“I Will Follow Him” — Little Peggy March

Photo by Ankush Minda on Unsplash

“I Will Follow Him” is a truly multi-generational song. If you’re older than me you’ll think of Little Peggy March. If you’re a bit younger you’ll think of Whoopi Goldberg. And if you’re younger still, you’ll think of Toulouse and iPhones.

For extra bonus points, if you’re a sophisticate, you might even think of Petula Clark.

“I Will Follow Him” reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 for Little Peggy March in 1963, just a month after her 15th birthday…to this day, she’s youngest female artist to hit the top spot on the Hot 100.

1963 was a good year for youngsters — in August that same year “Little” Stevie Wonder, as he was billed at the time, scored a Billboard Number One too, at 11 years and 189 days old…to this day, the youngest male solo artist to do so.

But “I Will Follow Him” started out as an entirely different song…that’s where Petula Clark comes in.

Originally the song we would come to know as “I Will Follow Him” was an instrumental called “Chariot”, performed by Franck Pourcel and his Orchestra.

Then English singer Petula Clark recorded a set of French lyrics, written by Jacques Plante (no, not the hockey player), over the music originally composed by Franck Pourcel and Paul Mauriat. Petula Clark’s version of “Chariot” reached Number…