I'll Take You There

"I'll Take You There" is a number-one single written (music and lyrics) by Alvertis Isbell, produced by Al Bell and performed by soul/gospel family band The Staple Singers, released on Stax Records in February of 1972 (see 1972 in music). The song spent a total of 15 weeks in the charts and topped at number 1.

[edit] History

Included on the group's 1972 album Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, "I'll Take You There" features lead singer Mavis Staples inviting her listeners to seek heaven. The song is "almost completely a call-and-response chorus"[1], with the introduction being lifted from a Jamaican instrumental reggae tune titled The Liquidator. A large portion of the song is set aside for Mavis' sisters Cleotha and Yvonne and their father "Pops" to seemingly perform solos on their respective instruments. In actuality, these solos (and all music in the song) were recorded by the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. When Mavis Staples says "play it, Big Daddy" (referring to "Pop's" guitar solo), it is actually Eddie Hinton who performs the solo on record. Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section bass player David Hood performs the song's famed bass line. Terry Manning added harmonica and lead electric guitar. Roger Hawkins played drums, Barry Beckett was on electric piano, and Jimmy Johnson and Raymond banks contributed guitar parts. The Memphis Horns played the signature soul horn lines.

Rolling Stone editor David Fricke described this song as the "epitome of the Muscle Shoals Sound". It was recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL at the famous Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, and overdubbed and mixed at Ardent Studios in Memphis by Engineer Terry Manning.

Bolstered by a "feel-good" vibe, "I'll Take You There" peaked at number-one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart for four weeks May of 1972. In June, "I'll Take You There" reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for one week. The song, ranked #276 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [2] and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, remains the most successful and recognizable single of the Staples' half-century-long career.

Most recently the song's popularity was revived in the late 1990s, when Chevy used the song as the background music in their North American car commercials.

[edit] Notable remakes

In 1988 Big Daddy Kane remade the song on his Long Live the Kane album.
"I'll Take You There" returned to number one on the R&B chart in 1992 when it was covered by Bebe Winans and Cece Winans, with Mavis Staples featured as a guest artist on the track. The single also made #90 on the Hot 100.
In 1994, the British band General Public released a cover of "I'll Take You There" featured in the Lara Flynn Boyle/Stephen Baldwin film Threesome. It was a surprise American hit, peaking at #22 on the Hot 100.
Female rap trio Salt-N-Pepa sampled "I'll Take You There" in their 1991 hit "Let's Talk About Sex."
Female Pop and R&B trio Destiny's Child Remade the song for Live 8 in Philadelphia.
R&B singer Kelly Price's cover will be featured on the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns.

Preceded by "Oh Girl" by The Chi-Lites	Billboard Hot 100 number one single (The Staple Singers version) June 3, 1972	Succeeded by "The Candy Man" by Sammy Davis, Jr.
Preceded by "Day Dreaming" by Aretha Franklin	Billboard's Hot Soul number one single (The Staple Singers version) May 6 - May 27, 1972	Succeeded by "Oh Girl" by The Chi-Lites
Preceded by "Are You Lonely For Me" by The Rude Boys	Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number one single (BeBe & CeCe Winans version) December 7, 1991	Succeeded by "Private Line" by Gerald Levert