| "Everybody Plays the Fool" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side A of US single | ||||
| Single by the Main Ingredient | ||||
| from the album Bitter Sweet | ||||
| B-side | "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me?)" | |||
| Released | June 1972[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1972 | |||
| Studio | RCA Studio C (New York City) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:22 | |||
| Label | RCA | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| The Main Ingredient singles chronology | ||||
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"Everybody Plays the Fool" is a 1972 song first recorded by American R&B group The Main Ingredient, and written by J. R. Bailey, Rudy Clark and Ken Williams. It was the first single released from the group's album Bitter Sweet, released with the B-side "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me?)". "Everybody Plays the Fool" was the group's highest charting hit single, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the fall of 1972. It also peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart and at No. 25 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart.[3] It was certified gold by the RIAA.[4]
The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song at the 1973 ceremony, losing to "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone".
A 1991 cover of the song by Aaron Neville, from the album Warm Your Heart, was also successful, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 in New Zealand.
- ^ "New Radio Action and Billboard Picks Singles". Billboard. June 17, 1972. p. 70.
- ^ Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (October 15, 1996). "Walking in Rhythm: Seventies Soul". Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 64. ISBN 031214704X.
- ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications)
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications)