| "I'll Take You There" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Belgian single release | ||||
| Single by the Staple Singers | ||||
| from the album Be Altitude: Respect Yourself | ||||
| B-side | "I'm Just Another Soldier" | |||
| Released | February 1972 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:43 3:16 (7" version) | |||
| Label | Stax | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Al Bell | |||
| Producer(s) | Al Bell | |||
| The Staple Singers singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative release | ||||
 Side A of US single release | ||||
"I'll Take You There" is a song written by Al Bell (using his real name Alvertis Isbell), and originally performed by soul/gospel family band the Staple Singers. The Staple Singers version, produced by Bell, was released on Stax Records in February 1972, and spent a total of 15 weeks on the charts and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. By December 1972, it had sold 2 million units[4] and is ranked as the 19th biggest American hit of 1972.[5] It remains one of the best-selling gospel songs of all time.
The song was also a significant chart hit in two later cover versions. A 1991 cover version by BeBe & CeCe Winans, with Mavis Staples featured as a guest artist, made it to #1 on the R&B chart, and also reached #90 on the Hot 100.[6] In 1994, the British band General Public released a cover of "I'll Take You There" which peaked at #22 on the Hot 100.[7] Rap trio Salt-N-Pepa sampled "I'll Take You There" in their 1991 hit "Let's Talk About Sex".
- ^ "100 Greatest Funk Songs". Digital Dream Door. August 7, 2008. Archived from the original on September 25, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (February 27, 2019). "The Number Ones: The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
But it's still hard to hear it as anything other than a gospel song — one of the purest and most direct that ever went to #1 in America.
- ^ Horton, Matthew (2015). "The Staple Singers - "I'll Take You There". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. New York: Universe. p. 299.
- ^ "Staple Singers Get Disc For 2 Million Record Sales". Jet. Vol. 43, no. 12. Johnson Publishing Company. 14 December 1972. p. 50. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved January 25, 2024 – via Google Books.
- ^ Climax - Chart History - The Hot 100, Billboard.com. Accessed April 16, 2018.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 631.
- ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1994". Archived from the original on 2009-03-01. Retrieved 2010-08-27.