Music History Today: August 19, 2021

August 19, 2000: "Jumpin', Jumpin'" by Destiny’s Child peaked at Number 3 for five nonconsecutive weeks on the US single's chart.

"Jumpin', Jumpin'"by American girl group Destiny's Child was the fourth and final single from the group's second studio album, The Writing's on the Wall. 

Destiny's Child 

(sign up to follow by email)

Co-written and co-produced by group member Beyoncé and Chad Elliott, The song was listed at 232 on Pitchfork's Top 500 Songs of the 2000s and became a commercial success, reaching number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and peaking within the top 10 in six other countries. 

Read more: Wikipedia

August 19, 1961: The Highwaymen had the top tune on the Cashbox chart with their million-selling version of the African-American spiritual "Michael (Row the Boat Ashore)."

Michael Row the Boat Ashore was first sung in the colonies of the New World, demonstrated by the appearance of its lyrics in Slave Songs of the United States, published in 1897 along with 42 others from the slave port island of St Helena.

The Highwaymen 

Nearly a hundred years later, The Highwaymen had an international hit with their version. It was continually cast into the limelight during the 60s and recorded by many folk artists including Pete Seeger and Peter Paul & Mary. 

Read more: Folk Slingers

 

August 19, 1963: Peter, Paul & Mary performed "Blowin' In The Wind" for civil rights marchers in Washington DC who had gathered to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak.

Peter, Paul, And Mary perform
"Blowin' In The Wind"  in Washington, DC.

August 19, 1967: The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" hit Number 1, where it stays for one week.

The Beatles were already a monstrously successful band before the summer 1967 release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. But that album brought them to a new level of cultural prominence. 

“All You Need Is Love” was an event in the same way that Sgt. Pepper was. The Beatles had agreed to take part in Our World, the first-ever worldwide TV special. With state-of-the-art satellite technology, this show was going out to audiences in 24 countries at the same time, which was a new thing. 

Read more: Stereogum

August 19, 1972: Donna Fargo landed at Number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with "The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA." 

Donna Fargo, named Yvonne Vaughan at birth, was also professionally known as Mrs. Stan Silver. That was at her other career, a teacher. One of her dreams in life was to teach. The other was to be a singer. 

Donna Fargo

By her mid-twenties she was living in California, teaching English as Mrs. Silver and playing on weekends as Donna Fargo. While school was out for an Easter weekend, husband Stan Silver took her to Nashville to record a song she had written titled “The Happiest Girl In The Whole U.S.A.”. Silver pitched the song to all the major labels in Nashville. Producer Billy Sherrill liked the song and wanted to cut it with newcomer Tanya Tucker. Legend has it that Tanya turned it down. 

Read more: KXRB

Jumpin', Jumpin'
Destiny’s Child