View source for Mother-in-Law (song)

{{short description|1961 song recorded by Ernie K-Doe}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = Mother-in-Law
| cover      = Mother-in-Law_-_Ernie_K-Doe.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Ernie K-Doe]]
| album      = Mother-In-Law
| B-side     = Wanted, $10,000.00 Reward
| released   = [[1961 in music|1961]]
| recorded   =
| studio     = [[Cosimo Recording Studio|Cosimo]] (New Orleans, Louisiana)<ref name="AceCM">{{cite web|last=Broven|first=John|title=Cosimo Matassa|url=https://acerecords.co.uk/news/2014/cosimo-matassa|website=Ace Records|date=September 12, 2014|access-date=August 19, 2024}}</ref>
| venue      =
| genre      = [[New Orleans R&B]]<ref name= "Breihan 2018">{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones: Ernie K-Doe's "Mother-In-Law"|website= [[Stereogum]] |date= March 26, 2018 |url= https://www.stereogum.com/1988323/the-number-ones-ernie-k-does-mother-in-law/columns/the-number-ones/|quote= “Mother-In-Law” is a perfectly lovely New Orleans R&B jam masquerading as a novelty song.|accessdate= June 9, 2023}}</ref>
| length     = 2:25
| label      = [[Minit Records|Minit]]
| writer     = [[Allen Toussaint]]
| producer   = Allen Toussaint
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title = Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta
| next_year  = 1961
}}
"'''Mother-in-Law'''" is a 1961 song recorded by [[Ernie K-Doe]]. It was a number-one hit in the U.S. on both the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart and the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|''Billboard'' R&B chart]].<ref>{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=316}}</ref> The song was written and produced by [[Allen Toussaint]], who also played the piano solo. It was issued by [[Minit Records]].
After several unsuccessful takes, Toussaint balled up the composition and threw it away as he was leaving the room. One of the [[Backing vocalist|backup singers]], Willie Harper, thought that it was such a good song that he convinced K-Doe to give it one more try.<ref name="npr">{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/12/23/167879568/ernie-k-doe-a-one-hit-weirdos-rise-fall-and-redemption|title=The Rise, Fall And Redemption Of New Orleans' 'R&B Emperor'|website=NPR.org}}</ref>
A cover version by [[The Newbeats]] was also included on their 1965 album ''[[Big Beat Sounds By The Newbeats]].'' [[The Ohio Players]] also covered the song on their debut LP, [[Observations In Time]].
==See also==
*[[List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1961|List of ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number ones of 1961]]
*[[List of number-one R&B singles of 1961 (U.S.)]]
*[[Mother-in-law joke]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:1961 songs]]
[[Category:1961 singles]]
[[Category:Songs written by Allen Toussaint]]
[[Category:The Newbeats songs]]
[[Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles]]
[[Category:Cashbox number-one singles]]
[[Category:Minit Records singles]]
{{1960s-single-stub}}
{{1960s-R&B-song-stub}}