The Main Ingredient Everybody Plays the Fool

Here are some sounds of Seventies soul for us this evening. The song was written by J.R. Bailey, Rudy Clark, and Ken Williams. The Main Ingredient recorded and released it in 1972 as a single, backed with “Who Can I Turn to (When Nobody Needs Me?),” and on their 1972 album titled Bitter Sweet. It was the first recording by The Main Ingredient to be in the Top 40. The song went to #1 on Cash Box, #2 on the U.S. Billboard R&B Chart, and #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It rose to #6 in Canada. It earned an RIAA gold record and a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song.

A cover of “Everybody Plays the Fool” by Aaron Neville in 1991 also charted well.

The Main Ingredient, and R&B and soul group, originally formed in the Harlem area of New York City in 1964. The trio for “Everybody Plays the Fool” consisted of Tony Silvester, Luther Simmons, and Cuba Gooding, Sr. on lead. (Gooding is the father of actor Cuba Gooding, Jr.) The group formed and re-formed over the years, with different lineups. They still tour and perform internationally.

Here are the lyrics to “Everybody Plays the Fool” by The Main Ingredient”:

[Spoken]

Okay, so your heart is broken
You sit around mopin’
Cryin’ and cryin’
You say you’re even thinkin’ about dyin’?
Well, before you do anything rash, dig this

Everybody plays the fool sometime
There’s no exception to the rule
Listen, baby, it may be factual, may be cruel
I ain’t lyin’, everybody plays the fool
Falling in love is such an easy thing to do
And there’s no guarantee that the one you love
Is gonna love you
Oh-oh-oh, lovin’ eyes they cannot see
A certain person could never be
Love runs deeper than any ocean
You can cloud your mind with emotion
Everybody plays the fool, sometime
There’s no exception to the rule
Listen, baby, it may be factual, may be cruel
I want to tell ya that
Everybody plays the fool

How can you help it when the music starts to play
And your ability to reason is swept away
Oh-oh-oh, heaven on earth is all you see
You’re out of touch with reality
And now you cry but when you do
Next time around someone cries for you

Everybody plays the fool, sometime
They use your heart just like a tool
Listen, baby, they never tell you so in school
I want to say it again
Everybody plays the fool
Listen to me, baby

Everybody plays the fool, sometime
(No exception) no exception to the rule
It may be factual, may be cruel, sometime
But everybody plays the fool
Listen, listen, baby
Everybody plays the fool, sometime
They use your heart like a tool

For More 70s Tunes

The System has daily featured music from all sorts of genres of 1970s music. You’re welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections in The System. Thank you for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed “Everybody Plays the Fool” by The Main Ingredient.