"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, screenwriter and songwriter. He made his name as a theatre actor, later becoming known for his Shakespearean roles. Later in his career, he became best known for playing ...

. 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, Courtenay achieved prominence in the 1960s with a series of acclaimed film roles, including ''The Loneliness of ...

in ''The Lads'', a British TV play of 1963, and released as a single on UK

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

. The best-known version of the song is by Herman's Hermits, 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 band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

' " Hey Jude" and "

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

", 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 "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am" (also "I'm Henery the VIII, I Am" or "I'm Henry VIII, I Am"; spelled "Henery" but pronounced " 'Enery" in the Cockney style normally used to sing it) is a 1910 British music hall song by Fred Murray and R. P. Westo ...

"—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 silhou ...

", 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)Chris Welch ''The Independent'', 9 June 1994. Retrieved 28 November 2010. was an English musician and lead guitarist, most famous for his work with English pop group Herman's Hermits. Early lif ...

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 al ...

and heavily accented lead vocals by

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

, 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 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 in 1965, again in 1982, and on compact disc in 1990. Early pressings of the album incorrectly list the song "Sunshine, Lollipops and ...

''. 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. 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 Nell Marie McKay (born April 13, 1982) is a singer and songwriter. She made her Broadway debut in ''The Threepenny Opera'' (2006). Early life and education McKay was born in London to an English father, writer-director Malcolm McKay, and an ...

for her 2015 album '' My Weekly Reader''.

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 Films shot in Greater Manchester {{1960s-pop-song-stub