Your classic smooth ’70s soul song of the day is “Everybody Plays the Fool” by the Main Ingredient. This single, released in August of 1972 on the RCA label, went to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #2 on Billboard’s Best Selling Soul Singles chart.
“Everybody Plays the Fool” was written by J.R. Bailey, Rudy Clark, and Ken Williams. Bailey was a former member of the Cadillacs; Williams was a producer and songwriter; and Clark was a songwriter, responsible for songs like “Good Lovin'” (for the Young Rascals), “The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)” (for Betty Everett), and “Got My Mind Set on You” (for James Ray and, later, George Harrison).
The Main Ingredient was formed in Harlem in 1964 as a trio named the Poets, recording for Leiber and Stoller’s Red Bird label. The group consisted of lead singer Donald McPherson, Luther Simmons Jr., and Tony Sylvester. They changed their name to the Main Ingredient in 1968 and, in 1970, signed with RCA Records and teamed with producer/arranger Bert DeCoteaux.
Don McPherson died unexpectedly in 1971 and was replaced on lead by Cuba Gooding, Sr. “Everybody Plays the Fool” was their first and biggest hit, but they also had a Top Ten mainstream hit with “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely” in 1974, along with several hits on the R&B charts.
Tony Sylvester left the group in 1975, Cuba Gooding departed two years later, and Luther Simmons later exited the music business to become a stockbroker. The Main Ingredient reunited (together and with replacement members) several times over the years, but all three members have since passed—Silvester in 2006, Simmons in 2016, and Gooding in 2017.
