" Higher and Higher" is an R&B song written by Gary Jackson, Raynard Miner, and Carl Smith. It was originally recorded by Jackie Wilson for his album Higher and Higher, produced by Carl Davis, and became a Top 10 pop and number one R&B hit.
Overview
The backing track was recorded on July 6, 1967 at Columbia's studios in Chicago. Produced by Carl Davis, the session, arranged by Sonny Sanders, featured bassist James Jamerson, drummer Richard "Pistol" Allen, guitarist Robert White, and keyboardist Johnny Griffith; these four musicians were all members of the Motown Records house band The Funk Brothers who often moonlighted on sessions for Davis to augment the wages paid by Motown. According to Carl Davis, the Funk Brothers "used to come over on the weekends from Detroit. They'd load up in the van and come over to Chicago, and I would pay 'em double scale, and I'd pay 'em in cash." Similarly, two members of Motown's house session singers The Andantes, Jackie Hicks and Marlene Barrow, along with Pat Lewis, performed on the session for "Higher and Higher". Drummer Maurice White also played on the recording. Motown's Mike Terry played the baritone saxophone. The song was originally written by Chess Records' in-house writers and producers Carl Smith and Raynard Miner, and initially recorded by The Dells for the label, but not released. Another writer, Gary Jackson, made some changes to the song and pitched it to Davis at Brunswick. When the singer recorded his vocal track, Davis recalls, Wilson originally sang the song "like a soul ballad. I said that's totally wrong. You have to jump and go with the percussion... If he didn't want to sing it that way, I would put my voice on the record and sell millions." After hearing Davis's advice, Wilson cut the lead vocal for "Higher and Higher" in a single take. A publishing deal for the song was reached with Brunswick after Chess producer/A&R head, Billy Davis intervened. Writing credits were agreed with Smith, Miner, Jackson and Billy Davis all named. Later, Davis removed his credit and BMI now lists the song as by the three other writers. The Dells' version appeared on their album, "There Is" for Chess subsidiary, Cadet the same year.
Release
Released in August 1967, the song reached number one on the US Billboard R&B chart and, in November, peaked on the BillboardHot 100 at No. 6. Wilson's version also rose to nos. 11 &15 upon the UK Singles Chart during 1969 and 1987 respectively. Brunswick Records then released an album titled Higher and Higher in November 1967. Its chart peak was No. 163 and No. 28 The track was ranked No. 246 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
included the song on their 1968 hit album There Is; their version, recorded in 1967, is reputed to have been the original version, and was recorded with slightly different lyrics than the better-known Jackie Wilson hit version, but was not released as a single. In a recorded interview with famed Cleveland/New York Dee-Jay Norm N. Nite, Jackie stated that when he first heard a tape of the song, "a vocal group was singing it". That group was quite probably The Dells. In 1970, the song was recorded under the title "Higher and Higher" by Canada Goose, a group from Ottawa who had been discovered by Jerry Ragovoy. This version, with a shared lead vocal by Barbra Bullard and John Matthews, became a hit in Canada and reached #92 on the Record World 100 Pop Chart. Dolly Parton covered the song on her 1977 LP, New Harvest...First Gathering. In 2008 the song, still known as "Higher and Higher", charted in Sweden due to Kevin Borg, the eventual winner of season 8 of Idol, performing it in the competition, and downloads of Borg's version secured it a #29 ranking. Bruce Springsteen has performed the song throughout his career, first in the 1970s and then later on the 2009 Working on a Dream Tour. A live version of the song was released by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band on their live album HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY, 11/22/09. This version was recorded on November 22, 2009. This was the last show where longtime E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons performed with the band before his death. Springsteen and the E Street Band also played the song to end the first night of the 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concerts. Captured on HBO and later released on the DVD, the live performance of the song featured guests including Sam Moore, Darlene Love, Tom Morello, John Fogerty, Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, and Peter Wolf.
remade the song as " Higher and Higher" for her album Anytime...Anywhere. Her version has a more moderate tempo than that of the uptempo original, and largely omits the chorus which is evidenced only in the background vocals sung under the repetition of the first verse with which she closes the song. Coolidge and her sister Priscilla Coolidge had sung background on a version of the song for a prospective album by Priscilla's husband Booker T. Jones; when that album was shelved, Coolidge asked him if she could cut the song using his arrangement.
Released as a single, Coolidge's version became her first major hit in nine years of recording: the track peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was kept from the No. 1 spot by "Best of My Love" by The Emotions.Cash Box ranked it at No. 1. "Higher and Higher" also reached No. 1 in Canada. Both the song and a subsequent release, "We're All Alone", earned Coolidge gold records for each selling a million copies. In the UK it was released as the follow-up single after "We're All Alone" which had reached No. 6, but it only achieved a peak of No. 48 there.
