"One Monkey Don't Stop No Show" is the title of several different songs, mostly in the R&B genre, deriving from a common African-American phrase with the general meaning of "one setback should not impede progress". Matt Rector, "Yeah, But Do You Know What That Song Is Actually About? #1: One Monkey Don't Stop No Show", ''Old School Record Review'', January 21, 2014
Retrieved 9 July 2016 The first known recording with this title was by Stick McGhee and His Buddies in 1950. Commercially successful songs with this title were recorded by

Joe Tex Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the style ...

(1965),

Honey Cone Honey Cone was an American R&B and soul girl group formed by lead singer Edna Wright (sister of Darlene Love) with Carolyn Willis and Shelly Clark in 1968. They are best remembered for their number-one ''Billboard'' Hot 100 single, "Want Ads" ...

(1971) and Little David Wilkins (1975).

Stick McGhee song

"One Monkey Don't Stop No Show" was recorded by Stick McGhee and His Buddies in 1950. The song was written by McGhee, and released on an

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

78, A937, in 1951.

Big Maybelle song

Big Maybelle Mabel Louise Smith (May 1, 1924 – January 23, 1972), known professionally as Big Maybelle, was an American R&B singer. Her 1956 hit single " Candy" received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. Childhood and musical background Born in J ...

recorded another song with the same title in 1955. It was issued as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of her original version of "

Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" (sometimes rendered "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On") is a song written by Dave "Curlee" Williams and sometimes also credited to James Faye "Roy" Hall. The song was first recorded by Big Maybelle, though the best-k ...

". It was written by Charlie Singleton and

Rose Marie McCoy Rose Marie McCoy (April 19, 1922 – January 20, 2015) was an American songwriter. She began her career as an aspiring singer before becoming a prolific songwriter during the 1950s and 1960s. Many artists have recorded some of the over 800 so ...

. A version was recorded by

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

on her 1998 album ''

Bathhouse Betty ''Bathhouse Betty'' is the ninth studio album by the American singer Bette Midler, released in 1998. ''Bathhouse Betty'' was Midler's debut album for Warner Bros. Records, after having parted ways with sister label Atlantic Records in 1995 foll ...

''.

Joe Tex song

A different same-titled song was both written and recorded by Joe Tex in 1965, and reached No. 20 in the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

. In 1966, it was covered by

The Animals The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...

on their UK album ''

Animalisms ''Animalisms'' is the third studio album by British R&B/ blues rock band the Animals, and was released in the United Kingdom in May 1966 on Decca Records. It was the first Animals album to be produced by Tom Wilson as well as the first to fe ...

'' and its US counterpart, ''

Animalization ''Animalization'' is the fourth American album by British rock group The Animals, and was released in August 1966 on MGM Records. It has a track listing somewhat similar to the British album '' Animalisms''. The album, which reached #20 on th ...

''. They also performed it on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

and on several live shows. A

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the Joe Tex song was also recorded by

Terry Knight and the Pack Terry Knight and the Pack (also known as The Pack and The Fabulous Pack) was an American garage rock band formed in Flint, Michigan in 1965. The band was signed to the Lucky Eleven label through most of its brief recording career. They produced ...

in 1967.

Honey Cone song

In 1971, the all-girl group

took a song with the same title to No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and No. 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also charted in Australia and Canada. This was written by General Johnson and Greg Perry. It appeared on the group's ''

Soulful Tapestry ''Soulful Tapestry'' is the third studio album by girl group Honey Cone. It was released by Hot Wax/Invictus Records in 1971 (see 1971 in music). Album information The name of the album was based on and inspired by Carole King's Pop/ Rock br ...

'' album ( Hot Wax HA-707).

Little David Wilkins song

Another song with the same title was recorded by Little David Wilkins for MCA in 1975, reaching No. 11 on US ''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

and No. 48 on CAN ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Country Playlist. This one was written by Wilkins and Tim Marshall.

Other songs

Hank Ballard Hank Ballard (born John Henry Kendricks; November 18, 1927 – March 2, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist of The Midnighters and one of the first rock and roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s. He played an inte ...

and

the Midnighters The Midnighters were an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan. They were an influential group in the 1950s and early 1960s, with many Rhythm and blues, R&B hit records. They were also notable for launching the career of lead singer Hank B ...

recorded a song with the same title, written by

Sonny Thompson Sonny Thompson (probably August 23, 1916 – August 11, 1989), born Alfonso Thompson or Hezzie Tompson, was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Biography There is some uncertainty over Thomps ...

, in 1964. * The Animals recorded a song with this title for their 1966 album Animalisms. *

Jessie Rogers Jessie Rogers is a Brazilian-American pornographic actress. Early life Rogers was born in Goiânia, Brazil. She attended El Camino High School in South San Francisco, California in 2008. She did some mainstream modeling in New York prior to h ...

recorded another same-titled tune, written by Al Johnson and Richard Cobb, in 1983. *

Gillian Welch Gillian Howard Welch (; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, bluegrass, countr ...

recorded "One Monkey", written by Welch and

David Rawlings David Todd Rawlings (born December 31, 1969) is an American guitarist, singer, and record producer. He is known for his partnership with singer and songwriter Gillian Welch. He and Welch were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Son ...

, on their 2003 album, ''

Soul Journey ''Soul Journey'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Gillian Welch. It was released on June 9, 2003 by Acony Records. As with all of her previous releases, it is a collaboration with David Rawlings. Background The album w ...

''. *

Goodie Mob Goodie Mob is an American hip hop group based in Atlanta, Georgia, consisting of CeeLo Green, Khujo, T-Mo, and Big Gipp. History The group was formed in 1991 by Cameron " Big Gipp" Gipp, Willie "Khujo" Knighton Jr., CeeLo Green (born Thoma ...

recorded a track "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show" as the title track of their 2004 album. *

Earthgang EarthGang (stylized EARTHGANG) is an American hip hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia, composed of Olu (aka Johnny Venus) and WowGr8 (aka Doctur Dot – born Eian Parker). They are co-founders of the musical collective Spillage Village, with JID, Ho ...

recorded "Meditate" that referenced the saying in the third verse of the song. *

Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician, activist and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for for three decades. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Pan ...

wrote and recorded an "answer" song called "One Monkey Can Stop A Show" on his 2023 album "All My Love For You".

References

{{Honey Cone 1950 songs The Animals songs Joe Tex songs Honey Cone songs Song recordings produced by Tom Wilson (record producer) Songs written by Joe Tex Songs about New York City