Released August 1972 Genre Soul, R&B | Format 7" Length 3:22 | |
B-side "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me?)" Recorded 1972 at RCA's Studio C, New York City, New York | ||
"Everybody Plays the Fool" is the title of a popular song written by J.R. Bailey, Rudy Clark and Ken Williams. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best R&B Song at the 1973 ceremony.
Contents
The first recording of the song to reach the Top 40 in the United States was by the R&B group The Main Ingredient, a trio consisting at the time of Cuba Gooding, Sr., Tony Silvester and Luther Simmons, Jr. Their version of "Everybody Plays the Fool" rose to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the fall of 1972, and was certified gold by the RIAA. This version also peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart and at No. 25 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart. It was the group's highest charting hit single.
Aaron Neville version
Singer Aaron Neville recorded a cover version of "Everybody Plays the Fool" in 1991 which also hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching No. 8 in the fall of that year, and it spent 20 weeks on the chart. This was Neville's third Top 10 hit on the pop chart, following "Tell It Like It Is" (1967, No. 2) and his duet with Linda Ronstadt, "Don't Know Much" (1989, No. 2). Neville's single also went to No. 1 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In addition, it was a No. 1 single in New Zealand.
Critical reception
The song received a positive review from AllMusic. Alex Henderson wrote "Everybody Plays the Fool" showed that Neville still had plenty of warmth and charisma.
Other covers and uses
The electronic dance music artist Bassix also recorded a version of "Everybody Plays the Fool" during the late 1980s.
The track was featured in an episode of Everybody Hates Chris entitled "Everybody Hates Badboys".
The song was also played during an episode of Supernatural, episode 10 of season 5, "Abandon All Hope".