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"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, 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 (Capitol 115); it was number one on the Harlem Hit Parade for two non-consecutive weeks.

Other versions

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

Later in 1942, Harry James and His Orchestra (vocal by Helen Forrest) with a best-selling platter on the Columbia label; it appeared on Variety's 10 Best Sellers on Coin Machines in December 1942.
Harmony Sisters, Thore Ehrling's Orchestra. Recorded in Stockholm on August 31, 1943. Released on the 78 rpm 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, recorded by Harry Parry's Radio Rhythm Club Sextet.
The Humphrey Lyttelton Big Band with Jimmy Rushing, Upbeat (URCD174)
The Andrews Sisters recorded the song on July 22, 1942 for Decca Records (catalog No. DECCA-18470B). This reached No. 14 in the Billboard chart.
Imelda May on the soundtrack to the 2013 film, Gangster Squad.

Song in popular culture

The song was introduced in the motion pictures Behind the Eight Ball (when it was performed by Grace McDonald) and Who Done It?, both of which were 1942 Universal Pictures releases.
It was also the origin of several small bits on radio comedy shows of the period, including on the Jack Benny and Fred Allen programs as well as one episode of The Great Gildersleeve.
The Morse and Slack version is featured in the soundtrack of the 2018 video game, Fallout 76.

References

Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 532.
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.
"The Humphrey Lyttelton Big Band with Jimmy Rushing - Humphrey Lyttelton, Humphrey Lyttelton & His Band, Jimmy Rushing | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
Sforza, John (2000). Swing It! - The Andrews Sisters Story. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. p. 225. ISBN 0-8131-2136-1.
Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 28. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.

v t e The Andrews Sisters
LaVerne Andrews Maxene Andrews Patty Andrews
Singles	"Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" "Nice Work If You Can Get It" "Shortenin' Bread" "Oh! Ma-Ma!" "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel)" "Ciribiribin (They're So In Love)" "Say Si Si (Para Vigo Me Voy)" "The Woodpecker Song" "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar" "Scrub Me, Mama, With a Boogie Beat" "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" "I Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)" "(I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time" "Sonny Boy" "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" "Strip Polka" "Mister Five By Five" "Pistol Packin' Mama" "Jingle Bells" "Shoo-Shoo Baby" "Down In the Valley" "Straighten Up and Fly Right" "Tico Tico" "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" "A Hot Time In the Town of Berlin" "Don't Fence Me In" "Rum and Coca-Cola" "Accentuate the Positive" "The Three Caballeros" "Along the Navajo Trail" "South America, Take It Away" "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" "I Don't Know Why" "House of Blue Lights" "Rumors Are Flying" "Winter Wonderland" "There's No Business Like Show Business" "Near You" "Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)" "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" "Sabre Dance" "Underneath the Arches" "You Call Everybody Darling" "Don't Rob Another Man's Castle" "I Can Dream, Can't I?" "Charley, My Boy" "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You" "The Wedding Samba" "I Wanna Be Loved" "A Bushel and a Peck" "Mele Kalikimaka" "Sparrow in the Tree Top" "I Love You Much Too Much"

The Andrews Sisters

LaVerne Andrews
Maxene Andrews
Patty Andrews

Singles

v t e Ella Mae Morse
Singles	"Cow-Cow Boogie" "Mr. Five by Five" "Shoo Shoo Baby" "Buzz Me" "The House of Blue Lights" "The Blacksmith Blues" "Oakie Boogie"
Related articles	Freddie Slack

v t e Harry James
Singles	"Goodnight, My Love" "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" "One O'Clock Jump" "It's the Dreamer in Me" "Boo-Woo" "Woo-Woo" "I Found a New Baby" "Ciribiribin" "The Flight of the Bumblebee" "You Made Me Love You" "Misirlou" "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" "Easter Parade" "Sleepy Lagoon" "Skylark" "I Remember You" "But Not for Me" "I Cried for You" "Mr. Five by Five" "I Had the Craziest Dream" "Manhattan Serenade" "I've Heard That Song Before" "Moonlight Becomes You" "All or Nothing at All" "I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" "On a Little Street in Singapore" "Memphis Blues" "I'm Beginning to See the Light" "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" "The More I See You" "If I Loved You" "It's Been a Long, Long Time" "I Can't Begin to Tell You" "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" "Who's Sorry Now" "Heartaches" "Jalousie (Jealousy)" "Stella by Starlight" "Mona Lisa" "Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)" "You'll Never Know"
Albums	Boogie Woogie Harry James and His Orchestra 1948–49 Young Man with a Horn Wild About Harry! The New James Harry's Choice!
Related articles	"Everything but You" Louise Tobin Betty Grable

v t e Helen Forrest
Singles	"Deep Purple" "Comes Love" "Day In, Day Out" "All the Things You Are" "How High the Moon" "Perfidia (Tonight)" "My Sister and I" "Yours" "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" "Skylark" "I Remember You" "But Not for Me" "I Cried for You" "Mister Five by Five" "I Had the Craziest Dream" "Manhattan Serenade" "I've Heard That Song Before" "Taking a Chance on Love" "Long Ago (and Far Away)" "It Had to Be You" "Together" "Some Sunday Morning" "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" "Come Rain or Come Shine"
Related articles	Artie Shaw Benny Goodman Harry James Dick Haymes

Helen Forrest

Singles

Categories:

Other versions

Song in popular culture

See also

References