 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2014) |
| "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 1973 UK reissue picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by the Kinks | ||||
| from the album The Kink Kontroversy | ||||
| A-side | "Till the End of the Day" | |||
| Released |
| |||
| Recorded | 3–4 November 1965[1] | |||
| Studio | Pye, London | |||
| Length | 2:49 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Ray Davies | |||
| Producer(s) | Shel Talmy | |||
| The Kinks UK singles chronology | ||||
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| The Kinks US singles chronology | ||||
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"Where Have All the Good Times Gone" is a song written by Ray Davies and performed by the Kinks. It was released as the B-side to "Till the End of the Day,"[2] and then on their album The Kink Kontroversy (1965 UK, 1966 US).
Cash Box described the single as a "raunchy, shufflin’ emotional tale of despair."[3]
Ray Davies said, "We'd been rehearsing 'Where Have All the Good Times Gone' and our tour manager at the time, who was a lot older than us, said, 'That's a song a 40-year-old would write. I don't know where you get that from.' But I was taking inspiration from older people around me. I'd been watching them in the pubs, talking about taxes and job opportunities."[4]
The song has since gained "classic" status and featured on numerous compilations. Pye Records released the track as a single in November 1973 (Pye 7N 45313 b/w "Lola"). This re-release failed to chart. Although the Kinks had performed the song live on the TV show Ready Steady Go! in 1965, it would not become a staple of their live shows until the 1970s.
The song was covered and released as a single in 1982 by Van Halen for their album Diver Down, reaching 17 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. The song has also been covered by David Bowie.
- ^ Hinman 2004, p. 70.
- ^ "Ray Davies and the Kinks: Their 10 greatest songs". The Telegraph. London. 30 December 2016.
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 19 March 1966. p. 14. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ Hasted, Nick (2011). You Really Got Me: The Story of The Kinks. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84938-660-9.