Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) Explained

Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)
Cover:	Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out).jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	The Hombres
Album:	Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)
B-Side:	Go Girl, Go
Released:	1967^[1]
Recorded:	1967
Length:	^[2]
Label:	Verve Forecast
Producer:	Huey P. Meaux

"Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)" is a 1967 song by the Hombres and the title track of their album of the same name. It is, according to AllMusic journalist Stewart Mason, a "deadpan southern-fried parody" of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues".^[1]

Background

The song's spoken intro – "A preachment, dear friends, you are about to receive on John Barleycorn, nicotine and the temptations of Eve" – dates to the 1947 novelty recording "Cigareetes, Whuskey and Wild, Wild Women" by Red Ingle and His Natural Seven,^[3] and is followed by a raspberry.

"Go Girl, Go"

The song's B-side, "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, where it is incorrectly titled "Go Go Girl" in the track listing, and attributed to "unknown artist".

Cover versions

Let It All Hang Out
Type:	single
Artist:	Jonathan King
B-Side:	"Colloquial Sex"
Released:	1969
Recorded:	1969
Label:	Decca
Producer:	Jonathan King

• In 1970, Jonathan King reached number 26 in the UK Singles Chart with his rendition.^[4]
• In 1984, the Nails included it on their debut album Mood Swing.
• In 1988, Scrawl released it (with amended lyrics) on their album He's Drunk.
• In 1989, John Cougar Mellencamp recorded it for his Big Daddy LP. A music video featured Sports Illustrated "swimsuit issue" cover model Ashley Richardson.
• In 2003, David Lee Roth included a cover version on his Diamond Dave album.

Uses in popular culture

• One of the earliest uses of the song was when it was sampled in 1968 by Dickie Goodman for his single "Washington Uptight."
• It was sampled by the London based dance-music act Definition of Sound on their top 20 hit "Wear Your Love Like Heaven", in 1991.
• It was featured on the 1998 box set .^[5]
• "Let It All Hang Out" was included on the soundtrack of the 2005 film Elizabethtown.^[6]
• Foster's Lager used it in a 2006 advertisement for Foster's Twist.^[7]
• "Let It All Hang Out" was included on the soundtrack of the 2023 TV series "White House Plumbers (miniseries)."

Chart performance

Artist	Billboard Hot 100	UK Singles Chart	Dutch Top 40
The Hombres	12^[8]	-	-
Jonathan King	-	26^[9]	28^[10]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out) - Hombres, The Hombres. AllMusic. 3 July 2013.
2. Web site: Hombres. AllMusic. 2 July 2013.
3. Web site: "Cigareets, Whuskey, & Wild, Wild Women"-RED INGLE . YouTube . 2008-04-22 . 2012-12-18.
4. Web site: Jonathan King Discography . J_withers.tripod.com . 2012-12-18.
5. Web site: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 [Box Set]]. AllMusic. 2 July 2013.
6. Web site: Elizabethtown - Original Soundtrack. AllMusic. 2 July 2013.
7. Web site: Music in Fosters TV Adverts & Commercials. Songofthesalesman.co.uk. 2 July 2013.
8. Web site: Hombres - Awards. AllMusic. 2 July 2013.
9. Web site: JONATHAN KING. The Official Charts Company. 2 July 2013.
10. Web site: Jonathan King - Let It All Hang Out. dutchcharts.nl. 2 July 2013.