Where Have All the Good Times Gone

"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
  • 19 November 1965 (1965-11-19)
Recorded3–4 November 1965[1]
StudioPye, London
Genre
Length2:49
Label
Songwriter(s)Ray Davies
Producer(s)Shel Talmy
The Kinks UK singles chronology
"See My Friends"
(1965) 		"Till the End of the Day" / "Where Have All the Good Times Gone"
(1965) 		"Dedicated Follower of Fashion"
(1966)
The Kinks US singles chronology
"A Well Respected Man"
(1965) 		"Till the End of the Day" / "Where Have All the Good Times Gone"
(1965) 		"Dedicated Follower of Fashion"
(1966)

"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.

Personnel[edit]

According to band researcher Doug Hinman:[1]

The Kinks

Additional musician

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Hinman 2004, p. 70.
  2. ^ "Ray Davies and the Kinks: Their 10 greatest songs". The Telegraph. London. 30 December 2016.
  3. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 19 March 1966. p. 14. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  4. ^ Hasted, Nick (2011). You Really Got Me: The Story of The Kinks. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84938-660-9.

Sources[edit]

  • Hinman, Doug (2004). The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night: Day-by-Day Concerts, Recordings and Broadcasts, 1961–1996. San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-765-3.

External links[edit]

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