Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) / Everybody Is A Star
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Album Summary
Dropped in 1969 on Epic Records, this double A-side single from Sly & The Family Stone was a stone-cold statement of purpose from one of the most electrifying bands to ever grace the airwaves. Produced by the visionary Sly Stone himself, 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)' arrived as a powerful shot of funk-infused soul that showcased everything the Family Stone had been building toward — a churning, irresistible groove that felt like nothing else on the radio at the time. Paired with the luminous 'Everybody Is A Star' on the flip side, this single stood as a testament to Sly Stone's genius for wrapping deep musical sophistication inside something that made every last person in the room want to move.
Reception
- 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)' climbed all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, cementing Sly & The Family Stone as one of the most commercially commanding acts of their era.
- The single achieved remarkable crossover success, resonating powerfully on both the pop and R&B charts and drawing listeners from every corner of the musical landscape.
- 'Everybody Is A Star,' riding the B-side, earned substantial radio play and critical admiration in its own right, proving this was a double A-side in spirit as much as in name.
Significance
- This single stood as one of the purest expressions of the funk-soul-rock fusion that Sly & The Family Stone had pioneered, bringing an uncompromisingly deep groove into the mainstream pop conversation and redrawing the boundaries of what a hit record could sound like.
- Sly Stone's production on these tracks pushed the craft of studio recording forward, with a rhythmic complexity and layered sonic architecture that helped chart the course for the evolution of funk and soul music into the 1970s and beyond.
- 'Everybody Is A Star' carried a message of universal human dignity and collective worth that resonated far beyond the charts, embedding itself in the cultural consciousness as an anthem of inclusion at a time when such a message carried enormous weight.
Samples
- "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" — one of the most sampled funk records in history, with its iconic bass line and rhythmic foundation appearing in countless hip-hop productions; notably interpolated by Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson in 'Nasty Girl' and sampled across decades of hip-hop and R&B recordings.
- "Everybody Is A Star" — sampled and referenced widely across hip-hop and soul, with its message and melodic identity lending themselves to reinterpretation by numerous artists across multiple generations.
Tracklist
-
A Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) —
4:47
-
B Everybody Is A Star —
3:00
Artist Details
Sly & The Family Stone burst onto the scene out of San Francisco in 1966, led by the visionary Sylvester Stewart — better known as Sly Stone — and they cooked up a sound so rich and revolutionary it made the whole world get up and dance, blending funk, soul, rock, and psychedelia into something nobody had ever heard before. This group was a trailblazer not just musically but socially, putting together one of the first racially and gender-integrated bands in popular music and delivering anthems like "Everyday People" and "Thank You" that spoke truth to a nation caught in the fire of the Civil Rights Movement and counterculture revolution. Their influence runs so deep it flows through the veins of Prince, Earth Wind & Fire, and Parliament-Funkadelic, and any serious student of soul and funk music knows that without Sly & The Family Stone, the whole landscape of popular music would look and sound completely different.
