Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"
Single by Sly and the Family Stone
from the album Greatest Hits
A-side "Everybody Is a Star"
Released December 1969
Format 7" single
Recorded 1969
Genre Funk
Length 4:48
Label Epic
Writer(s) Sly Stone
Producer(s) Sly Stone
Sly and the Family Stone singles chronology
"Hot Fun in the Summertime"
(1969)		 "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"/"Everybody Is a Star"
(1969)		 "Family Affair"
(1971)
Music sample
"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)""

"Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" is a 1969 song recorded by Sly and the Family Stone. The song, released as a double A-side single with "Everybody Is a Star", reached number one on the soul single charts for five weeks, and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970.[1] Billboard ranked the record as the No. 19 song of 1970.[2]

"Thank You" was intended to be included on an in-progress album with "Star" and "Hot Fun in the Summertime"; the LP was never completed, and the three tracks were instead included on the band's 1970 Greatest Hits LP. "Thank You" and "Star", the final Family Stone recordings issued in the 1960s, marked the beginning of a 20-month gap of releases from the band, which would finally end with the release of "Family Affair" in 1971.

The song's length on the original hit single and the Greatest Hits LP is 4:48 and was re-channeled to simulate stereo on the popular Greatest Hits LP. The previously unreleased full-length version (6:18) was mixed by Bob Irwin in true stereo and its only issue was on a 1990 Columbia promotional CD Legacy: Music for the Next Generation. On the subsequent (and currently available as of 2015) The Essential Sly & The Family Stone 2-CD set, the track is in stereo but is the standard 4:48 length hit version.

The song was ranked number 402 on Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Song information

Overview

The title is an intentional mondegreen for "thank you for letting me be myself again." The third verse contains specific references to the group's previous successful songs, "Dance to the Music", "Everyday People", "Sing a Simple Song", and "You Can Make It If You Try". The song features co-lead vocals from Sly Stone, Rose Stone, Freddie Stone, and Larry Graham.

Cover versions

Sly and the Family Stone worked on "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" in a slower pace as "Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa", the closing track of 1971's There's a Riot Goin' On.

In 1970, pianist Junior Mance included an instrumental cover of the song on his album, With a Lotta Help from My Friends.[3]

Gladys Knight and the Pips did a cover version of the song in 1971.

Magazine covered the song in 1980 on the album The Correct Use of Soap. The same recording was issued as the A-side of a single, and a live version was included on the 1981 album Play.

Soundgarden performed it on their 1989 tour and during their John Peel session that year.[4]

Dave Matthews Band performed the song on their 2008 summer tour. It was often featured as the final song of the encore.[5]

In other media

The song was used in the ending credits for the 2007 animated film Shrek the Third, with vocals performed by the characters of Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas).

Janet Jackson's 1989 song "Rhythm Nation" samples the groove from the song in between verses.

Personnel

Preceded by
"Venus" by Shocking Blue		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
February 14, 1970 (for 2 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel
Preceded by
"I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5		 Billboard Best Selling Soul number-one single
February 7, 1970 (for 5 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Rainy Night in Georgia" by Brook Benton

See also

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 534.
  2. ↑ Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1970
  3. ↑ Atlantic Records Catalog: 1500 Series accessed April 19, 2016
  4. ↑ "Soundgarden Live Guide". Archived from the original on 2004-10-11. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
  5. ↑ "DMBAlmanac.com". Retrieved 2008-08-14.
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