"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 is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul music, soul girl group. Originally formed by lead singer Edna Wright (sister of Darlene Love) with Carolyn Willis and Shelly Clark in 1968. They are known for their List of Billboard Hot ...

(1971) and

Little David Wilkins Little David Wilkins (born May 18, 1945) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and pianist. Between 1969 and 1977, he recorded for MCA Records with whom he released his greatest number of chart hits. Wilkins performed at a nightclub ...

(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 the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

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 record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

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. A version was recorded by

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

on her 1998 album '' Bathhouse Betty''.

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 advertis ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, 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 repres ...

. In 1966, it was covered by

The Animals The Animals, currently billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals (featuring original frontman Eric Burdon) and also as Animals & Friends (featuring original drummer John Steel (drummer), John Steel), are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Ne ...

on their UK album '' Animalisms'' and its US counterpart, '' Animalization''. They also performed it on

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

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'' album ( Hot Wax HA-707).

Little David Wilkins song

Another song with the same title was recorded by

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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

and No. 48 on CAN ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 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 R&B hit records. They were also notable for launching the career of lead singer Hank Ballard and the w ...

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 R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Biography There is some uncertainty over Thompson's origins, as ...

, in 1964. *

David Allan Coe David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. He ini ...

recorded "One Monkey" with the whole saying being quoted in 1982, on the ''Underground Album''. * Jessie Rogers 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, coun ...

recorded "One Monkey", written by Welch and

David Rawlings David Todd Rawlings (born December 30, 1969) is an American guitarist, singer, and record producer. He is known for his musical partnership with singer and songwriter Gillian Welch. He and Welch were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Or ...

, on their 2003 album, '' Soul Journey''. *

Goodie Mob Goodie Mob was 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 Th ...

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; born Olu Onyemachi Dakarai Fann) and WowGr8 (aka Doctur Dot; born Eian Parker). They are co-founders of the musical collective S ...

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, ending in 2023. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter ...

had a title track on his 1995 album ''One Monkey Don't Stop No Show'' and 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