Laughing Boy (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Laughing Boy
Artist = Mary Wells
from Album = Two Lovers
Format = Vinyl single
B-side = Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right
Released = 1963
Recorded = Hitsville USA, 1962
Genre = Soul/pop
Label = Motown
M 1035
Length = 2:54
Writer = Smokey Robinson
Producer = Smokey Robinson
Last single = "Two Lovers"
(1963)
This single = "Laughing Boy"
(1963)
Next single = "Your Old Standby"
(1963)

"Laughing Boy" is a song written and produced by Smokey Robinson and recorded and released as a single by early Motown star Mary Wells in 1963. The single is notable for being the song to break a consecutive streak of top ten hits Wells had scored between mid-1962 and early-1963.

Overview

ong information

In this song, the narrator consoles her boyfriend whom she feels is feeling "gloomy and blue" despite his public image that shows him in a happier mood. Appearing to think she doesn't love him, Wells tries pleading to her boyfriend to "smile once more" saying she still loves him "as she did before". The song features background singers imitating the man's appropriated laughter in a solemn tone.

Release and reaction

When the song was set for release, Motown executives were confident the record would continue Wells' streak of top ten hits which included "The One Who Really Loves You", "You Beat Me to the Punch" and "Two Lovers". However, the single stalled at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. In spite of its failure not to reach the top ten, the song is still revered as a classic.

Credits

*Lead vocal by Mary Wells
*Background vocals by The Andantes and The Love Tones
*Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers