Sly & The Family Stone Has Crowd In Uproar With “Higher” At ’69 Woodstock

Higher! Higher! Higher!

Funky soul/ rock band of the 60’s, Sly & the Family Stone rocked Woodstock in 1969 with hit “I Want To Take You Higher”at 3 in the morning as they persist on getting the larger, famously non-sober crowd to chant “higher!” continuously as the sun rose.

Interesting Fact: By 1964, Sylvester had become Sly Stone and a disc jockey for San Francisco R&B radio station KSOL, where he included white performers such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in his playlists.

Opening with a signature riff from Freddie Stone, the ballad broke out as a Top 30 hit off the band’s Stand! album. After the release of first single “Everyday People,” that hit #1 in 1968, album Stand! hit #22 in the US and sold over 3 million copies; the funky rocker band was a hit!

Following this particular, epic performance at Woodstock, the band released single “Hot Fun In The Summertime” that reached #2 on the U.S. Pop Chart, as well as a slot in the Woodstock Documentary just one year later.

Known as one of the greater performances from Woodstock, Sly & The Family Stone set their own precedent in both the funk and rock worlds.

+ I Want To Take You Higher Lyrics +

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
…