Credited to
Jagger/Richards, "Happy" was written primarily by Keith Richards during the summer of 1971, at the villa
Nellcôte in southern
France, over the course of a single afternoon. According to Richards, "We did that in an afternoon, in only four hours, cut and done. At noon it had never existed. At four o'clock it was on tape." The basic tracks were recorded in the Nellcôte basement, using the
Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, with Richards on bass, guitar and vocals, producer
Jimmy Miller on drums, and saxophonist
Bobby Keys on
maracas. "Happy" was the only single by the band to chart on the Hot 100 on which Richards sang lead. In 1972,
Record World called "Happy", along with the B-side of "All Down the Line" as, "the Stones at their best." ==In concert==