The group sings in a contemporary style, integrating R&B and jazz influences into their devotional songs and has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two NAACP Image Award nominations. They won Grammy Awards in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1998, and 2003 and have collaborated with Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Don Henley, Ray Charles, Queen Latifah, Joe Sample, Quincy Jones, Marcus Miller and Gordon Goodwin.
In 1980, Claude McKnight formed an a cappella quartet, The Gentlemen's Estate Quartet, at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, a Seventh-Day Adventist College, where he was a freshman. He auditioned fellow students for the hobby group. The Gentlemen were rehearsing in a campus bathroom (later said to be in Peterson Hall), getting ready for a performance, when Mark Kibble walked by and heard them singing. He joined the harmonizing, adding a fifth part, and ended up singing with them onstage that very night.[1] Mark later invited Mervyn Warren to join the group. The group performed under the moniker "Alliance".
The group performed in local churches and on campus over the next years, with members changing due to college's inevitable comings and goings. In 1985, the lower half of the group (bass, baritone, and second tenor) left upon graduating. At that time, Alvin Chea, Cedric Dent, and David Thomas joined.
The group was signed to Warner Brothers in 1987, and quickly changed its name to "Take 6" after a name search revealed that "Alliance" was already being used. Their eponymous debut album, released in 1988, won them two Grammy Awards and resulted in top ten appearances on both the Billboard Contemporary Jazz and Contemporary Christian Charts. Take 6's swinging, harmony-rich gospel sound attracted a flurry of attention, and the group went on to record or appear with a number of luminaries, including Quincy Jones, Ella Fitzgerald and Stevie Wonder.
In 1991, after the release of their second album, So Much 2 Say, Mervyn Warren left the group to pursue a career as a producer. Joey Kibble, Mark's younger brother, was invited to round out the vocal lineup. The group added instrumentation to their purely a cappella sound beginning with the record He Is Christmas; Join The Band and Brothers continued their streak of success, and Take 6 amassed a total of seven Grammys and eight Dove awards, as well as topping the Downbeat Magazine's Reader's and Critic's poll for seven years' consecutively.
Take 6's 1998 release, So Cool, brought the group back to its a cappella origins.
In 2006 the group launched Take 6 Records and the 2006 release Feels Good was released on that label.
The group currently lists Nashville, Tennessee as its home.[2] All members grew up Seventh-Day Adventist.[
Straighten Up And Fly Right
Take 6 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The monkey thought that ev'rything was on the square
The buzzard tried to throw the monkey off his back
The monkey grabbed his neck and said, "Now, listen, Jack
Straighten up and fly right, straighten up and fly right
Straighten up and fly right, cool down papa, don't you blow your top
Ain't no use in divin'. What's the use of jivin'?
Straighten up and fly right, cool down papa, don't you blow your top"
Release your hold and I'll set you free"
The monkey looked the buzzard right dead in the eye and said
"Your story's touching, but is sounds like a lie"
Straighten up and fly right, straighten up and stay right
Straighten up and fly right, cool down papa, don't you blow your top
The lyrics of Take 6's song "Straighten Up and Fly Right" tell a humorous story about a monkey who gets taken for a ride by a buzzard. The monkey naively believes that everything is on the level, but soon realizes that the buzzard has ill intentions when he tries to throw the monkey off his back. The monkey, quick-thinking, grabs the buzzard's neck and tells him to straighten up and fly right, a metaphorical call for the buzzard to get his act together and fly in a straight line. The monkey then tells the buzzard that there's no use in trying to deceive or distract him, and that he needs to stay on the right path. The song ends with a repetition of the call to "straighten up and fly right" and a warning for "papa," the buzzard, to calm down and not lose his cool.
Line by Line Meaning
The buzzard took the monkey for a ride in the air
The buzzard flew with the monkey in the sky
The monkey thought that ev'rything was on the square
The monkey believed that everything was fair and honest
The buzzard tried to throw the monkey off his back
The buzzard attempted to shake off the monkey from his body
The monkey grabbed his neck and said, "Now, listen, Jack
The monkey held the buzzard by the neck and spoke to him
Straighten up and fly right, straighten up and fly right
Straighten up and fly right, cool down papa, don't you blow your top
Ain't no use in divin'. What's the use of jivin'?
Straighten up and fly right, cool down papa, don't you blow your top"
The monkey advised the buzzard to fly properly and not to get agitated, as it was pointless to do otherwise
The buzzard told the monkey, "You're choking me
Release your hold and I'll set you free"
The buzzard requested the monkey to release him as he was getting choked, assuring him that he would let him go
The monkey looked the buzzard right dead in the eye and said
"Your story's touching, but is sounds like a lie"
The monkey stared directly at the buzzard and stated that his explanation seemed false and sentimental
Straighten up and fly right, straighten up and stay right
Straighten up and fly right, cool down papa, don't you blow your top
The monkey once again instructed the buzzard to fly properly and maintain his composure
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: TOMMY STEWART, PETE MURRAY, NEIL MATTHEW GODFREY, JOHN L. FAHNESTOCK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind