Sly & The Family Stone - Stand!

The Tune for Today is:

Sly & The Family Stone - I Want to Take you Higher

Feeling's gettin' stronger
Music's gettin' longer too
Music is flashin' me
I want to, I want to, I want to take you higher
I want to take you higher
Baby, baby, baby light my fire
I wanna take you higher

Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka boom

Feeling's nitty-gritty
Sound is in the city too
Music's still flashin' me
Don't ya, don't ya, don't don't don't ya want to get higher
Baby baby baby light my fire
I wanna take you higher

Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka
Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka
Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka

Higher
Higher
Higher

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
I want to take you higher
Baby baby baby light my fire
I wanna take you higher

Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka
Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka
Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka

Higher
Higher
Higher

Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka
Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka
Boom laka-laka-laka, boom laka-laka-laka

Higher
Higher
Higher
...

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Stand! is the pinnacle of Sly & the Family Stone's early work, a record that represents a culmination of the group's musical vision and accomplishment. Life hinted at this record's boundless enthusiasm and blurred stylistic boundaries, yet everything simply gels here, resulting in no separation between the astounding funk, effervescent irresistible melodies, psychedelicized guitars, and deep rhythms. Add to this a sharpened sense of pop songcraft, elastic band interplay, and a flowering of Sly's social consciousness, and the result is utterly stunning. Yes, the jams ("Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey," "Sex Machine") wind up meandering ever so slightly, but they're surrounded by utter brilliance, from the rousing call to arms of "Stand!" to the unification anthem "Everyday People" to the unstoppable "I Want to Take You Higher." All of it sounds like the Family Stone, thanks not just to the communal lead vocals but to the brilliant interplay, but each track is distinct, emphasizing a different side of their musical personality. As a result, Stand! winds up infectious and informative, invigorating and thought-provoking -- stimulating in every sense of the word. Few records of its time touched it, and Sly topped it only by offering its opposite the next time out.

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