(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher (1967) (1977)

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Download MP3s from Amazon.com:

• Jackie Wilson - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher (MP3)
• Rita Coolidge - (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher (MP3)

By: Jackie Wilson (born Jack Leroy Wilson June 9, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan, died January 21, 1984 in Mount Holly, New Jersey.)

Wilson's dynamic stage performances earned him the nickname "Mr. Excitement".  His performance of "Lonely Teardrops" on the Ed Sullivan Show is considered one of the show's classics. 

His career began to suffer in the mid-60s, though he managed a brief revival by collaborating with Carl Davis, a legendary Chicago producer. This resulted in two hits, "Whispers" and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher". 

Wilson recorded it in Chicago with members of Motown's session musicians (the Funk Brothers). They were responsible for the distinctive Motown sound, but didn't make much money and moonlighted by playing sessions for artists like Wilson. Paying on this track were bassist James Jamerson, drummer Richard "Pistol" Allen, guitarist Robert White, and keyboardist Johnny Griffith.

On September 29, 1975, while singing "Lonely Teardrops" at a Dick Clark show at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Wilson suffered a massive heart attack and fell head-first on the stage, sending him into a coma. Wilson remained comatose and lived bed-ridden in a New Jersey hospital until his death at age 49.

His medical costs were paid for by Elvis Presley, and soul singer Al Green was one of the few artists who regularly visited him.  

Chart position: #6 (US), #1 (US R&B), #11 (UK).

The Top Ten Songs: October 7, 1967 (US Billboard Hot 100).

1. "The Letter" (Box Tops)
2. "Never My Love" (Association)
3. "Ode To Billie Joe" (Bobbie Gentry)
4. "Come Back When You Grow Up" (Bobby Vee)
5. "Little Ole Man (Uptight, Everything's Alright)" (Bill Cosby)
6. "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher" (Jackie Wilson)
7. "Reflections" (Diana Ross and the Supremes)
8. "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie" (Jay and the Techniques)
9. "How Can I Be Sure" (Young Rascals)
10. "Gimme Little Sign" (Brenton Wood)
    

Written by: Billy Davis and Raynard Miner.

Miner also co-wrote "Rescue Me" (Fontella Bass, #4 US, #11 UK).



Also by: Rita Coolidge, as "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher", which reached #2 (US) in 1977. It was a much slower version than Wilson's recording.

Download MP3s from Amazon.com:

• Jackie Wilson - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher (MP3)
• Rita Coolidge - (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher (MP3)

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