I Want to Take You Higher

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“I Want to Take You Higher”

Single by Sly & the Family Stone
from the album Stand!

Released

Format

Recorded

Psychedelic soul/funk

Length

5:23

Epic
5-10450

Sly Stone

Sly & the Family Stone singles chronology

"Everyday People"/"Sing a Simple Song"
(1968)

"Stand!"/"I Want to Take You Higher"
(1969)

"Hot Fun in the Summertime"
(1969)

"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.

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" become 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.

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 [1], timed to correspond with the 30th anniversary of the Summer of Love. 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.

Sonia Dada covered the tune for their 1999 live album, Lay Down and Love it Live. It was released to radio stations as a single, but did not chart.

It was used in the 2001 film A Knight's Tale.

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 2007, it was featured in a commercial for Cingular/AT&T, going along with their slogan of "raising the bar". It was also featured in the film Zodiac.