The song was ranked #98 in Rolling Stones's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and #861 in Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. Soul Train historian Stephen McMillian called it "quintessential Al Green" and "one of the greatest soul songs of all time."[1] Writing in Vibe, Alan Light called it "perhaps his most perfect song."[2]
I wouldn’t say it was a return to the old style soul of my early days, but I definitely pulled it from the same source of raw and gritty need. The result was like a slow fever, building on the beat, pushing up the temperature with each breath of the staccato horns and pushing through to delirium as we came up on the fade.[1]
In his 2000 autobiography Take Me to the River, Green said of the song:
"Love and Happiness" was like mixing explosive chemicals — everything had to be added at just the right time and at just the right dose. The tempo was the most important thing to Willie, and, if you listen close, you can hear Teenie counting off with his foot on a cardboard box for the take that nailed it.[3]
Chart performance
On April 27, 1973, London Records released "Love and Happiness" as a UK single, backed with "So You're Leaving" (catalog number 10419).[4]Hi Records, however, did not release the song as a single at the time that the album I'm Still in Love with You was on the charts, instead releasing the title track, "Look What You Done for Me", and "For the Good Times". The song nonetheless gained popularity in the U.S. from radio airplay,[1] and his performance of the song on Soul Train on March 3, 1973.[5]
In an attempt to boost Green's flagging record sales, an edited version of the song was finally released as a U.S. single in the summer of 1977, backed with "Glory Glory" (catalog number 45-2324). The single peaked at #104 on the pop chart and #92 on the R&B chart.[6][7]
A surreptitiously recorded live cover by Mr. Lee & the Rearrangers Band was described by Rocktober magazine as "perhaps the most bizarre 45 in Chicago history."[12]