Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy

"Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy" is a song by Ray Davies, released as a UK single by The Kinks in 1965. As the follow-up to the number-one hit "Tired of Waiting for You" (indeed their previous 3 singles all made the top 2), it was relatively unsuccessful, reaching number 11. It broke a run of what would have been thirteen consecutive top-ten singles in the UK.

Both sides of the single were recorded in December 1964 in the same session as the B-side and final overdubs for "Tired of Waiting for You".

Following the poor performance in the UK, Reprise held off releasing the single in the U.S. They did release follow up "Set Me Free" but when the next UK single "See My Friends" was judged to be even less suitable, they flipped the "Ev'rybody..." single with "Who'll Be the Next in Line" as the A-side, releasing it four months after the UK version. Although only a moderate hit, reaching number 34, it was more successful than "See My Friends" which, when it was eventually released in the U.S. in September, failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100 (peaking at #111).

As well as being the U.S. B-side, "Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy" was included as the first track on side 2 of the U.S. version of the Kinda Kinks album.

The song is featured in Stephen Frears' film, High Fidelity, and appears on the accompanying soundtrack.

Covers

• "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy" was covered by Queens of the Stone Age on the limited edition UK and Japanese versions of their Songs for the Deaf album.
• Queens of the Stone Age also covered "Who'll Be the Next in Line" on their Stone Age Complications album.
• "Who'll Be the Next in Line" was also covered by French singer Françoise Hardy in 1969

External links

• The Official Ray Davies Web Site
• The Official Ray Davies Forum - "The Old Grey Board"
• The Official Ray Davies Forum on YouTube