ZZ Top – I Thank You

I love the sound of those earlier ZZ Top recordings.

I Thank You was a hit for Sam and Dave in 1968 and it peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100…It was also a hit for ZZ Top

Sam and Dave released this song on January 8, 1968. Stax would soon go through various business problems and their sound fell out of favor. “I Thank You” was the last big hit for Sam & Dave…none of their subsequent releases made the US Top 40.

This song was written and produced by the Stax Record Isaac Hayes and David Porter, who were Sam & Dave’s main songwriters.

ZZ Top decided to do the song when they found themselves recording at Ardent Studios in Memphis. Billy Gibbons had heard the song on his car radio and mentioned it. Turns out, the very same clavinet Isaac Hayes played on the original recording was in the studio, so they decided to give it a go.

ZZ Top covered this song on their 1979 album Deguello. Released as a single, it peaked to #34 in the Billboard 100 in 1980.

I Thank You

You didn’t have to love me like you did
But you did, but you did.
And I thank you.
You didn’t have to love me like you did
But you did, but you did.
And I thank you.
But you took your love to someone else
I wouldn’t know what it meant to be loved to death

You made me feel like I’ve never felt
Kisses so good I had to holler for help
You didn’t have to squeeze it but you did
But you did but you did
And I thank you.
You didn’t have to hold it but you did
But you did but you did
And I thank you.

Every day was something new,
You put on your bag and your fine to-do
You got me trying new things too
Just so I can keep up with you.

You didn’t have to shake it but you did
But you did but you did
And I thank you.
You didn’t have to make it like you did
but you did but you did
And I thank you.

All my life I’ve been shortchanged
Without your love baby it’s a crying shame
But now I know what the fellas talking about
Hear me say that they been turned out
I want to thank you
I want to thank you
I want to thank you
Yes, I want to thank you

…

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

18 thoughts on “ZZ Top – I Thank You”

  2. Gotta love that Billy Gibbons tone out of his guitar. Man it’s so good those old ZZ songs. They were on fire and than they fell in love with a synth and the dough rolled in.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      3. hahaha. I got Afterburner for Xmas 1985. Pretty cool to listen to those songs like ‘WUWD and Planet of Women” and than watching my dad hours later play Xmas Carols on the family piano later that night.
        I wish I was 18 again!

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Good song, one of the first I ever heard by ZZ. Only years later did I find it was a cover and hear the original, so not surprisingly the ZZ Top version sounds ‘right’ to me.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment