"Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)" is a 1967 song by

the Hombres The Hombres were an American garage rock band from Memphis, Tennessee, known primarily for the 1967 single, "Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)". Origins Formed in 1966, The Hombres comprised Jerry Lee Masters (leader and bass player); Gary Wayn ...

and the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

of their album of the same name. It is, according to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

journalist Stewart Mason, a "deadpan southern-fried parody" of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's "

Subterranean Homesick Blues "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 14, 1965, and released as a single by Columbia Records, catalogue number 43242, on March 8. It is the first track on the album ''Bringing It All Back Home'', released som ...

Background

The song's spoken intro – "A preachment, dear friends, you are about to receive on

John Barleycorn "John Barleycorn" is an England, English and Scotland, Scottish folk song. The song's protagonist is John Barleycorn, a personification of barley and of the beer made from it. In the song, he suffers indignities, attacks, and death that corres ...

nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...

and the temptations of

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

" – dates to the 1947 novelty recording "Cigareetes, Whuskey and Wild, Wild Women" by Red Ingle and His Natural Seven, and is followed by a

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

"Go Girl, Go"

The song's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, "Go Girl, Go", has the singer complaining about having to "stand in line" to see his girlfriend now that she is a "hip-swingin', fringe-slingin' Watusi go go girl". It is featured in the compilation album ''

Essential Pebbles, Volume 1 ''Essential Pebbles, Volume 1'' is the first compilation album in the Essential Pebbles series. Although subtitled Ultimate '66 garage classics!, not all of the recordings on the album were originally released in 1966. Release data This album ...

'', where it is incorrectly titled "Go Go Girl" in the track listing, and attributed to "unknown artist".

Cover versions

*In 1970,

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

reached number 26 in the UK Singles Chart with his rendition. * In 1984,

the Nails The Nails were originally a five-piece new wave band that formed in Boulder, Colorado in 1976. In Colorado, they were originally named The Ravers. The band members were Marc Campbell (lead vocals, guitar), Dave Kaufman (keyboards), Al Leis (dru ...

included it on their debut album ''

Mood Swing A mood swing is an extreme or sudden change of mood. Such changes can play a positive or a disruptive part in promoting problem solving and in producing flexible forward planning. When mood swings are severe, they may be categorized as part ...

''. * In 1988,

Scrawl Scrawl is an American indie rock band. The band were formed in Columbus, Ohio in 1985 by guitarist and vocalist Marcy Mays, bassist and backing vocalist Sue Harshe and drummer Carolyn O'Leary, from the ashes of Mays' previous band Skull; they ...

released it (with amended lyrics) on their albu
''He's Drunk''
* In 1989,

John Cougar Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentatio ...

recorded it for his '' Big Daddy'' LP. A

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

featured ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' "swimsuit issue"

cover model A cover model is a male or female whose photograph appears on the front cover of a magazine. The cover model is generally a fashion model, celebrity, or contest winner. Generally, cover models are depicted solitarily; however, on occasion magazines ...

Ashley Richardson Ashley C. Richardson (born June 27, 1965), sometimes credited as Ashley Montana, is an American former model. She appeared on the cover of ''Elle'' a total of seven times and on the cover of ''Cosmopolitan'' twice. She also appeared six times in ...

. * In 2003,

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Known for his wild and energetic stage persona, he was the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen for three stints: from 1974 to 1985, during 1996, and from 2006 to when ...

included a cover version on his '' Diamond Dave'' album, as did

Appleton Appleton may refer to: People and fictional characters * Appleton (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters * Appleton family, an American political, religious and mercantile family * Appleton P. Clark Jr. (1865–1955), Am ...

, consisting of former members of

All Saints All Saints' Day is a Christian holiday. All Saints, All Saints Day or Feast of All Saints may also refer to: Art and entertainment * ''All Saints'' (film), a 2017 Christian drama film * ''All Saints'' (TV series), an Australian hospital drama * ...

Nicole Nicole may refer to: People * Nicole (name) * Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor'' * Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977) * Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Euro ...

and

Natalie Appleton Natalie Jane Appleton Howlett (born 14 May 1973) is a Canadian singer. She is a member of the British girl group All Saints and the duo Appleton with her younger sister Nicole Appleton. Appleton joined All Saints in 1996, becoming the fourt ...

, who recorded a cover for the B-side of their single "Everything Eventually".

Uses in popular culture

* One of the earliest uses of the song was when it was sampled in 1968 by

Dickie Goodman Richard Dorian Goodman (April 19, 1934 – November 6, 1989), was an American musician and record producer. He is best known for inventing and using the technique of the " break-in", an early precursor to sampling, that used brief clips of popul ...

for his single " Washington Uptight." * It was sampled by the London based dance-music act

Definition of Sound Definition of Sound was a London-based dance-music group, consisting of Kevin Clark and Don Weekes, working with musicians Rex Brough (a.k.a. The Red King) and later Mike Spencer. Their second and fourth singles, "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" (19 ...

on their top 20 hit "Wear Your Love Like Heaven", in 1991. * It was featured on the 1998 box set '' Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968''. * "Let It All Hang Out" was included on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of the 2005 film ''Elizabethtown''. *

Foster's Lager Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed brand of Australian lager. It is owned by the Japanese brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where t ...

used it in a 2006 advertisement for

Foster's Twist Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed brand of Australian lager. It is owned by the Japanese brewing group Asahi Group Holdings, and is brewed under licence in a number of countries, including its biggest market, the UK, where the ...

. *"Let It All Hang Out" was included on the soundtrack of the 2023 TV series "

White House Plumbers The White House Plumbers, sometimes simply called the Plumbers, the Room 16 Project, ODESSA or more officially, the White House Special Investigations Unit, was a covert White House Special Investigations Unit, established within a week of the pu ...

Chart performance

References

{{authority control 1967 songs 1967 singles 1970 singles Novelty songs Jonathan King songs Song recordings produced by Huey P. Meaux Song recordings produced by Jonathan King Verve Forecast Records singles Decca Records singles