Today in Music (1911): “Joy to the World” charted for the first time

Joy to the World George Frideric Handel (music), Isaac Watts (words), Lowell Mason (arranged)

Writer(s): George Frideric Handel (m), Isaac Watts (w), Lowell Mason (arranged) (see lyrics here) First Published: 1719 First Charted: December 16, 1911 (Trinity Choir) Peak – all versions: 5 PM, 5 AC, 44 CW, 33 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions – all versions): -- radio, 105.74 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Joy to the World” is the most-published Christian hymn in North America since the 20th century, appearing in more than 1300 hymnals. HY Isaac Watts, an English minister and hymn writer, penned the lyrics of “Joy to the World” as a Christian reinterpretation of Psalm 98. He published it in 1719 in his collection The Psalms of David: Imitated in the Language of the New Testament. WK It was not intended to be a Christmas carol, as the lyrics do not reference the birth of Jesus but Christ’s Second Coming. WK In 1848, it was set to a musical arrangement by American composer Lowell Mason and published in The National Psalmist. WK That tune – “Antioch” – is attributed to George Friedrich Händel. While some have suggested a connection between Händel’s Messiah and “Joy to the World,“ the resemblences between the two have been dismissed by scholars. WK The first version of the song to chart was by the Trinity Choir in 1911. It reached #5. Their only other chart entry was a #4 rendition of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” the next year. PM The group included Elise Stevenson as a member. She charted nineteen hits from 1907 to 1911, including the #1 songs “Because You’re You,” “Are You Sincere?,” “Good Evening, Caroline,” and “Shine on, Harvest Moon.” PM There have been other charted versions of the song by Mariah Carey (1994, #33 CN), Nick Jonas (2004, #14 AC), the B.E. Group (2005, #28 AC), Faith Hill (2008, #44 CW), Train (2012, #5 AC), and Pentatonix (2015, #9 AC). The 1970 recording of “Joy to the World” by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is featured in the DMDB book Dave’s Faves: The Grand Library. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for George Friedrich Händel HY Hymnary.org (12/1/2009). “The Top Twenty Most-Published Christian Hymns” PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 412-3 and 422. WK Wikipedia First posted 12/21/2023.

Three Dog Night “Joy to the World” hit #1

Joy to the World Three Dog Night

Writer(s): Hoyt Axton (see lyrics here) Released: February 1971 First Charted: March 5, 1971 Peak: 16 BB, 16 CB, 16 GR, 15 HR, 1 CL, 24 UK, 16 CN, 8 AU 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 5.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 3.36 video, 137.0 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Three Dog Night was an usual group in that it featured not one, but three different vocalists. Cory Wells and Danny Hutton first came together and then recruited their friend and fellow singer Chuck Negron. They formed the group in Los Angeles in 1967 with guitarist Michael Allsup, keyboardist Jimmy Greenspoon, bassist Joe Schemie, and drummer Floyd Sneed. Their name came from an Australian saying that if it’s cold in the outback, you sleep with one dog to keep you warm. If “the mercury dips so low that your blood turns to ice that’s a three dog night.” FB Their chart hits relied on outside songwriters. Their first top-40 hit in 1969 was a cover of Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness,” followed by top-10 hits by Harry Nilsson, Laura Nyro, and the song “Easy to Be Hard” from the musical Hair. They first reached #1 in 1970 with Randy Newman’s “Mama Told Me Not to Come.” Their next #1 song came courtesy country singer Harry Axton. He originally wrote “Joy to the World” for a children’s animated television special called The Happy Song. When it didn’t go into production he shopped the songs independently. FB He was opening for Three Dog Night at the time and showed up to their recording studio one day and played them “Joy to the World.” Cory Wells didn’t like the song, but the rest of the group loved it. They recorded it with Chuck Negron on lead vocals, but didn’t originally intend it to be a single. The lead single was “One Man Band,” which reached #19. The a DJ out of Seattle named Lary Bergman plucked the song off the group’s Naturally album and started playing it. Within a few weeks it went to #1 in Seattle. SF After reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, it became their record company’s best-selling song of all time. FB It also gave Hoyt the distinction of being the first songwriter to hit #1 whose mother had also accomplished the distinction. FB In 1956, Mae Axton was a co-writer on Elvis Presley’s first chart-topper, “Heartbreak Hotel.” Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Three Dog Night FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 291. SF Songfacts First posted 9/14/2023.