Diamond in the back / Sunroof top / Digging the scene / With a gangster lean / Woo-woo-oo
Some artists are masters, lyrically, at calling to the mind’s eye a vivid visual, and singer/songwriter William DeVaughn skillfully does so with his hit “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got” released in 1974. While urging us to be grateful for our present circumstances, DeVaughn depicts a kickin’ Cadillac swaggering down the street on a slow cruise, and you feel like you’re in the front seat with him, the sunroof cranked open, enjoying life.
Diamond in the back / Sunroof top / Digging the scene / With a gangster lean / Woo-woo-oo
Some artists are masters, lyrically, at calling to the mind’s eye a vivid visual, and singer/songwriter William DeVaughn skillfully does so with his hit “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got” released in 1974. While urging us to be grateful for our present circumstances, DeVaughn depicts a kickin’ Cadillac swaggering down the street on a slow cruise, and you feel like you’re in the front seat with him, the sunroof cranked open, enjoying life.
The track reached #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and # 4 on the Hot 100 and has been sampled, covered, and referenced numerous times, including most recently by Miguel in “N.W.A.” It has an easy, jazzy groove with a nod to Curtis Mayfield’s atmospherics of that era. DeVaughn never reached quite these heights on the charts again, but his progeny lives on. Enjoy.
By Robb Patryk
Listen to this track, and all others featured in this series, on the Flashback Soul playlist at Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/robb.patryk/playlist/1DDb0sGAD1uAhVVACKWq7M