(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People

Album: (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People (1971)
Charted: 32 26
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This was written by Chi-Lites lead vocalist Eugene Record, who said of this song in a 1971 interview with Disc and Music Echo: "When something is wrong it's wrong. And if you haven't seen anything to make it right you have to continue with your feelings. We travel about a lot and there's a lot of things we see that don't look good. This is about the only way we can try and set them right; by bringing people's attention to them." (This interview is available at Rock's Backpages.)
  • Chi-Lites bass singer Creadel "Red" Jones gets a prominent vocal on this track, punctuating Record's lead.
  • John Lennon's "Power to the People" was a hit shortly before this song cracked the charts.
  • Like The Temptations, The Chi-Lites specialized in songs about love and heartbreak, but did release an occasional political song like this one. Eugene Record explained: "I don't want to get involved in this militant thing. I believe in what I'm doing but I don't want to get any deeper involved. The songs are really what I feel; I don't go into it to intentionally get involved. From now on I'm just going to write and use my common sense and if it touches on a political thing then I won't go too far with it. If you go too far it can hurt you, at least as far as records go, because if you get down to saying things that are really truthful some people don't want to accept the truth and will back away or stand in your way to slow you down."

Comments: 1

  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn April 4th 1971, "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People"" by the Chi-Lites entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 at position #76; seven weeks later on May 23rd, 1971 it peaked at #26 {for 2 weeks} and spent 11 weeks on the Top 100...
    It reached #4 on the Billboard's R&B Singles chart...
    Between 1969 and 1998 the Chi-Town quartet had forty-one hits on the R&B Singles chart; twelve made the Top 10 with two reaching #1, "Have You Seen Her" for 2 weeks in 1971 and "Oh Girl" for 2 weeks in 1972...
    They just missed have a third #1 record when "Stoned Out of Mind" peaked at #2* in 1973...
    R.I.P. lead singer Eugene Record {1940 - 2005}...
    * The week "Stoned Out of Mind" was at #2 on the R&B Singles chart, the #1 record for that week was "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple PilotsSongwriter Interviews

Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.

Glen Ballard

Glen BallardSongwriter Interviews

Glen Ballard talks about co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill album, and his work with Dave Matthews, Aerosmith and Annie Lennox.

Martin Page

Martin PageSongwriter Interviews

With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."

Lip-Synch Rebels

Lip-Synch RebelsSong Writing

What happens when Kurt Cobain, Iron Maiden and Johnny Lydon are told to lip-synch? Some hilarious "performances."

Joe Ely

Joe ElySongwriter Interviews

The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

Actors With Hit Songs

Actors With Hit SongsMusic Quiz

Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?