"What a Mouth (What a North and South)" is a music hall song written by R. P. Weston in 1906 and first sung by Harry Champion. It is better known for the version recorded by

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele reco ...

in 1960, which peaked at number 5 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Early versions

The song was often performed by Harry Champion, and was published as sheet music by

Francis, Day & Hunter Francis, Day & Hunter is a British music publishing company, one of the leading publishers of music hall songs and popular music in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It was established in London in 1877 as W. & J. Francis and Day, later Francis ...

in 1906 as one of ''Francis & Day's Album of Cockney Songs''. The first commercially released recording was by The Two Bills from Bermondsey — Bill Burnham and Bill French — who were recorded by Peter Kennedy at "The Cock & Monkey" in

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...

on 13 February 1954. The

78 rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

record,

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

R 3953, was released in January 1955.

Tommy Steele version

Background

Steele recorded a cover of "What a Mouth" as it was one of his father's favourite songs. Steele's father told him that he knew he would be successful if he "became as successful as the Two Bills". As with the rest of the album ''Get Happy with Tommy'', "What a Mouth" was recorded live at

Decca Studios Decca Studios was a recording facility at 165 Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, North London, England, controlled by Decca Records from 1937 to 1980. The building was once West Hampstead Town Hall, and had been converted to a recording studio b ...

Track listing

7": Decca / F 11245 # "What a Mouth (What a North and South) – 2:45 # "Kookaburra" – 1:58

Charts

References

{{authority control 1906 songs 1960 singles Tommy Steele songs Decca Records singles Music hall songs Songs written by R. P. Weston