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Lyn Collins – Think (About It) (LP Reissue) [Get On Down GET54071]

James Brown had several incredibly talented funky divas in his late 60s and early 70s stable, including Vicki Anderson and Marva Whitney but as great as those two powerhouse singers were, Lyn Collins was the strongest hitmaker of that funky JB era. Her strong voice and commanding stage presence – which earned her the nicknames The Female Preacher and Mama Feelgood – quickly proved to be a potent addition to the People Records universe.

In the spring of 1972 her second single, the driving and ridiculously funky “Think (About It)” hit the R&B music world like a ton of bricks. As fans young and old know, thanks to its timeless, relentless groove and powerful vocals, “Think” gained a powerful second life in the 1980s thanks to the hip-hop generation, fueling the platinum smash “It Takes Two,” by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock in 1988 and additionally sampled by dozens of hip-hop and dance music artists up to the present day.

But Collins was far from a one-hit wonder: she was as vocally adept on ballads as she was with full-blown funk. She proves this throughout her debut album, which was released in 1972 on James Brown’s new People Records – the imprint’s second full-length release. To wit, aside from the title smash: a powerful and emotional cover of Bill Withers’s “Ain’t No Sunshine”; the socially progressive “Women’s Lib”; the Gamble & Huff-penned “Never Gonna Give You Up” (originally done by Jerry Butler); and even a daring, muscular take on the song “Fly Me To The Moon,” made famous by, among others, Frank Sinatra.

Throughout “Think (About It)”, Collins showed that she was a vocal force to be reckoned with. Backed by a James Brown assembled musical crew that included Pee Wee Ellis, Fred Wesley and, of course, James Brown himself, the platter was bound to impress and succeed. And that it did.