Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) by Sly Stone w/Ben Greenman (2023) I was the right age that Sly Stone and Sly and the Family Stone always seemed to be there, on TV, like Lucy, and Laugh-In. We wore out some albums and watched them on TV—I don’t specifically remember talkshow appearances, but I’m sure I saw them—I didn’t miss much that was on TV, it felt like, in my younger years. I remember going to school one day and everyone was talking about seeing the band on TV the night before, and how we all knew how stoned Sly was. His name seemed both ironic and perfect. The crowd I was around knew more about (at least publicly) drugs than sex, so I’m sure I took a song like “I Want to Take You Higher” first as about drugs, and not until later as about sex, and even later as about spirituality. And likewise, it wasn’t until later that I went from liking their music in a pop way to really appreciating its excellence. This book is really satisfying, to hear about all of it, to fill in some of the missing parts. It’s written in a way that you could only imagine Sly Stone writing—there’s a musical quality to everything—rhythm, meter, rhyme, and poetry to even the most mundane statements—though not much he says is mundane. The audiobook narrator is one of the best, Dion Graham, and he captures the familiar Sly voice so well, after a while you’re just thinking it’s him speaking to you. It’s pretty interesting hearing about his background—I just kind of assumed he was like The Man Who Fell to Earth or something, as unique as he is. There’s also a lot of sadness in this story—as there is in everyone’s—but some of this is acute. The part about the dog just about put me under. And that’s not all. But his ability to be positive, throughout, and through it all, is inspiring. He’s very funny, too, of course. Also excellent is the intro by Questlove, who is the publisher—who must work harder than anyone, and keeps producing amazing stuff.

9.24.26