"Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" | ||||
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Single by Herman's Hermits | ||||
from the album Herman's Hermits | ||||
B-side | "I Gotta Dream On" | |||
Released | April 1965 | |||
Format | 7", 45rpm | |||
Recorded | De Lane Lea Studios, London, 1 December 1964 | |||
Genre | Beat, pop | |||
Length | 2:45 | |||
Label | MGM | |||
Writer(s) | Trevor Peacock | |||
Producer(s) | Mickie Most | |||
Herman's Hermits singles chronology | ||||
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"Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" is a popular song written by British actor, screenwriter and songwriter Trevor Peacock. It was originally sung by actor Tom Courtenay in The Lads, a British TV play of 1963, and released as a single on UK Decca.
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 12 — the third highest debut of the decade (after the Beatles' "Hey Jude" and "Get Back"). 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. "Mrs Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" was recorded as an afterthought in two takes and featured unique muted rhythm guitar by Keith Hopwood and heavily accented vocals by Peter Noone, with backing 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.
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 covered by Nellie McKay on her 2015 album My Weekly Reader.