| Mr. Custer | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Larry Verne |
| Album: | Mister Larry Verne |
| B-Side: | "Okeefenokee Two Step" |
| Released: | 1960 |
| Genre: | Novelty |
| Length: | 3:04 |
| Label: | Era |
| Next Title: | Mister Livingston |
| Next Year: | 1960 |
"Mr. Custer" is a march novelty song, sung by Larry Verne, and written by Al De Lory, Fred Darian, and Joseph Van Winkle.
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.[1]
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 reached No. 12 in Canada, also October 10, 1960.[2]
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".[3]
| Chart (1960) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada CHUM Chart[4] | 12 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Sides[6] | 9 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100[7] | 3 |
| Chart (1960-61) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[8] | 7 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[9] | 12 |
| Chart (1960) | Rank |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11] | 42 |
| U.S. Cash Box [12] | 26 |
A follow-up record, "Return of Mr. Custer (Please Mr. Sittin' Bull)", was released in 1964, which used the same melody and music arrangement, but it failed to chart.[13]
