Mr. Five by Five

"Mr. Five by Five" is a 1942 popular song by Don Raye 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, "Mr. Five by Five", who was the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.

Ella Mae Morse with Freddie Slack and His Orchestra had a hit recording with the song in 1942, which went to number one on the Harlem Hit Parade chart (Capitol 115), for two non consecutive weeks,[1]

Other versions

"Mr. Five by Five" has also performed by:

  • Later in 1942, Harry James and His Orchestra (vocal by Helen Forrest) who also issued a best-selling platter on the Columbia label that year. The song appeared on Variety's 10 Best Sellers on Coin Machines list in December 1942.[2]
  • Harmony Sisters, Thore Ehrling's Orchestra. Recorded in Stockholm on August 31, 1943. Released on the 78 rpm records Telefunken A-5359 in Sweden and Telefunken T-8508 in Norway. The A side was I'm Coming Home, Virginia
  • Harry Parry on Crazy Rhythm, Harry Parry's Radio Rhythm Club Sextet
  • The Humphrey Lyttelton Big Band with Jimmy Rushing, Upbeat (URCD174)[3]
  • The Andrews Sisters recorded the song on July 22, 1942 for Decca Records (catalog No. DECCA-18470B).[4] This reached No. 14 in the Billboard charts.[5]
  • Imelda May on the soundtrack to the 2013 film Gangster Squad

See also

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 532.
  2. Smith, Kathleen E.R. (2003-03-28). God Bless America: Tin Pan Alley Goes to War. The University Press of Kentucky. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-8131-2256-4.
  3. "allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  4. Sforza, John (2000). Swing It! - The Andrews Sisters Story. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. p. 225. ISBN 0-8131-2136-1.
  5. Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 28. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
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