ROCK Sex says, "Happy Birthday to SLY STONE!".
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE are one of the most influential bands in history.
Today, the ever-escalating influence of the song "I Want To Take You Higher" and its impact on four decades of music, with a Music Player of all!
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"I Want To Take You Higher" just may be the Big Bang of Funk-Rock.
It drove half-a-million people to their feet in dancing ecstasy at Woodstock, and helped turn Funk music into the soundtrack of the '70s. From HipHop to Mixology, from Manchester to Iran to Japan, it continues to lift the world.
Sly actually did it before and after he did it.
The central chant has been a work in progress across records and time. The trial run was an album track called "Higher" in 1968, and again on another epic track called "Dance To The Medley". (The Psychedelic Soul of the latter is virtually the template for Funkadelic.)
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"Higher" (1968)
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"Dance To The Medley" (1968) ("Higher" comes in at 7:45)
Those joyful Gospel choral chants of "Higher" finally reached fruition when the ultimate song "I Want To Take You Higher" ascended in 1969 on the essential album, STAND.
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"I Want To Take You Higher" (studio version, 1969)
The roaring live performance of the song galvanized the Woodstock nation, and Sly And The Family Stone are still considered one of the crucial highlights of the Festival and the Documentary film.
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"I Want To Take You Higher" (live at Woodstock, 1969)
Later he did the wry rewrite "I Get High On You" in 1975, and a playful bounce of it as "High, Y'all" in 1983.
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"I Get High On You" (1975)
SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE -"High, Y'all" (1983)
H I G H E R
by Jeff Kalish (2009)
As the Music Player above reveals, the song became an instant classic and was either covered by everyone or referenced lyrically for years to come. The core of it is the "Higher!" chant. It summed up the utopian hopes of the progressive counterculture generation, while also winking about getting high.
If it wasn't being covered by Brian Auger, Tina Turner, or Googoosh (Iran), then the "Higher" chant was popping up in originals from The Temptations, The Chambers Brothers, War, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, and beyond.
It gets a shout-out in the rapidfire pop history novelty "Life Is A Rock", gets quoted on the trail-out of "Play That Funky Music", and may be referenced sideways in Paul McCartney's banned single "Hi Hi Hi".
Into the '80s and '90s, it rises up in Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines", an unreleased song with the same name by Roger Taylor (Queen), a Curtis Mayfield homage by Lenny Kravitz, a Madchester trip-out by raving Moonflowers, a namecheck by Public Enemy, a pot anthem by Cypress Hill, and an electro resurge from Future Funk.
The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Museum (1997)
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As also heard on the Music Player, another key ingredient of the song that keeps coming back up is the lyric "Boom shacka lacka lacka, boom shacka lacka lacka, boom shacka lacka lacka boom". Everybody uses it, even if by now they don't know where it came from.
This chant has become a classic Reggae song, a Reggae band, and a Reggae magazine.
It jumps up in HipHop songs like "Whoomp! There It is!" and Pop hits like Was (Not Was)' "Walk The Dinosaur" and Brianna's "Boom Shaka Laka".
It's become slang in Basketball and in HipHop.
It's even been the name of a Bollywood film and an Indian fantasy TV series for kids!
BOOM SHACKA LACKA LACKA,
BOOM SHACKA LACKA LACKA,
BOOM SHACKA LACKA LACKA BOOM!
"Feeling that should make you move
Sounds that should help you groove
Music still flashin' me
Take your places
I WANT TO TAKE YOU HIGHER!"
© Tym Stevens
See Also:
• FUNK, The True History: The 1960s, with 3 Music Players!
• FUNK, The True History: 1970-1974, with 3 Music Players!
• "Everyday People" - Sly Stone > Joan Jett > Arrested Development
• "Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego!" - Funkadelic > Sly Stone > Beastie Boys
• ROCK Orgy: "Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)!"
• "Sing A Simple Song" - Sly Stone > Jimi Hendrix > James Gang > P-Funk > Chili Peppers > Public Enemy
• "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" - Bill Withers > Diana Ross > Sly Stone > Zapp
• "If You Want Me To Stay" - Sly Stone > Bootsy Collins > Red Hot Chili Peppers > Prince > Nikka Costa
• Sly Stone > Prince, with Music Player!
• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: A Music Player Checklist
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