A version of this tune featuring American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson has appeared on a high profile commercial for American Family insurance, in the process reawakening interest in this tune, at least for me. The original was released in 1970 by a family group from Chicago, the Five Stairsteps (just as, a year earlier, the Jackson 5 burst on the scene as a family group from nearby Gary, Indiana). According to Wikipedia, “‘O-o-h Child’ broke out in the key markets of Philadelphia and Detroit to rise as high as #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1970. The track’s R&B chart impact was more muted with a #14 peak, although “O-o-h Child” is now regarded as a “soft soul” classic. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 21 song of 1970.”
