- Hardcover: 300 pages
- Publisher: Backbeat Books (Hal Leonard); illustrated edition edition (1 Oct 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0879309342
- ISBN-13: 978-0879309343
- Product Dimensions: 23.3 x 16 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 815,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Jeff Kaliss gives his readers a fascinating tour of the life of an errant, irreverent, and iridescent musical legend --David Kapralik, former manager, Sly & the Family Stone
Product Description
This is the first in-depth biography of the legendary rock star on the heels of a comeback. Author Jeff Kaliss scored the first face-to-face interview with the reclusive superstar in over twenty years making this book a must-read for any rock 'n roll fan. From his anthemic early hits ("I Want to Take You Higher", "Family Affair", "Dance to the Music") that powered Woodstock through the moody meditations of "There's a Riot Going On" and beyond, Sly and the Family Stone have left an indelible stamp on rock, funk, pop, and hip-hop.The story follows the evolution and dissolution of Sly and the Family Stone from local favourites to global rock stars under the threat of drugs and self-delusion. Sly is truly an innovator and a giant, and the demand for him has never been higher. Celebrated at the 2006 Grammys and in a new boxed set of CDs, Sly and the Family Stone has nevertheless eluded full and sympathetic understannding by its several generations of fans. Finally, this year he is beginning to perform again, and Kaliss is on the scene with accounts of Sly and his former Family in the New Millennium. "Before my songs had a lot to do with unnecessary fighting. And that's still the case." - Sly Stone to author Jeff Kaliss.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Avoid this book and author. Buy Joel Selvin's An Oral History instead as 'Higher' lifts nearly everything good from it and fills in the rest badly
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Dance to the Music!
29 Oct 2008
Format:Hardcover
Given the impact Sly Stone had on pop music in the 1960s and after, it's amazing more books haven't been written on the life and times of America's first master of funk. Jeff Kaliss takes a comprehensive look at the man - and the group - that gave us 'Stand,' 'Hot Fun in the Summertime,' 'Everyday People,' 'Thank You (Falettineme Be Mice Elf Agin' and other pop classics. Kaliss has done a marvelous job of researching his subject and I WANT TO TAKE YOU HIGHER is a must-read for all Sly Stone/Sixties rock music fans.
No Sixties group could touch Sly and the Family Stone for catchy, infectious songs that jumped off the vinyl and got their listeners up and shaking their tailfeathers. Yet Sly's songs weren't just empty-headed dance tunes for, wrapped up in those funky beats, were sincere, heartfelt calls for brotherhood and understanding. Tragically, the joy and magic and fun generated by the Family Stone's creation and initial success fell victim to drugs. Original group members left and Sly launched into a roller-coaster, drug-fueled ride that turned this tremendous talent into a reclusive Howard Hughes clone.
I WANT TO TAKE YOU HIGHER is a fairly slim volume - only 210 pages long - but Kaliss' in-depth research, which included interviews with original group members and even the man himself(!) produced an insightful, informative tale. While Kaliss doesn't shy away from warts-and-all exposure, his tone is even-handed and sympathetic.
The book's emphasis is on Sly and Company. After all, its sub-title is 'The Life and Times of Sly and the Family Stone.' So, while Kaliss discusses the group's musical output, he doesn't devote a great deal of space to that. Personally I would have liked a bit more on the music. And I would have loved it if Kaliss had dropped his laidback sensibilities and thrown in a "This song is Bitchin!!!!!" comment or two when discussing the songs!
Reading I WANT TO TAKE YOU HIGHER leaves one with mixed emotions. The music of Sly and the Family Stone touched so many people then and now, it's sad to read of the behind-the-scene turmoil and the toll drugs took on the man and his friends. They certainly took us higher for a time and, for that, we can be grateful. And grateful to for Jeff Kaliss' wonderful book. Highly recommended.
No Sixties group could touch Sly and the Family Stone for catchy, infectious songs that jumped off the vinyl and got their listeners up and shaking their tailfeathers. Yet Sly's songs weren't just empty-headed dance tunes for, wrapped up in those funky beats, were sincere, heartfelt calls for brotherhood and understanding. Tragically, the joy and magic and fun generated by the Family Stone's creation and initial success fell victim to drugs. Original group members left and Sly launched into a roller-coaster, drug-fueled ride that turned this tremendous talent into a reclusive Howard Hughes clone.
I WANT TO TAKE YOU HIGHER is a fairly slim volume - only 210 pages long - but Kaliss' in-depth research, which included interviews with original group members and even the man himself(!) produced an insightful, informative tale. While Kaliss doesn't shy away from warts-and-all exposure, his tone is even-handed and sympathetic.
The book's emphasis is on Sly and Company. After all, its sub-title is 'The Life and Times of Sly and the Family Stone.' So, while Kaliss discusses the group's musical output, he doesn't devote a great deal of space to that. Personally I would have liked a bit more on the music. And I would have loved it if Kaliss had dropped his laidback sensibilities and thrown in a "This song is Bitchin!!!!!" comment or two when discussing the songs!
Reading I WANT TO TAKE YOU HIGHER leaves one with mixed emotions. The music of Sly and the Family Stone touched so many people then and now, it's sad to read of the behind-the-scene turmoil and the toll drugs took on the man and his friends. They certainly took us higher for a time and, for that, we can be grateful. And grateful to for Jeff Kaliss' wonderful book. Highly recommended.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Thank You for Talking to Us Sly
22 Dec 2008
Format:Hardcover
Sylvester Stewart (a.k.a. Sly Stone) has long been one of music's most reclusive geniuses, and Jeff Kaliss scored a major coup by working his way into Sly's sheltered inner circle. Thus we have the first-ever authoritative biography of Sly & the Family Stone, built upon recent interviews with the man himself, as well as fairly in-depth research into period sources. The early parts of the book provide some insight into the inspirations that made Sly a truly unique originator who is credited with directly inspiring several different genres of modern music. Kaliss also does a fine job catching up with all the band members in the present day.
But this book is somewhat lacking in its coverage of the Family Stone's years of greatest success, with a rushed and awkward sense of pacing. Kaliss attempts to explain how the band's sunny brilliance turned into brooding inconsistency due to drugs and infighting, but doesn't quite truly illuminate the struggles faced by the band. Kaliss was apparently unable to decide between historical coverage of the entire Family Stone band or a basic biography of Sylvester Stewart, vacillating unevenly between the two and leaving many key band members unfairly under-represented (such as bassist Larry Graham). Both of the above problems are exemplified by an offhand reference (pg. 125) to the fact that Sly fathered a child with longtime bandmate Cynthia Robinson, a tidbit that Kaliss tosses off with no analysis of band relations or the relevance of events on anyone but Sly. Kaliss also fumbles in a few places in making thin postmodern-ish connections between the Family Stone's music and the modern genres it influenced.
So this biography feels rather thin and undeveloped, but it still sheds a lot of light on one of the most mysterious geniuses in American music history. Fans of Sly & the Family Stone will be generally well-informed by this book, as will historically-minded lovers of influential American music. [~doomsdayer520~]
But this book is somewhat lacking in its coverage of the Family Stone's years of greatest success, with a rushed and awkward sense of pacing. Kaliss attempts to explain how the band's sunny brilliance turned into brooding inconsistency due to drugs and infighting, but doesn't quite truly illuminate the struggles faced by the band. Kaliss was apparently unable to decide between historical coverage of the entire Family Stone band or a basic biography of Sylvester Stewart, vacillating unevenly between the two and leaving many key band members unfairly under-represented (such as bassist Larry Graham). Both of the above problems are exemplified by an offhand reference (pg. 125) to the fact that Sly fathered a child with longtime bandmate Cynthia Robinson, a tidbit that Kaliss tosses off with no analysis of band relations or the relevance of events on anyone but Sly. Kaliss also fumbles in a few places in making thin postmodern-ish connections between the Family Stone's music and the modern genres it influenced.
So this biography feels rather thin and undeveloped, but it still sheds a lot of light on one of the most mysterious geniuses in American music history. Fans of Sly & the Family Stone will be generally well-informed by this book, as will historically-minded lovers of influential American music. [~doomsdayer520~]
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Somewhat disappointing
6 Oct 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was really looking forward to this one, seeing that it was authorized by the reclusive Sly Stone himself. It starts off good with lots of details about his pre-fame but then it becomes a rather pedestrian, album-by-album review once we get to "Dance To The Music" and "Stand." Maybe I expected more after reading the hard-to-come by "For The Record" oral history which is told by everyone except Sly himself. Sly remains a cipher.
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