Be Thankful for What You Got

"Be Thankful for What You Got" is a soul song written and first performed by William DeVaughn.

"Be Thankful for What You Got"
Single by William DeVaughn
from the album Be Thankful for What You Got
B-side"Be Thankful for What You Got, Part 2"
ReleasedMarch 1974[1]
Recorded1972
GenreSoul
Length
  • 7:12 (album version)
  • 3:25 (single edit)
LabelRoxbury Records
Songwriter(s)William DeVaughn
Producer(s)Frank Fioravanti, John Davis

History

DeVaughn wrote "A Cadillac Don't Come Easy", eventually re-written to become "Be Thankful for What You Got" in 1972, and spent $900 toward it under a development agreement, under which an artist will record a few initial demos or tracks where, if successfully approved, the company may reserve the right to extend the arrangement to Omega Sound, a Philadelphia production house, and release the song.

The session featured members of the MFSB group — guitarist Norman Harris, drummer Earl Young, bassist Rusty Jackman, vibist Vince Montana and conga player Larry Washington — secured by Allan Felder, who also developed the separate ad lib back-up chorus with his sister's vocal choir. Frank Fioravanti then secured the song's release on the Roxbury Records record label, run by producer-songwriter Wes Farrell.

The record sold nearly two million copies on its release in spring of 1974, reaching #1 on the U.S. R&B charts and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[2] With a sound and content influenced by Curtis Mayfield (and often erroneously attributed to him), its simple and encouraging lyrics hit home, to the extent that it became featured on gospel radio stations.

The edited version, which is the first part of the song, became a hit. The other half of the song is a longer instrumental with the repeated chords and rhythm before the final chorus comes in. The song is seven minutes long and radio stations preferred the sung portions over the instrumental portions.

The song is noted for its repeated line: "Diamond in the back, sunroof top, diggin' the scene, with a gangsta lean". The song has been misrepresented all over social media as a Curtis Mayfield song called" Diamond in the back".

Chart history

Later uses

DeVaughn would later remake the song on his second album Figures Can't Calculate.

The song is featured in the films Bug (2002), Be Cool (2005) and La Mission (2010).

Sampled

The song has been sampled several times, such as by N.W.A in "Gangsta Gangsta", Ludacris in "Diamond in the Back", Ice Cube in "Stand Tall",[11] and Proper Dos in "Hard Time".

References

The song is referenced in the Parliament-Funkadelic song "P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)", with the lyric: "Gangster lean; Y'all should dig my sun-roof top."

The song was also referenced in the late guitarist Gabor Szabo's 1976 song, "Keep Smiling," except the "diamond in the back" lyric was changed to "digging the scene with a Philly lean," possibly referring to the song's co-author and producer (and Vaughn's Philadelphia International Records label-mate) Bunny Sigler.

The B-Side of the single entitled "Diamond in the Back" was the same title adopted by Ludacris in 2004.

In the song "Still Fly" by Big Tymers the last verse mentions an 'old-school Caddy with a diamond in the back' and imitates DeVaughn's higher tone.

The song is referenced in the Rihanna song "Shut Up and Drive", with the phrase: "I'm a fine-tuned super-sonic speed machine, with a sunroof top and a gangsta lean."

The lyrics "Diamond in the back, sunroof top, diggin' the scene, with a gangsta lean" have also been adapted in the Outkast song West Savannah ("Nine in my hand, ounce in my crotch, diggin’ the scene, with a gangsta slouch") and the Hip Club Groove song "Shootin' The Gift" ("Moves is in the back, let the beat drop, diggin’ the scene, with Mackenzie and me").

The lyrics "Diamond in the back, sunroof top, diggin' the scene with a gangsta lean" were covered in the french hit "Sonate Pacifique" from L'Imperatrice band.

Covers

The song was covered in 1974 by Arthur Lee and Love on their Reel to Real album; Reggae versions were done by Donovan Carless in 1974, Bunny Clarke (produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry) in 1975,[12] and by Winston Curtis in 1984 (on World International Records); in 1991 by the British trip hop band Massive Attack on their album Blue Lines, in 1993 by Portrait on the soundtrack album Addams Family Values: Music from the Motion Picture, by Peter Blakeley as the opening theme for the movie The Taking of Beverly Hills, by Yo La Tengo on its 1997 "Little Honda" EP and by Lawrence "Lipbone" Redding on his 2009 Science of Bootyism album.

The song has been covered by Rumer (musician) in her EP "Love is the Answer".

Also covered by vibes player Craig Peyton for Profile Records 1983, electro sequencer arrangement.

The song, titled "Be Thankful", was covered by Omar Lye-Fook featuring Erykah Badu on his 2001 album "Best By Far".

The song was also covered by Cleveland Watkiss on "Blessing in Disguise" (Polydor 1991).

Massive Attack version

Massive Attack's cover version, retitled "Be Thankful for What You've Got", was featured on their 1991 debut album Blue Lines. A music video was produced for the song; however, it was not released as a stand-alone commercial single. Instead, a remix by Paul Oakenfold was also included on their 1992 single release Massive Attack EP.[13]

Massive Attack EP track listing:

  1. "Hymn of the Big Wheel" (Nellee Hooper Remix) – 4:47
  2. "Home of the Whale" – 4:02
  3. "Be Thankful for What You've Got" (Paul Oakenfold Remix) – 4:36
  4. "Any Love" (Larry Heard Remix) – 4:27
"Be Thankful for What You've Got"
Single by Lipbone Redding
from the album Science of Bootyism EP
ReleasedApril 21, 2009
GenreSoul
Length5:10
6:12 (long version)
Songwriter(s)William DeVaughn
Producer(s)Jeff Eyrich for Lipbone Redding

Lipbone Redding version

Lawrence "Lipbone" Redding's cover version, "Be Thankful for What You Got", appeared on his 2009 EP Lipbone Redding and the LipBone Orchestra: Science of Bootyism, BePop Records. The EP contains two versions of the song.

Notes
  1. "Record Details". 45cat.com. 45cat. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  2. Chart positions and sales figure: Nathan.
  3. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1974-07-27. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  4. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1974-07-13. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  5. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 152. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  7. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 6, 1974
  8. Canada, Library and Archives (January 16, 2018). "Image : RPM Weekly".
  9. Musicoutfitters.com
  10. Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1974
  11. https://www.whosampled.com/William-DeVaughn/Be-Thankful-for-What-You-Got/sampled/
  12. "Be Thankful". Archived from the original on 2011-05-13.
  13. Massive Attack - Massive Attack E.P. at Discogs

Sources
  • Nathan, David. Notes for William DeVaughn: Be Thankful for What You Got: A Golden Classics Edition. Collectables [sic] CD COL-5271. Collectables [sic] Record Corp., 1994.
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