If You Wanna Be Happy
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"If You Wanna Be Happy" is a 1963 song recorded by
Jimmy Soul Jimmy Soul (born James Louis McCleese; August 24, 1942 – June 25, 1988) was an American vocalist. He is best remembered for his 1963 number one hit, "If You Wanna Be Happy." Background Born in Weldon, North Carolina,Rafael de Leon and adapted by Joseph Royster, Carmella Guida and Frank Guida.


Background

"If You Wanna Be Happy" is based on the song "Ugly Woman" by the
Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...
calypsonian A calypsonian,Definition of CALYPSO
Roaring Lion Roaring Lion (22 February 190811 July 1999) was a Trinidadian calypsonian (calypso singer/composer). His 65-year career began in the early 1930s and he is best known for his compositions "Ugly Woman" (1933), " Mary Ann" and "Netty, Netty", whi ...
(writing credited to his real name, Rafael de Leon), recorded in 1934. It hit #1 on the
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
on May 18, 1963, as well as on the R&B singles chart. It was issued on Frank Guida's S.P.Q.R. label and distributed by
London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...
, and in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
on
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 Stateside label. The original single lists a running time of 2:14; some later releases are slightly longer due to an extended
fade-out In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theatre lighting in much the same way (see fade (filmmaking) and fade (lighting)). A recor ...
. It was banned on many radio stations due to the use of the words "Ugly Girl/ Woman." Towards the end of the track, a brief dialogue takes place between Soul and a backup singer, based on
Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...
's song "Say Man": "Say Man!!"/ "Hey baby."/ "I saw your wife the other day."/ "Yeah??"/ "Yeah, and she's ugly-y-y-y-y!!!"/ "Yeah, she's ugly, but she sure can cook, baby."/ "Yeah, alright."/ Soul's
counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
melody in a
falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...
is heard as the song fades out.


Covers

*
Trini Lopez Trinidad López III (May 15, 1937 – August 11, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and actor. His first album included a cover version of Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer", which earned a Golden Disc for him. His other hits included ...
in 1963, on the live album ''By Popular Demand More Trini Lopez At P.J.'s''. *Former
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
bassist
Bill Wyman William George Wyman (né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who achieved international fame as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member ...
, on his solo album ''
Stone Alone ''Stone Alone'' is the second solo album by the Rolling Stones' bass guitarist Bill Wyman. It was released in 1976 by Rolling Stones Records. The album reached number 166 on the Billboard 200. Van Morrison plays the saxophone in "A Quarter to Th ...
'', in 1976. *
Joe Dolce Joseph Dolce (born October 13, 1947) (, originally ) is an American-Italian singer/songwriter, poet and essayist. Dolce achieved international recognition with his multi-million-selling song, "Shaddap You Face", released worldwide under the n ...
, in 1981, as the follow-up to his international hit single "
Shaddap You Face "Shaddap You Face" is a novelty song written and performed by Joe Dolce (released under the name Joe Dolce Music Theatre) about a rebellious Italian boy. Released in late 1980, it set a number of sales and longevity records. It was released by ...
". It reached the top 40 in New Zealand and #7 in Austria. *
Kid Creole and the Coconuts Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created by August Darnell with Andy Hernandez and Adriana Kaegi. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular a mix of disco and Latin American, Caribbean ...
,
The Dovells The Dovells were an American doo-wop group, formed at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1957, under the name 'The Brooktones'. The original members were Arnie Silver, Len Borisoff, Jerry Gross (alias Summers), Mike Freda, a ...
,
Racey Racey are a British pop group, formed in 1976 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, by Clive Wilson and Phil Fursdon. They achieved success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with hits such as "Lay Your Love on Me" and "Some Girls". Thei ...
,
The Skatalites The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including " Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many othe ...
,
Randy Meisner Randall Herman Meisner (born March 8, 1946) is a retired American musician, singer, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles. Throughout his professional musical career, Meisner's main role was that of bassist and backing high-harmony vocal ...
and
Barnes & Barnes Barnes & Barnes are an American musical duo, formed in Los Angeles in 1970. Though commonly associated with novelty music and comedy rock, their music has also incorporated elements of new wave, synth-pop, and folk rock. The duo formed in 1 ...
have also released versions. *
Rocky Sharpe and the Replays Rocky Sharpe and the Replays is an English doo-wop/rock and roll revival group who first found fame in the late 1970s. The usual line-up of the group was Rocky Sharpe (born Robert Podsiadły, 26 November 1952 – 5 December 2019), Helen Highwat ...
covered this song as their last chart hit, in 1983. * Dr. Victor & The Rasta Rebels covered the song in 2009. *
Jensen Ackles Jensen Ross Ackles (born March 1, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Dean Winchester in The WB/The CW, CW dark fantasy drama series ''Supernatural (American TV series), Supernatural'' (2005–2020) and appearing in ...
performed a parody version for the
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
series The Boys in 2022.


References

{{authority control 1963 singles Jimmy Soul songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Songs written by Frank Guida 1963 songs London Records singles