I Want to Take You Higher
Encyclopedia
"I Want to Take You Higher" is a 1969 song by the soul
/rock
/funk
band Sly & the Family Stone
, the B-side to their Top 30 hit Stand!
". Unlike most of the other tracks on the Stand!
album, "I Want to Take You Higher" is not a message song; instead, it is simply dedicated to music and the feeling one gets from music. Like nearly all of Sly & the Family Stone's songs, Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart was credited as the sole songwriter
.
y guitar riff played by Freddie Stone
. The song, one of the most upbeat recordings in the Family Stone canon, is a remake of sorts of "Higher", a song from the band's 1968 Dance to the Music
LP. "Higher" itself has its origins in "Advice", a song Sly Stone co-wrote and arranged for Billy Preston
's album The Wildest Organ In Town in 1966.
"Higher" made the setlist for the band's performance at Woodstock
alongside "Dance to the Music
" and "Music Lover"; Sly Stone used the song during a memorable interlude, during which he had the entire Woodstock crowd repeating, at three in the morning, the song's frantic cry of "higher!"
Even though it was a b-side, "I Want to Take You Higher" became a Top 40 hit of its own in 1970. That same year, Ike & Tina Turner
released a cover of the song that became a hit as well, peaking 4 spots above the original Family Stone recording on the US pop charts (at #34), and one position below the original on the R&B singles chart.
. It opened with a day-long outdoor festival MC'd by Chet Helms
that drew thousands to the Museum’s plaza, featuring Big Brother and the Holding Company
, Country Joe McDonald
, and Donovan
, with guests Ken Kesey
and his Merry Pranksters
(complete with the Further Bus). It accompanied the publishing of a book of the same name in 1997 (Chronicle Books) documenting the exhibit and the period. The last day featured an appearance by sixties icons Wavy Gravy
and Paul Krassner
, provided by the Cleveland-based group ACE
.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed "I Want to Take You Higher" at number 84 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
In 2008, Backbeat Books published the bibliography I Want to Take You Higher: The Life and Times of Sly & the Family Stone, by Jeff Kaliss, featuring a foreword by and the first interview in twenty-one years with Sly Stone.
, Australian rock band Noiseworks
recorded the song as 'Take You Higher' with Michael Hutchence
of INXS
in 1992, for the third Noiseworks album Love Versus Money
, releasing their version as a single in Australia.
Duran Duran
recorded two versions for their 1995 covers album Thank You
.
The Jackson 5
cover the song in their T.V. soundtrack Goin' Back to Indiana
Sonia Dada
recorded 'I Want To Take You Higher' for their 1999 live album, Lay Down and Love it Live
. Also released as a single, it did not chart.
Tesla
recorded a version for Real to Reel (2007).
The guitar riff from the original version was sampled for "Woodstock Hood Hop", by Slaughterhouse featuring M.O.P.
, in 2009.
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
/rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
/funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
band Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
, the B-side to their Top 30 hit Stand!
Stand! (song)
"Stand!" is a 1969 song by the soul/rock/funk band Sly & the Family Stone. The song's title and lyrics are a call for its listeners to "stand" up for themselves, their communities, and what they believe in...
". Unlike most of the other tracks on the Stand!
Stand!
Stand! is the fourth studio album by soul/funk band Sly and the Family Stone, released May 3, 1969 on Epic Records. Written and produced by lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, Stand! was the band's breakout album. It went on to sell over three million copies and become one of the most...
album, "I Want to Take You Higher" is not a message song; instead, it is simply dedicated to music and the feeling one gets from music. Like nearly all of Sly & the Family Stone's songs, Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart was credited as the sole songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
.
About the song
"I Want to Take You Higher" opens with a bluesBlues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
y guitar riff played by Freddie Stone
Freddie Stone
Freddie Stone is an African-American musician, best known for his role as co-founder, guitarist, and vocalist in the band Sly & The Family Stone, the frontman for which was his brother Sly Stone...
. The song, one of the most upbeat recordings in the Family Stone canon, is a remake of sorts of "Higher", a song from the band's 1968 Dance to the Music
Dance to the Music (Sly and the Family Stone album)
Dance to the Music is the second studio album by funk/soul band Sly & the Family Stone, released April 27, 1968 on Epic/CBS Records. It contains the Top Ten hit single of the same name, which was influential in the formation and popularization of the musical subgenre of psychedelic soul and helped...
LP. "Higher" itself has its origins in "Advice", a song Sly Stone co-wrote and arranged for Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
's album The Wildest Organ In Town in 1966.
"Higher" made the setlist for the band's performance at Woodstock
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
alongside "Dance to the Music
Dance to the Music (song)
"Dance to the Music" is a 1968 hit single by the influential soul/funk/rock band Sly & the Family Stone for the Epic/CBS Records label. It was the first single by the band to reach the Billboard Pop Singles Top 10, peaking at #8 and the first to popularize the band's sound, which would be emulated...
" and "Music Lover"; Sly Stone used the song during a memorable interlude, during which he had the entire Woodstock crowd repeating, at three in the morning, the song's frantic cry of "higher!"
Even though it was a b-side, "I Want to Take You Higher" became a Top 40 hit of its own in 1970. That same year, Ike & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner were an American rock & roll and soul duo, made of the husband-and-wife team of Ike Turner and Tina Turner in the 1960s and 1970s. Spanning sixteen years together as a recording group, the duo's repertoire included rock & roll, soul, blues and funk...
released a cover of the song that became a hit as well, peaking 4 spots above the original Family Stone recording on the US pop charts (at #34), and one position below the original on the R&B singles chart.
Legacy
From May 10, 1997 through February 28, 1998, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum presented their first temporary exhibit entitled I Want to Take You Higher: The Psychedelic Era 1965-1969 , timed to correspond with the 30th anniversary of the Summer of LoveSummer of Love
The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a cultural and political rebellion...
. It opened with a day-long outdoor festival MC'd by Chet Helms
Chet Helms
Chester Leo "Chet" Helms , often called the father of San Francisco's "1967 Summer of Love," was a music promoter and a cultural figure in San Francisco during its hippie period in the late Sixties....
that drew thousands to the Museum’s plaza, featuring Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their...
, Country Joe McDonald
Country Joe McDonald
Country Joe McDonald is an American musician who was the lead singer of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe and the Fish.-Personal life:...
, and Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
, with guests Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
and his Merry Pranksters
Merry Pranksters
The Merry Pranksters were a group of people who formed around American author Ken Kesey in 1964 and sometimes lived communally at his homes in California and Oregon...
(complete with the Further Bus). It accompanied the publishing of a book of the same name in 1997 (Chronicle Books) documenting the exhibit and the period. The last day featured an appearance by sixties icons Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy is an American entertainer and activist for peace, best known for his hippie appearance, personality and beliefs. His moniker...
and Paul Krassner
Paul Krassner
Paul Krassner is an author, journalist, stand-up comedian, and the founder, editor and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine The Realist, first published in 1958...
, provided by the Cleveland-based group ACE
Association for Consciousness Exploration
The Association for Consciousness Exploration LLC is an American organization based in Northeastern Ohio which produces events, books, and recorded media in the fields of "magic, mind-sciences, alternative lifestyles, comparative religion/spirituality, entertainment, holistic healing, and related...
.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed "I Want to Take You Higher" at number 84 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
In 2008, Backbeat Books published the bibliography I Want to Take You Higher: The Life and Times of Sly & the Family Stone, by Jeff Kaliss, featuring a foreword by and the first interview in twenty-one years with Sly Stone.
Cover versions
Aside from the famous cover by Ike & Tina TurnerIke & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner were an American rock & roll and soul duo, made of the husband-and-wife team of Ike Turner and Tina Turner in the 1960s and 1970s. Spanning sixteen years together as a recording group, the duo's repertoire included rock & roll, soul, blues and funk...
, Australian rock band Noiseworks
Noiseworks
Noiseworks is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1986 with bass guitarist Steve Balbi, guitarist Stuart Fraser, drummer Kevin Nicol, keyboardist Justin Stanley and lead vocalist Jon Stevens...
recorded the song as 'Take You Higher' with Michael Hutchence
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician and actor. He was the founding lead singer-songwriter of rock band :INXS from 1977 to his death in 1997, a period of twenty years. Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released...
of INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
in 1992, for the third Noiseworks album Love Versus Money
Love versus Money
Love versus Money was the third and most commercially successful album for Australian rock band Noiseworks. It contained the Top 10 hit "Hot Chilli Woman" and the Top 20 single "Miles And Miles"....
, releasing their version as a single in Australia.
Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
recorded two versions for their 1995 covers album Thank You
Thank You (Duran Duran album)
Thank You is a covers album by Duran Duran released in April 1995, their follow-up to 1993's Duran Duran . It did well on the charts , but was received very negatively by critics...
.
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...
cover the song in their T.V. soundtrack Goin' Back to Indiana
Goin' Back to Indiana
Goin' Back to Indiana was a live/soundtrack album by The Jackson 5 for Motown Records, taken from their September 16, 1971 ABC TV special of the same name....
Sonia Dada
Sonia Dada
Sonia Dada is a Chicago-based rock/soul/rhythm and blues band, which tours with anywhere from six to eight members. The band formed in 1990, when founding member Daniel Pritzker heard three future members singing in a subway station...
recorded 'I Want To Take You Higher' for their 1999 live album, Lay Down and Love it Live
Lay Down and Love It Live
Lay Down and Love It Live is the first live album by Sonia Dada. The album was released in 1999 on Calliope Records, and was reissued in 2002 by Razor & Tie...
. Also released as a single, it did not chart.
Tesla
Tesla (band)
Tesla is an American hard rock band formed in Sacramento, California in 1984. They have sold 14 million albums in the United States.-Formation and Mechanical Resonance :...
recorded a version for Real to Reel (2007).
The guitar riff from the original version was sampled for "Woodstock Hood Hop", by Slaughterhouse featuring M.O.P.
M.O.P.
M.O.P., short for Mash Out Posse, is an American hip hop duo. The duo, composed of Billy Danze and Lil' Fame, is known for the aggressive delivery typically employed by both emcees. Although they maintain a strong underground following, they are mainly known for the song "Ante Up," released on...
, in 2009.
Personnel
- Lead vocals by Sly StoneSly StoneSly Stone is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of...
, Rose StoneRose StoneRose Stone is an African-American singer and keyboardist. She is best known as one of the lead singers in Sly & the Family Stone, a popular psychedelic soul/funk band founded by her brothers, Sly Stone and Freddie Stone...
, Freddie StoneFreddie StoneFreddie Stone is an African-American musician, best known for his role as co-founder, guitarist, and vocalist in the band Sly & The Family Stone, the frontman for which was his brother Sly Stone...
, and Larry GrahamLarry GrahamLarry Graham, Jr. is an African American bass guitar player, both with the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station... - Background vocals by Rose StoneRose StoneRose Stone is an African-American singer and keyboardist. She is best known as one of the lead singers in Sly & the Family Stone, a popular psychedelic soul/funk band founded by her brothers, Sly Stone and Freddie Stone...
, Freddie StoneFreddie StoneFreddie Stone is an African-American musician, best known for his role as co-founder, guitarist, and vocalist in the band Sly & The Family Stone, the frontman for which was his brother Sly Stone...
, Larry GrahamLarry GrahamLarry Graham, Jr. is an African American bass guitar player, both with the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station...
, Greg ErricoGreg ErricoGreg Errico, sometimes missspelled as Gregg Errico, is an Italian American musician/record producer, best known for being the drummer for the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band, Sly & the Family Stone...
, Jerry MartiniJerry MartiniJerry Martini is an American musician, best known for being the saxophonist for the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone...
, and Cynthia RobinsonCynthia RobinsonCynthia Robinson is an American musician, best known for being the trumpeter and vocalist in the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone... - HarmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, keyboard by Sly Stone - GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
by Freddie StoneFreddie StoneFreddie Stone is an African-American musician, best known for his role as co-founder, guitarist, and vocalist in the band Sly & The Family Stone, the frontman for which was his brother Sly Stone... - BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
by Larry GrahamLarry GrahamLarry Graham, Jr. is an African American bass guitar player, both with the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, and as the founder and frontman of Graham Central Station... - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
by Greg ErricoGreg ErricoGreg Errico, sometimes missspelled as Gregg Errico, is an Italian American musician/record producer, best known for being the drummer for the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band, Sly & the Family Stone... - HornsHorn sectionIn music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
by Jerry MartiniJerry MartiniJerry Martini is an American musician, best known for being the saxophonist for the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone...
(tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
) and Cynthia RobinsonCynthia RobinsonCynthia Robinson is an American musician, best known for being the trumpeter and vocalist in the popular and influential psychedelic soul/funk band Sly & the Family Stone...
(trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
) - Written and produced by Sly StoneSly StoneSly Stone is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of...