny Valentine states that the song "is excellently made" and "very well written", though she believes the title is a "little macabre".

[36] The staff writer for Melody Maker believes that "Manfred Mann and his men have been around long enough now to know what's happening",[37] noting that the band seemingly stopped making bad or "uncommercial records", and that Mike D'Abo has settled down.

[38] Johnson calls the chorus "whistling" while simultaneously praising D'Abo's vocal performing, stating that he's handling it in style.

[39] He writes that the song features some notable "instrumental tricks behind", while stating that it is musically different from the group's earlier material.

[13] Hugg also stated difficulty in performing the number on stage, owing to the multiple studio effects the song was dependent on.

[9] By 1967, English rock group the Yardbirds had become a quartet with Jimmy Page as the sole guitarist, but their record chart performance had begun to falter.

[41] To bolster the group's chances at another top 40 hit, successful pop singles producer Mickie Most was brought in to oversee their recordings.

[42] Yardbirds' chronicler Greg Russo described the version as "a carbon copy of Manfred Mann's #3 UK pop hit written by Tony Hazzard.

"[43] Relf later commented: In the end, we were just a group being sent out to promote Mickie Most's records ... he used session men to do the backings, while we were touring, and then got me to overdub my voice.

[45] Page biographer Chris Salewicz believed the song was "utterly inappropriate for the market they were trying to build in the United States";[46] the group were performing at popular counter culture venues, where they were developing more experimental fare, such as "Dazed and Confused".

[47] Several music journalists had similar opinions: "substandard" (Buckley);[48] "lightweight" (Case);[49] "inferior US-only cover" (Clayson);[50] "downright bad ... bubblegum number" (Prown and Newquist);[51] "gobsmackingly awful" (Shadwick, who also noted that Manfred Mann had even felt the song was "feeble");[52] and "particularly crass and inept" (Williamson).

[54] Additionally, it was reissued, together with their next US single "Ten Little Indians", through Sundazed Music in time for Record Store Day 2011, a release which was housed in a picture sleeve.

[56][self-published source] The instrumental backing was provided by session musicians in New York City; Keith Relf, the only Yardbird to appear on their release, later overdubbed the vocal in London.