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	1969
Format	7" single
Recorded	1969
Genre	Psychedelic soul/funk
Length	5:23
Label	Epic 5-10450
Writer(s)	Sly Stone
Producer(s)	Sly Stone
Chart positions
#38 (US Pop Singles)
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 "I Want to Take You Higher", "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, and one position below the original on the R&B singles chart.

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "I Want to Take You Higher" at number 84 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.