"Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" is a popular song written by British actor, screenwriter and songwriter

Trevor Peacock Trevor Edward Peacock (19 May 1931 – 8 March 2021) was an English actor and songwriter. He made his name as a theatre actor, including for his roles in Shakespeare. He later became known for playing Jim Trott in the BBC comedy series ''The V ...

. It was originally sung by actor

Tom Courtenay Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay (; born 25 February 1937) is an English actor. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he achieved prominence in the 1960s as part of actors of the British New Wave. Courtenay has received numerous acco ...

in ''The Lads'', an ''

ITV Television Playhouse ''ITV Television Playhouse'', often simplified to ''Television Playhouse'', is a British anthology television series produced by and airing on the ITV television network from 1955 through 1963. The series premiered with the teleplay ''Midlevel' ...

'' play of 1963, and released as a single on UK

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

. The best-known version of the song is by

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English rock and pop group formed in 1963 in Manchester and formerly fronted by singer Peter Noone. Known for their jaunty beat sound and Noone's often tongue-in-cheek vocal style, the Hermits charted with numerous tra ...

, who took it to number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in May 1965, and number one in Canada the month before. The single debuted on the Hot 100 at number twelve—the third highest debut of the decade (after

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' "

Hey Jude "Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles' fir ...

" and "

Get Back "Get Back" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Beatles and Billy Preston, written by Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It was originally released as a single on 11 April 1969 and credited to "The B ...

", which both debuted at number ten)."Billboard Hot 100 Charts – The Sixties/The Seventies", Record Research Inc, 1990 The Hermits never released the track—or their other US 1965 number one, " I'm Henry VIII, I Am"—as a single in their native Britain. As "Mrs. Brown" was released only a few weeks after the band's previous single, "

Silhouettes A silhouette (, ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhouett ...

", both songs ended up occupying the top 10 simultaneously, with "Silhouettes" peaking at number five. "Mrs Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" was recorded as an afterthought in two takes and featured unique muted lead and rhythm guitar by

Derek Leckenby Derek "Lek" Leckenby (14 May 1943 – 4 June 1994) was an English musician and lead guitarist, most famous for his work with English pop group Herman's Hermits. Early life Leckenby was born in Leeds. He was educated at William Hulme's Grammar Sc ...

and

Keith Hopwood Keith Hopwood (born 26 October 1946) is an English pop and rock musician, singer-songwriter, composer, businessman and record producer, who served as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocals for the 1960s pop band, Herman's Hermits. Hopwood als ...

and heavily accented lead vocals by

Peter Noone Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone (born 5 November 1947) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He was the lead singer "Herman" in the 1960s pop group Herman's Hermits. Early life Noone was born in Davyhulme, Lancashire, England ...

, with backing vocals from Karl Green and Keith Hopwood. The band never dreamed it would be a single let alone hit number one in the US. According to Noone the song was well known to British bands; it would often be performed at birthday parties, substituting the surname of the girl whose party was being celebrated, i.e., "Mrs. Smith" or "Mrs. Jones" instead of "Mrs. Brown".

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

covered the song for their 1965 album ''

Chipmunks à Go-Go ''Chipmunks à Go-Go'' is an album by Alvin and the Chipmunks and David Seville, released by Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as presid ...

''. An answer to the song, titled, "Mrs. Jones, Your Son Gives Up Too Easy," was released on the Recording Industries (RIC) label as a single in 1965, performed by a group named Lynn and the Mersey Maids. 1965 also saw the release of "Mrs. Schwartz, You've Got An Ugly Daughter" by Marty And The Monks on Era Records. The song was released in Japan on Odeon Records, a subsidiary of Toshiba, as OR-1272. It was backed by the song "Wonderful World". It was recorded by

Nellie McKay Eleanora Marie McKay (born April 13, 1982) is an English–American singer and songwriter. She made her Broadway debut in ''The Threepenny Opera#United States 2, The Threepenny Opera'' (2006). Early life and education McKay was born in London ...

for her 2015 album ''

My Weekly Reader ''My Weekly Reader'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Nellie McKay, consisting of covers of hits from the 1960s. The album entered the Billboard charts, Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, and garnered positive reviews up ...

''.

References

1965 singles Herman's Hermits songs Song recordings produced by Mickie Most Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in South Africa 1963 songs MGM Records singles {{1960s-pop-song-stub