"Mr. Five by Five" is a 1942

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

Don Raye Don Raye (born Donald MacRae Wilhoite Jr., March 16, 1909 – January 29, 1985) was an American songwriter, best known for his songs for The Andrews Sisters such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", " The House of Blue Lights", "Just for a Thr ...

and Gene DePaul, that describes a heavyset man who is "five feet tall and five feet wide". The person highlighted by the song was Jimmy Rushing, the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.

Ella Mae Morse Ella Mae Morse (September 12, 1924 – October 16, 1999) was an American singer of popular music whose 1940s and 1950s recordings mixing jazz, blues, and country styles influenced the development of rock and roll. Her 1942 recording of "Cow-Cow ...

with Freddie Slack and His Orchestra had a hit recording with the song in 1942 (Capitol 115); it was number one on the

Harlem Hit Parade The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

for two non-consecutive weeks.

Other versions

"Mr. Five by Five" has also been performed by others: *Later in 1942,

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

and His Orchestra (vocal by Helen Forrest) with a best-selling platter on the Columbia label; it appeared on ''Variety's'' 10 Best Sellers on Coin Machines in December 1942. * Harmony Sisters,

Thore Ehrling Thore Ehrling (December 29, 1912, Stockholm - October 21, 1994, Stockholm) was a Swedish trumpeter, composer, and bandleader, who led jazz and popular music ensembles. Ehrling played with Frank Vernon's ensemble from 1930 to 1934, and concomitan ...

's Orchestra. Recorded in Stockholm on August 31, 1943. Released on the 78 rpm Telefunken A-5359 in Sweden and Telefunken T-8508 in Norway. The A side was "I'm Coming Home, Virginia". *

Harry Parry Harry Owen Parry (22 January 1912 – 18 October 1956) was a Welsh jazz clarinetist and bandleader. Biography Parry was born in Bangor, Wales. He played cornet, tenor horn, flugelhorn, drums, and violin as a child, and began on clarinet a ...

on ''Crazy Rhythm'', recorded by Harry Parry's Radio Rhythm Club Sextet. *The Humphrey Lyttelton Big Band with Jimmy Rushing, Upbeat (URCD174) * The Andrews Sisters recorded the song on July 22, 1942 for Decca Records (catalog No. DECCA-18470B). This reached No. 14 in the Billboard chart. * Imelda May on the soundtrack to the 2013 film, '' Gangster Squad''.

Song in popular culture

*The song was introduced in the motion pictures '' Behind the Eight Ball'' (when it was performed by

Grace McDonald Grace McDonald Green (June 15, 1918 – October 30, 1999) was an American actress who appeared in films in the early 1940s, mostly B movies. Born in New York City, she and her brother Ray McDonald had their Broadway debut in 1937 in ''Babes in ...

) and '' Who Done It?'', both of which were 1942

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

releases. *It was also the origin of several small bits on radio comedy shows of the period, including on the

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

and

Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist, topically pointed radio program ''The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and for ...

programs. *The Morse and Slack version is featured in the soundtrack of the 2018 video game, '' Fallout 76''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Five by Five 1942 songs Jazz songs Songs with music by Gene de Paul Songs written by Don Raye Ella Mae Morse songs

Other versions

Song in popular culture

See also

References