"Going Back to My Roots" is a 1977 song by Lamont Dozier. A cover version of "Going Back to My Roots" by the British-American band Odyssey was the most successful in music charts in particularly European countries, besides reaching number one in South Africa. Cover versions by FPI Project and Linda Clifford have also entered the UK Singles Chart, with FPI Project's version charting in other European markets as well.
Originally an album track discussing genealogy, the song was written for the African-American market and touches on the matters of self-identity, family, and soul fulfillment. It has appeared on assorted compilation albums.
It has widely been seen as covering the same subject matter as the bestselling Alex Haley novel Roots that depicts a modern-day African-American tracing his ancestry back, via the slave trade, to a village in The Gambia. This is supported by the extended final section, which moves into Afrobeat and Yoruba chanting. Yet in an interview with Blues & Soul magazine in 1977, Dozier stated otherwise: “The song was inspired by the fact that I have my ‘roots’ in Detroit and when I moved to Los Angeles, a few years ago, I found myself taking trips to Detroit to see my family and so on.” [2]
Richie Havens version
An early cover version was recorded by Richie Havens in 1980. Unusually for folk musician Havens, it incorporated disco influences;[3][4] this version was later sampled in FPI Project's version of the song[5] and in "Destiny and Tenacity" on the Kleptones' 2010 album Uptime / Downtime.[6]
New York City disco group Odyssey released a cover version of this song in 1981. It charted at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, spending six weeks in the top ten, followed by another remaining six weeks on the chart.[8] It also graced the US Billboard R&B Singles chart at No. 68.[9] In South Africa, "Going Back to My Roots" reached #1.[10]
In 1989, a version was released by FPI Project, a trio consisting of Marco Fratty, Corrado Presti and Roberto Intrallazzi who, according to John Bush of AllMusic introduced Italo house to the world in the early 1990s.[27] "Going Back to My Roots" features the vocals of English actress/singer Sharon D. Clarke and uses "Rich in Paradise" (featuring vocals by Paolo Dini) as its backing track. "Rich in Paradise" samples Richie Havens' version of "Going Back to My Roots", as well as T99's "Too Nice to Be Real", Honesty 69's "Rich in Paradise", and the Yeah! Woo! loop.[5]
"Going Back to My Roots" / "Rich in Paradise" has charted on three separate occasions in the UK, the first in 1989 at No. 9; a version by Nick Hussey featuring Barry Stewart on vocals in 1994 at No. 12,[28] and a 1999 release of new mixes on the 99 North label at No. 96.[8] The 1989 version also charted at No. 5 in Germany, No. 5 in Austria and No. 10 in Switzerland.[29]
