Released 1969 Recorded 1969 Length 3:08 | Format 7" single Genre Psychedelic soul, funk Label Epic
5-10450 | |
"Stand!" is a 1969 song by the soul/rock/funk band Sly and the Family Stone. The song's title and lyrics are a call for its listeners to "stand" up for themselves, their communities, and what they believe in. Like nearly all of Sly & the Family Stone's songs, Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart was credited as the sole songwriter.
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The original mix of "Stand!" garnered a warm, yet unenthusiastic, reaction when Sly Stone had an early acetate of the record played in a San Francisco club. As a result, Stone went back into the studio and had the song's final section, a fevered gospel music-styled break, rerecorded. Most of the Family Stone was unavailable for the session, and Stone resorted to using mostly studio musicians for the rerecorded section.
"I Want to Take You Higher", the b-side of "Stand!", was also a hit single in 1969/1970.
In 2004 the song was ranked #241 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.