''Everybody Oughta Sing A Song'' is the second solo studio album by Australian pop singer
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a Teen idol, teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an Adu ...
(billed then as Johnny Farnham) and was released on
EMI Records
EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...
in November 1968.
Its first single, released in July, was the double A-sided, "Jamie"/"I Don't Want To Love You", which peaked at No. 8 on the
''Go-Set'' National Singles Charts.
The second single, "Rose Coloured Glasses" was released in October and peaked at No. 16.
Writers on the album included
Hans Poulsen
Hans Sven Poulsen (born Bruce Gordon Poulsen, 7 March 1945 – 17 February 2023) was an Australian singer-songwriter and musician of Danish descent who was popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and known for his eccentric hippie style.McFa ...
,
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...
and
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
.
The album was re-released in 1974 with a different cover, it shows Farnham performing live on stage, whereas the initial 1968 release had him leaning against a
Holden Monaro
The Holden Monaro ( ) is a rear-wheel drive coupé manufactured by General Motors Holden in Australia from 1968 to 1975 and later reintroduced from 2001 to 2005. It was also manufactured as a 4-door sedan from 1973 to 1977.
Three generations of ...
(see infobox at right).
Background
Johnny Farnham's first commercially successful solo recording was the
novelty song
A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...
entitled "
Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)
"Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" was Australian pop singer Johnny Farnham's first solo single. The novelty song was released in November 1967 and was No. 1 on the ''Go-Set'' National Singles Charts for five weeks in early 1968 NOTE: ''Go-Set'' publis ...
", his
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
,
Darryl Sambell
Darryl Lloyd Sambell (26 November 194519 September 2001) was an Australian accountant, talent manager and music promoter from the mid-1960s.
In 1967 Samball established the "Australian Musicians Booking Organisation" (AMBO), with fellow talent ...
had disliked it as the lyrics were so persistent.
However,
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
's in house producer,
David Mackay, insisted and so the single was released in November 1967. "Sadie" hit No. 1 on the
''Go-Set'' National Singles Charts in January 1968 and remained there for five weeks.
Selling 180 000 copies in Australia, "Sadie" was the highest selling single by an Australian artist of the decade.
Farnham's first album, ''Sadie'', produced by Mackay was released in April.
Almost immediately, Farnham was recording his second album, ''Everybody Oughta Sing A Song'' with Mackay producing.
The first single from the album was released in July, the double A-sided, "Jamie" / "I Don't Want To Love You" which peaked at No. 8.
It was followed by the second single, "Rose Coloured Glasses" which peaked at No. 16.
while the album itself was released in November.
Track listing
# "Everybody Oughta Sing a Song"
(Dallas Frazier
Dallas Frazier (October 27, 1939 – January 14, 2022) was an American country musician and songwriter who had success in the 1950s and 1960s.
Life and career
Frazier was born in Spiro, Oklahoma, on October 27, 1939, but was raised in Bakersfie ...
) – 2:18
# "Jamie"
(Hans Poulsen
Hans Sven Poulsen (born Bruce Gordon Poulsen, 7 March 1945 – 17 February 2023) was an Australian singer-songwriter and musician of Danish descent who was popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and known for his eccentric hippie style.McFa ...
) – 2:28
# "There Is No Season to My Love"
(Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
, Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), "On th ...
) – 2:24
# "
Two-Bit Manchild"
(Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...
) – 3:01
# "The Last Thing on My Mind"
(Tom Paxton
Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. ) – 3:27
# "Strollin'"
(Ralph Reader) – 1:59
# "Scratchin' Ma Head"
(Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett) – 2:07
# "I Don't Want To Love You"
(Don Everly
The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...
, Phil Everly
The Everly Brothers were an American rock music, rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (Januar ...
) – 2:48
# "Confidentially"
(Reg Dixon
Reginald Manning Dixon was a sailor from Canada, who represented his country in the 1932 Summer Olympics in the Snowbird in Los Angeles, United States as well as in the 1936 Summer Olympics in the O-Jolle in Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and ...
) – 2:03
# "Rose Coloured Glasses"
(Hans Poulsen) – 2:49
# "Grand Unspeakable Passion"
(Peter Best) – 2:12
# "Sunday Will Never Be The Same"
(Eugene Pistilli, Terry Cashman
Terry Cashman (born Dennis Minogue, July 5, 1941) is an American record producer and singer-songwriter, best known for his 1981 chart-topper, hit, "Talkin' Baseball". While the song is well recognized today and allowed Cashman the chance to meet ...
) – 2:58
# "You Can Write a Song"
( Roger Cook, John Neel) – 2:38
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Everybody Oughta Sing A Song
1968 albums
John Farnham albums
EMI Columbia Records albums
Albums produced by David Mackay (producer)