1969 Hit but could it happen today?

"Oh Happy Day" is a 1967 gospel music arrangement of an 18th century hymn. Recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers it became an international hit in 1969, making US #4 and UK #2 on the pop charts. It has since become a gospel music standard.


Origins

Edwin Hawkins’ funk style arrangement of the hymn "Oh Happy Day" has a long pedigree: It began as a hymn written in the mid-18th century ("Oh happy day that fixed my choice") by English clergyman Phillip Doddridge (based on Acts 8:35) set to an earlier melody (1704) by J. A. Freylinghausen. By the mid-19th century it had been given a new melody by Edward F. Rimbault and was commonly used for baptismal or confirmation ceremonies in the UK and USA. The 20th century saw its adaptation from 3/4 to 4/4 time and this new arrangement by Hawkins, which contains the repeated refrain only (all of the original verses being omitted).

The Edwin Hawkins Singers

The Edwin Hawkins Singers began as The Northern California State Youth Choir founded in 1967 by Hawkins and Betty Watson, its members aged 17–25. As was common in gospel circles they produced and distributed their own LP: Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord, recorded live in church. "Oh Happy Day", featuring Dorothy Morrison as lead vocalist, was picked up by a local DJ and subsequently released commercially. Aretha Franklin had already brought strong gospel stylings to the pop charts with songs such as "Think" (1968), but a hymn had never “crossed over” before. "Oh Happy Day" soared into the US Top 5, winning a Grammy and massive sales worldwide.

Legacy and influence

Hawkins' arrangement quickly became a “standard” and has been recorded by hundreds of artists. It was included on the RIAA Songs of the Century list.

Hawkins is still active and is now an elder statesman for the Contemporary Gospel style which "Oh Happy Day" helped found.

This song served as an inspiration for the Nick Cave song "Deanna" (1988), which appears on Tender Prey and B-Sides & Rarities.

The song has appeared in many movies, but notably Whoopi Goldberg's Sister Act 2. The song also appears in Big Momma's House and Nutty Professor 2:The Klumps. In the United Kingdom, it was played by Bruno Brookes on BBC Radio 1 in the early hours of April 10, 1992 to herald the Conservative Party's fourth consecutive election victory.

Other versions

In addition to the Hawkins Singers, the song has been recorded by a number of other artists, most notably Joan Baez, who included the song on her 1971 album Carry It On, and later her 1976 live album From Every Stage.


* Recorded live 1967, Ephesian Church of God in Christ, Berkeley, California.

Independently released on the LP Let us go into the house of the Lord (1968). Commercially released as a 7" single on Pavilion Records April 1969, then on Buddah Records LP Oh Happy Day 1969.

Awards

* 1970 Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance