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Mr. Custer
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Wikipedia article
"'Mr. Custer'" is a march novelty song, sung by Larry Verne, and written by Al De Lory, Fred Darian, and Joseph Van Winkle.
Background
It is a comical song about a soldier's plea to General Custer before the climactic Battle of the Little Bighorn against the Sioux, to allow him to stay behind, because he had a bad dream about the battle.
Chart performance
It was a No. 1 song in the United States in 1960, topping the 'Billboard' Hot 100 singles chart for the issue dated October 10, 1960, and remained there for one week. On the US Hot R&B Sides chart, it went to No. 9. It also reached No. 1 in Canada, September 12, 1960.
In 1964, Verne recorded and released a sequel novelty song titled "Return of Mr. Custer," which used the same melody and music arrangement, but it failed to chart.
Reception
In a retrospective review for his 'Number Ones' column, Stereogum writer Tom Breihan panned the song, giving it one star out of ten while calling it "offensive", "morally wrongheaded", and "unlistenable musically".
Chart history
Weekly charts
;Larry Verne;Charlie Drake
;Ted Lune
Year-end charts
Sequel
A follow-up record, "Return of Mr. Custer (Please Mr. Sittin' Bull)" was released in 1964.[http://dmdb.org/cgi-bin/plinfo_view.pl?SYN984601 Demented Music Database: Return Of Mr. Custer - Larry Verne]
Cover versions
*"Mr. Custer" was also a success in the UK Singles Chart for Charlie Drake in 1960, his third such chart hit.
*Novelty/country singer-songwriter Ray Stevens covered this song for his 1969 album 'Gitarzan'.
See also
*List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1960 (U.S.)
References
Category:1960 singles
Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Category:Novelty songs
Category:1960 songs
Category:Songs about the military
Category:Songs about military officers
Category:Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer
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