Today is Thanksgiving day in the United States, so let’s be thankful for today’s classic song of the day, “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” by Sly and the Family Stone. In case you can’t figure out the mondegreen (intentional misspelling), the title reads as “Thank you for lettin’ me be myself again.” But then, you probably knew that.
“Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” was written by Sylvester (Sly) Stone and was released in December of 1969 as half of a double A-side single along with “Everybody is a Star.” It peaked, early in 1970, at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also spent five weeks in the #1 slot on Billboard’s Soul single chart.
The song, like many of the group’s hits, featured shared vocals from multiple group members. In this instance you get to hear everybody singing a little something. That includes Sly himself, his sister Rose Stone, his brother Freddie Stone, saxophonist Jerry Martini, trumpeter Cynthia Robertson, bassist extraordinaire Larry Graham, and drummer Greg Errico. Just to know, this was the tune where Graham was said to have conceived the slap bass technique that later dominated funk music forevermore.
I’m certainly thankful for Sly Stone and for this wonderful track. So here’s the Thanksgiving version of your daily bonus video of the day, Sly and the Family Stone playing an extended version of “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” live on the August 9, 1974, episode of The Midnight Special TV show. Thank you, Sly!
