Book Review: Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

One of the few indisputable geniuses of pop music, Sly Stone is a trailblazer and a legend. He created a new kind of music, mixing Black and white, male and female, funk and rock. As a songwriter, he penned some of the most iconic anthems of the 1960s and ’70s, from “Everyday People” to “Family Affair.” As a performer, he electrified audiences with a persona and stage presence that set a lasting standard for pop-culture performance.

His life has also been a cautionary tale, known as much for how he dropped out of the spotlight as for what put him there in the first place. People know the music, but the man remains a mystery. In Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), his much-anticipated memoir, he’s finally ready to share his story—a story that many thought he’d never have the chance to tell.

Sly's memoir, co-written with Ben Greenman and with a forward by Questlove, will be published October 17, 2023. Farrar, Straus and Giroux provided an early galley for review.

From its opening, I could instantly tell this was a story that Sly wanted to tell but only on his terms. It was going to be more than just a look at the music and the career of a music master. It was going to be a story about personal struggle and facing the demons. It was going to have some weight and power to it.

I like that Sly starts out talking about family and how they were raised. Family was clearly an important part of his music and a big contribution to the songs. The music is very much the framework here as the years begin to be marked by the albums as they came. We get background on making the songs and details about publicity appearances. Some things are clear as day, while others have a haze to them - likely the effects on memory due to so much drug usage. Still, when Sly is "on" he comes across as really insightful and with a mastery of phrase construction. Not too bad for a man in his eighties.

I am finding, both with this autobiography and so many others I've read in recent years, that it is often about (to use Sly's own song title) everyday people - people who just focused their talents and passions towards their goals and shared the results with others. That's pretty much the key that we all should strive for; some just share those with a much wider audience.