Where Have All the Good Times Gone
"Where Have All the Good Times Gone" | ||||
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Single by the Kinks | ||||
from the album The Kink Kontroversy | ||||
A-side | "Till the End of the Day" | |||
Released |
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Format | 7-inch single | |||
Recorded | 23–30 October 1965 | |||
Studio | Pye (No. 2), London | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:49 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Ray Davies | |||
Producer(s) | Shel Talmy | |||
The Kinks UK singles chronology | ||||
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The Kinks US singles chronology | ||||
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"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," and then on their album The Kink Kontroversy (1965 UK, 1966 US).
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."[1]
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.
Cover versions
- David Bowie on the album Pin Ups.
- Van Halen on the album Diver Down. This was Van Halen's second cover of a Kinks' song, the first being "You Really Got Me" on their eponymous debut album.
- Supergrass performed the song live at the 1995 Glastonbury Festival.
- Mike Lécuyer as "Où est donc le bon vieux temps" (French) on A 7 plombes du mat' blues (1978).