Everyday People

Released in late 1968 with "Sing a Simple Song" on the B-side, it was the band's first single to top both the soul chart and the Billboard Hot 100. It held number one on the Hot 100 for four weeks from 9 February to 8 March 1969, and Billboard ranked it the fifth song of 1969. It is a mid-tempo number, more pop than the band's usual funk, and a plea for peace and equality between races and social groups. Sly sings the main verses. Rose Stone and Cynthia Robinson take the bridges, using the cadence of the children's "na-na na-na boo-boo" taunt, with the line "different strokes for different folks", which became a catchphrase and gave the later television series Diff'rent Strokes its name. In the chorus the singing members all declare "I am everyday people".

Larry Graham says it contains the first use of the slap bass technique. The Guardian describes it as distilling the band's essence into a perfect pop single, and as endlessly sampled and covered. The third verse of "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" refers to its title.