THE MANHATTANS

Summertime In The City by THE MANHATTANS

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Biography by Steve Huey (amg)

The Manhattans were one of those classic R&B vocal groups who manage to achieve incredible career longevity by adapting their style to fit changing times. Formed in the '60s as a doo wop-influenced R&B quintet, the Manhattans reinvented themselves as sweet smooth soul balladeers during the '70s. In doing so, they somehow overcame the death of lead singer George Smith, and with new frontman Gerald Alston became more popular than they'd ever been, landing an across-the-board number one hit in 1976 with "Kiss and Say Goodbye." Under the leadership of Winfred "Blue" Lovett (who also composed some of the group's biggest hits), the Manhattans survived as a viable chart act well into the '80s, over two decades after their formation.

The Manhattans got together not in their namesake location, but in nearby Jersey City, NJ, in 1962. The group was centered around lead singer George "Smitty" Smith and bass (and sometime lead) vocalist Winfred "Blue" Lovett; the other original members were Kenny Kelley, Richard Taylor, and Edward "Sonny" Bivins, the latter of whom sometimes co-wrote material with accomplished songwriter Lovett. In 1964, the Manhattans signed with the Newark-based Carnival label and teamed up with producer Joe Evans; they scored their first hit in early 1965 with "I Wanna Be (Your Everything)," a number 12 R&B hit that established their way with a ballad right from the beginning. It was the first of eight singles for Carnival, a string that continued up through 1967. None were huge hits, but nearly all of them reached the Top 30 on the R&B charts, and are still prized by collectors of vocal-group soul for their aching harmonies, Smith's intense leads, and lack of concession to mainstream pop audiences.

In 1969, the Manhattans signed on with DeLuxe and issued several singles over the course of 1970. Unfortunately, Smith fell ill that year, and the group hired Phil Terrell as a temporary fill-in. Sadly, Smith passed away in 1971; he was replaced on lead vocals by Gerald Alston, who brought a smoother, more pop-friendly sound to the group. That quality soon became apparent when the Lovett-penned "One Life to Live" zoomed into the R&B Top Five in late 1972, giving the Manhattans their first major hit. The following year, they left DeLuxe for Columbia, where their debut single, "There's No Me Without You" (written by Sonny Bivins), equaled the R&B chart peak of "One Life to Live" by reaching number three. Initially working with producer Bobby Martin, the Manhattans' records now fell into line with the sweet, string-laden sound of contemporary '70s soul. The Manhattans hit the R&B Top Ten again in 1974 with "Don't Take Your Love" and 1975 with "Hurt," but their biggest success was still to come.

In early 1975, the Manhattans had recorded a Blue Lovett composition called "Kiss and Say Goodbye," which was released as a single almost a full year later. It became the second platinum single in history (after Johnnie Taylor's "Disco Lady") and their first number one hit in the spring of 1976, not just on the R&B charts, but the pop side as well -- a remarkable feat, considering that they'd never had a single peak higher than number 37 on that survey. While it proved difficult to match the crossover success of "Kiss and Say Goodbye," the Manhattans reeled off a string of Top Ten R&B hits -- "I Kinda Miss You," "It Feels So Good to Be Loved So Bad," "We Never Danced to a Love Song," and "Am I Losing You" -- that lasted into early 1978 and made them staples on the newly emerging quiet storm radio format. Their momentum slowed over the next couple of years, but they came back strong in 1980 with "Shining Star" -- not a cover of the Earth, Wind & Fire hit, but a co-write by their new producer Leo Graham. "Shining Star" reached the Top Five on both the pop and R&B charts, went gold, and won a Grammy -- overall, not a bad haul.

The Manhattans' last major hit came with 1983's "Crazy," which put them in the R&B Top Five for the final time; they bade farewell to the Top 40 in 1985 with a cover of Sam Cooke's "You Send Me." That year Richard Taylor left the group, which carried on as a quartet for a few years; Taylor passed away in December 1987. Gerald Alston signed with Motown as a solo artist in 1988, upon which point the group finally parted ways with Columbia and recorded an album for the small Valley Vue label before disbanding. Alston and Lovett reunited in 1993; with new members Troy May and David Tyson, they toured regularly into the new millennium, with the occasional recording appearing on a small label.

Review by Richie Unterberger (amg)

The Manhattans' second Columbia album was a somewhat poorly conceived affair, combining one LP side of new recordings and a second LP side of released and unissued tracks they'd cut for DeLuxe before signing with Columbia. As those Deluxe tracks were several years old (some perhaps having been recorded even four or five years earlier), the record spanned too wide of a time frame to qualify as a wholly new (or wholly realized) effort. Certainly it's not as consistent, either in style or quality, as their 1973 Columbia debut There's No Me Without You. It was decent (though not brilliant) period early- to mid-'70s soul, however, including the Top Ten R&B (and pop Top 40) hit "Don't Take Your Love," as well as the much smaller chart single "Summertime in the City." The latter song was certainly reminiscent of the early-'70s Temptations' funk, while the former was very much a lush Philly soul-style ballad. The Philly soul path, in both its ballad and funk modes, was also followed by some of the "new" tracks, such as "Save Our Goodbyes" and the title song. While the older selections on side two have a less Philly-fied vibe, really they don't sound that out of place; "Blackbird" is much in line with the O'Jays' early-'70s recordings and both "Strange Old World" and "Nursery Rhymes" again recall the funked-out Temptations, though the covers of "Fever" and "A Change Is Gonna Come" were a little more old-school. The album was combined with its predecessor, There's No Me Without You, on a single-disc Kent CD reissue in 2004.

My comment: I love The Manhattans - no matter what the reviews are!

THE NEW BIRTH

Your Love Is by The New Birth

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Biography by Craig Lytle (amg)

Formed by Tony Churchill and music-industry veteran Harvey Fuqua, New Birth was originally named the Nite-Liters. As the Nite-Liters, they enjoyed chart action with three R&B hits: "K-Jee," "Afro-Strut," and "Pull Together." Of the three, "K-Jee" was the most successful, peaking at number 17 during a 13-week run.

The roots of the band lie with Leslie and Melvin Wilson, who were gospel singers living in Muskegon, MI. After moving on to Detroit in the late '60s, their interest remained centered in gospel. Melvin Wilson eventually met the Nite-Liters, who at the time were backing Motown artists, and expressed the possibility that he and his brother Leslie could perform with them. As fate would have it, the two brothers became acquainted with former Marvelette Anne Bogan, who introduced them to Fuqua. He had three groups under his tutelage: Love Peace & Happiness (of which Leslie and Melvin became members), the Nite-Liters, and New Birth. All but two members of New Birth had left the group around this time, leaving just Londee Loren and Bobby Downs. The three groups toured, backed each other up, and ultimately merged into one, with New Birth the name of the new group.

Leslie, with his feisty vocals, and Melvin, with his more serene appeal, emerged as the primary lead singers. New Birth's first release was the R&B Top Ten single "I Can Understand It." Led by Leslie Wilson's intense vocals and reminiscent of Bobby Womack, the single zoomed up the charts, peaking at number four after only 12 weeks. In January of 1974 they released "It's Been a Long Time," one of their celebrated hits and another Top Ten entry. That single was followed by the classic, soulful ballad "Wildflower." During this time, the group was living in California, which presented problems; from egotism associated with the lights of Tinseltown to group-management problems, the band's best interests began to suffer. Consequently, New Birth terminated its affiliation with their founder and producer Fuqua, manager Jerry Weintraub, and RCA Records. In mid-1975 they signed with Buddah Records and immediately recorded their first and only number R&B one, "Dream Merchant." They recorded just one album for Buddah, however, before signing with Warner Bros. and later Ariola. In 1977, Leslie and Melvin Wilson left the group, and by 1979 the rest of the group had disbanded. However, in 1994, Leslie and Melvin re-formed the group and began performing at venues around the nation.

Review by Amy Hanson (amg)

Their second album for Warner Bros. and the last before the band called it quits two years later, New Birth's late-1977 Behold the Mighty Army LP may have sounded their death knell, but it still managed to shimmy up the R&B charts, scoring the band their sixth Top 30 hit in four years. Packed with brass and bass and funk guitar riffs, New Birth attempted to revitalize themselves one last time -- and, true to form, they succeeded, with a fierce set that brought two more singles to the charts. Both the opening "The Mighty Army," which wraps the groove around a near-seven-minute jam, and the resonating "Deeper" can be counted among some of the band's finest moments. Elsewhere, "Ain't It Something" combines a slick, brassed-up vibe with rough vocals to stunning effect, while New Birth takes the energy down a notch across a handful of slower songs, including the dirty funk of "Squeezing Too Much Living" and "Your Love Is," a wonderful ballad that has so many golden moments that it's a surprise that it was lost in the band's hit machine. Although there's no doubt that the band had a heyday across their Nite-Liters incarnation, it's important to note that as New Birth, they still had some feisty tricks up their sleeve. Ultimately, Behold the Mighty Army is proof of that pudding, for even teetering on the brink of destruction, the band pulled together a remarkable set.

THE MARVELETTES

Someway, Somehow by The Marvelettes

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Biography by Richie Unterberger (AMG)

Probably the most pop-oriented of Motown's major female acts, the Marvelettes didn't project as strong an identity as the Supremes, Mary Wells, or Martha Reeves, but recorded quite a few hits, including Motown's first number one single, "Please Mr. Postman" (1961). "Postman," as well as other chirpy early-'60s hits like "Playboy," "Twistin' Postman," and "Beechwood 4-5789," were the label's purest girl group efforts. Featuring two strong lead singers, Gladys Horton and Wanda Young, the Marvelettes went through five different lineups, but maintained a high standard on their recordings. After a few years, they moved from girl group sounds to up-tempo and mid-tempo numbers that were more characteristic of Motown's production line. They received no small help from Smokey Robinson, who produced and wrote many of their singles; Holland-Dozier-Holland, Berry Gordy, Mickey Stevenson, Marvin Gaye, and Ashford-Simpson also got involved with the songwriting and production at various points. After the mid-'60s Wanda Young assumed most of the lead vocal duties; Gladys Horton departed from the group in the late '60s. While the Marvelettes didn't cut as many monster smashes as most of their Motown peers after the early '60s, they did periodically surface with classic hits like "Too Many Fish in the Sea," "Don't Mess With Bill," and "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game." There were also plenty of fine minor hits and misses, like 1965's "I'll Keep Holding On," which is just as memorable as the well-known Motown chart-toppers of the era. The group quietly disbanded in the early '70s after several years without a major hit.


Review by John Lowe (amg)
By this time Gladys Horton left the group and was replaced by the talented but eccentric singer/songwriter Anne Bogan. Young took control of the group and moved them more into a softer pop sound, closer to the frothy Supremes than Martha and the Vandellas. Although the material was a bit weaker, there are plenty of good songs, most notably Smokey Robinson's amusing "My Baby Must Be a Magician" and the haunting "Destination: Anywhere," in which Young performs a tremendous vocal.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I WISH YOU ALL - SEASON'S BLESSINGS - AND A JOYOUS HOLIDAY SEASON!!

GLADYS KNIGHT

BODY & SOUL - SENSUAL CHRISTMAS

Willie B

by Willie B

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Can't find any information on him - BUT he is definitely chitlin circuit soul - for those of you who enjoy my southern soul posts!!

ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS SOUL

Dear Santa Claus by bOBBY womack

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THE SUPREMES (1965) - Remastered

Silver Bells by The Supremes

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Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 77

Odetta, a titan of American folk music, demonstrated time and again that her talent transcended any one style. She died Dec. 2, 2008, at 77.

Odetta was a folk icon, but her music included blues, jazz, spirituals, Appalachian songs and English folk songs. Her 27th solo album, ''Blues Everywhere I Go'' (2000), paid homage to the great blueswomen of the ‘20s and ‘30s: Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Victoria Spivey, Sippie Wallace and Memphis Minnie.

''One of the many reasons I wanted to do the blues album is that I get pretty fed up with stereotyping of our black community as being represented by prurient sex or 'I'm gonna shoot you or I'm gonna cut you','' she said in a phone conversation from her home in New York in July 2000. ''There was blues in the '20s and '30s that dealt with society's foot stepping on our throats.''

Social protest was evident in Odetta's vast repertory. The seeds of social conscience were planted during her childhood in Los Angeles. ''They didn't have signs for black and whites, but you knew where you could and couldn't go,'' she said. ''There were no signs, but there was attitude.''

Odetta Holmes was born in 1930 in Birmingham, Ala., but grew up in Los Angeles. “A teacher told my mother that I had a voice, that maybe I should study,” she said. She later found her own voice by listening to blues, jazz, and folk music from the African-American and Anglo-American traditions. She earned a music degree from Los Angeles City College. Her training in classical music and musical theater work was “a nice exercise, but it had nothing to do with my life,” she said. “The folk songs were -- the anger.”

She left home at 18 to perform in the chorus of a national tour of ''Finian's Rainbow,'' a musical, appropriately enough, about prejudice. She settled in San Francisco where she learned to play the guitar and began performing in the folk clubs.

Her first solo album, "Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues," resonated with an audience hearing old songs made new in a voice that plunged deep and soared high. “The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta,” Bob Dylan said, referring to that record, in a 1978 interview with Playboy. He said he heard “something vital and personal. I learned all the songs on that record." The 1956 album included “Mule Skinner,” “Jack of Diamonds,” “Water Boy,” and “ ‘Buked and Scorned.” ’’

Odetta’s reputation was that of a singer of uncompromising integrity as a result of performances at the Newport Festival, at Carnegie Hall and for President John F. Kennedy on the nationally televised program, ''Dinner With the President.'' She marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma and she sang at the 1963 March on Washington. Odetta was an influence on Joan Baez and Janis Joplin and younger singer-songwriters like Tracy Chapman.

Her acting credits included Tony Richardson's ''Sanctuary'' (1960) with Yves Montand and Lee Remick. And on television she appeared with Cicely Tyson in ''The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.'' She also appeared with the Stratford Shakespeare Company in Ontario and at the Neptune Theater in Halifax.

Glory Glory by Odetta

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BILL CODAY

TIME to give you all a break from Christmas music - LOL

Bring Your Lunch by Bill Coday

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Leave the Light On by Bill Coday

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Daddy B. Nice's #51 ranked Southern Soul Artist
Author's Forward: June 29, 2008.

He was Southern Soul's "Everyman." He wasn't a musical genius, nor an innovator. He was very much in the shadow of the "greats"--O. V. Wright, Johnnie Taylor, Tyrone Davis and others whose material he so frequently championed. And yet, at his passing on June 7, 2008, the loss hurts with unexpected force.

Bill Coday knew Southern Soul so well, he lived and breathed the genre. And with his passing went a store of knowledge about Southern Soul in ever-shorter supply in this day of young artists eager to break into Southern Soul but woefully unaware of its essential sound.

Bill Coday knew that "sound." Every record he made was unmistakably Southern Soul rhythm and blues. And now that he is gone, one wishes to be sitting at a little table a couple steps from a little dance area in a hole-in-the-wall with Bill Coday in front of the microphone.

Like a little child wanting nothing more than to to be picked up and hugged by a big, warm, understanding adult, one mourns his death as one mourns the loss of a family-member.

His music was never brilliant enough to garner the accolades given the aforementioned mentors, whom he's now joined. And yet, with his death Bill Coday's music has been transformed into an incredible comfort zone, a musical legacy to bask in, a warm, nurturing reserve of material the value of which suddenly surpasses any value accorded it during his lifetime.

If the music as a whole is temporarily weaker for his passing, Bill Coday now looms as a larger and livelier character on the unfolding, historical tapesty of Southern Soul R&B. Coday joins Taylor, Davis, Ronnie Lovejoy, Little Milton, Quinn Golden, Ollie Nightingale and others, and stands among them as would a band of brothers.

--Daddy B. Nice


— Ed Hogan , All Music Guide
Soul singer Bill Coday first came to fame with the hit single "Get Your Lies Straight" during the early spring of 1971. Signed to Crajon Productions, owned by the husband and wife team of Bill and Denise Jones (who recorded under the name Denise LaSalle and scored a 1971 gold single, "Trapped by a Thing Called Love"), Coday was the perfect vehicle for LaSalle's blues-oriented R&B songs. Born May 10, 1942, in Coldwater, MS, Coday began his singing career as a teenager, performing in juke joints around Blytheville, AK, with a band that included Son Seals. In 1961, he relocated to Chicago, IL, donning the name Chicago Willie. LaSalle spotted the singer while he was performing at the Black Orchid club. She teamed him with Memphis, TN, soul music producer Willie Mitchell whom she often worked with on her releases for Detroit, MI's Westbound label and for those of other Crajon artists (the Sequins' hits "Hey Romeo" and "The Third Degree"). Mitchell went on to have hits with another Chicago singer, Syl Johnson, and gold and platinum-laced success with Al Green on Hi Records. Coday's first Crajon singles, "Sixty Minute Teaser" and "I Get High on Your Love," were regional hits. The third single, "Get Your Lies Straight," proved to be the breakthrough, going to number 14 R&B on Billboard's charts in early 1971. On the flipside was "You're Gonna Want Me." As was the custom on a fast-selling national record, the independently-distributed Crajon leased Coday's single to the much larger Galaxy label, a subsidiary of Berkeley, CA's Fantasy Records, for wider distribution. The follow-up, issued on Galaxy, the Denise LaSalle song "When You Find a Fool, Bump His Head," made it to number 48 R&B in summer 1971. There were other Galaxy singles, but none charted nationally. Coday enjoyed a regional hit on Crajon with "I'm Back to Collect" in the first half of 1973. Some of his Galaxy/Crajon releases can be found on the compilations All Night Long They Played the Blues (1992), Bad Bad Whiskey (1993) -- both from U.K. label Ace Records -- and an '80s collection of Coday's Crajon singles on Japanese label Vivid Sounds. In 1973, he signed with Epic Records and the single "I Don't Want to Play This Game" was issued. It was later included on the 1975 Epic compilation Lost Soul, reissued as a 1994 CD by Sony Legacy. In 1984, Coday began to tour with Denise LaSalle as her opening act. He began recording again after several years away from the studio. Signing with Memphis-based label Ecko Records, his first release was the appropriately titled Sneakin' Back album. The tracks "Her Love Is Good Enough to Put in Collard Greens," "I Can Move the Hoochie Coochie Man," "Doctor Thrill Good," and a remake of "Get Your Lies Straight" became favorites with blues lovers and blues-formatted radio stations. His second Ecko CD, Can't Get Enough, included "In the Room Next to the Room" and "Not a Word" with labelmate Barbara Carr. Coday's third Ecko CD, 1999's Put Me in the Mood, gave his fans more of his tasty blend of spicy, bluesy Southern soul.

ARETHA FRANKLIN (2008)

T'was The Night Before Chr by Aretha Franklin

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AL GREEN

O Holy Night by Al Green

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AL GREEN

I'll Be Home For Christmas by Al Green

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20 MOTOWN CHRISTMAS CLASSICS

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM MOTOWN

BRIAN MC KNIGHT

I'll Be Home For Christmas by Brian McKnight

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Biography by Craig Lytle (AMG)

Brian McKnight grew up in a family where music came naturally. He was a member of the church choir along with his immediate family; his grandfather was the director. With a gospel upbringing, McKnight explored other genres of music. Still in his early teens, he exercised his writing ambitions by penning instrumentals (soft jazz, easy listening). He formed a band and began performing his originals at local venues. By the age of 18, McKnight had secured a publishing deal. His calling to the national scene manifested itself when his older brother Claude and the group he was a member of, Take 6, signed a recording contract with a major label.

After sending out numerous demos to various record companies, McKnight's tape drew the interest of Mercury Records president Ed Eckstine (son of Billy Eckstine). Eckstine was so impressed with McKnight's sound that the young artist was signed to a deal within two weeks. McKnight's first release on Mercury was "The Way Love Goes," peaking at number 11 after 19 weeks on the Billboard R&B charts. His two follow-up singles barely cracked the Billboard R&B Top 60, including "Love Is," a duet with Vanessa Williams featured on Beverly Hills 90210. Ironically, that single peaked at number three on the Billboard pop charts, introducing McKnight to a crossover audience.

In addition to being a singer, McKnight is a songwriter, multi-talented musician, arranger, and producer. The success he has achieved as producer and songwriter on his own projects has facilitated his popularity as a producer and songwriter for other artists. However, the Buffalo native retained the services of hip-hop producer Sean "Puffy" Combs on the release of his 1997 CD Anytime, which features the club-flavored single "You Should Be Mine." A Christmas album, Bethlehem, followed in 1998, and a year later McKnight returned with Back at One. Superhero from 2001 kicked off with the surprisingly rock title track while 2003's U Turn was a fairly straightforward and ballad-filled affair. A divorce and some time playing guard for the California ABA basketball team the Ontario Warriors kept McKnight out of the musical picture for a couple years before 2005's lush Gemini marked his return. Ten followed in 2006.

This is Brian's new Christmas Cd in stores now .... Enjoy!!

AARON NEVILLE

by Aaron Neville

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It's getting to that time of year - when we all start digging in the crates looking for the soulful Christmas tunes!! So lemme start you off .....

AARON NEVILLE

For The Good Times by Aaron Neville

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Aaron's newest - but loaded with moldie oldies!! Enjoy!

THE MARCELS

18 - Over The Rainbow
Biography by Ron Wynn (Amg)

This Pittsburgh ensemble deserved a much better fate than being known primarily for a novelty-tinged cover of "Blue Moon." Baritone vocalist Richard F. Knauss teamed with Fred Johnson, Gene J. Bricker, Ron Mundy, and lead vocalist Cornelius Harp, an integrated ensemble. They named themselves after Harp's hairstyle, the marcel. The group did a string of covers as demo tapes that were sent to Colpix. The label's A&R director had them cut several oldies at RCA's New York studios in 1961, one of them being "Blue Moon." They used the bass intro arrangement from the Cadillacs' "Zoom" and the results were a huge hit. It eventually topped both the pop and R&B charts, and also was an international smash. The group eventually appeared in the film Twist Around the Clock with Dion and Chubby Checker. They eventually recorded an 18-cut LP for Colpix. Alan Johnson and Walt Maddox later replaced Knauss and Gene Bricker, making them an all-black unit. The group did score another Top Ten pop single with "Heartaches," another cover of a pre-rock single. This peaked at number seven pop and number 19 R&B in 1961. They continued recording on Kyra, Queen Bee, St. Clair, Rocky, and Monogram with varying lineups, but never again equaled their past success.

Review by Bruce Eder

Lest anyone think the Marcels were a one-song phenomenon (i.e. "Blue Moon"), this CD will be a valuable learning experience, as well as delightful listening. Drawing primarily from their singles (with three LP cuts and an unissued outtake filling out the song lineup), this is a fairly dazzling array of vocal acrobatics, much of it hung around old pop standards, among them "Summertime," "That Old Black Magic," "My Melancholy Baby," and "Over the Rainbow," as well as songs of more recent vintage. Among the discoveries to be made here is a gloriously radiant recording of an otherwise "lost" Barry Mann/Cynthia Weill number called "Find Another Fool." Cornelius Harp's lead on "Summertime" is a glorious thing to hear, while the brilliantly arranged "Heartaches" -- dominated by Walt Maddox's baritone -- which managed to hit number nine nationally, manages to encompass something essentially poignant about R&B and rock & roll, and elicit a laugh or two (or three) in the process. Original producer Stu Phillips, whose subsequent career involved him in everything from the Monkees to the soundtrack of Battlestar Galactica, did a brilliant job on these tracks, which hold up very well today, the voices always out front and in your face, and just enough rhythm section and whatever lead instrument (usually a sax) to sweeten the mix and add a little punch behind the group. If this disc has any flaw, it's that the makers didn't follow the chronological order of the recording dates, which means that the sounds of the two distinctly different lineups of the group are intermingled -- but the notes also include a chart delineating precisely which lineup sang on which songs, and that's excellent compensation. The sound holds up extremely well for a CD mastered in 1990, and the only reason for not picking this up would be to grab Sequel records' Complete Colpix Sessions instead, which features 38 songs from the same source as these 18.

MIRIAM MAKEBA - R.I.P. - MAMA AFRICA

South African singing legend Miriam Makeba has died aged 76 after a concert in Italy.
17 - Pata Pata
Makeba, who was affectionately known as 'Mama Africa', suffered a heart attack shortly after a concert against organized crime in the southern Italian town of Baia Verde late on Sunday. She was the first black South African musician to game international fame, winning renown in the 1950s for her sweeping vocals. Born in a shantytown outside Johannesburg, Makeba spent 31 years in exile after speaking out against apartheid. Former South African President Nelson Mandela called her 'South Africa's first lady of song', saying her music inspired hope.


Miriam Makeba
Legendary South African singer and outspoken opponent of apartheid, she was exiled for 30 years


Miriam Makeba, who has died aged 76, was known as Mama Africa and the Empress of African song. She was one of the most visible and outspoken opponents of South Africa's apartheid regime from the 1960s till its dismantling in the early 1990s. She was also the anti-apartheid movement's most audible spokesperson, having entered the top flight of international performers and able to sell out prestigious concert halls with a repertoire that changed little over three decades of musical evolution.

Makeba's career propelled her from township singing group to global celebrity, feted in some countries and banned from others. She was a natural and consummate performer with a dynamic vocal range and an emotional awareness that could induce the delusion of intimate contact in even the most impersonal auditorium. But her personal life was an epic tragedy of injustice, domestic upheaval, exile and torment.

Miriam "Zenzi" Makeba was born in a township suburb of Johannesburg. Her father, Caswell, was Xhosa: her mother, Christina, was Swazi. The name Zenzi (from the Xhosa Uzenzile, meaning "you have no one to blame but yourself"), was a traditional name intended to provide support through life's difficulties.

Later the family moved north to Transvaal, where Caswell worked as a clerk for Shell. Her mother was a spiritual healer who also took jobs as a housemaid. After the early death of her father, Miriam was forced to work, and for a short spell she also did housework. But she had already noticed that "music was a type of magic" which could elevate her from the poverty that surrounded her. As a young girl, her singing had been praised at the Methodist Training school in Pretoria, but what should have been the highlight of her amateur career turned to disappointment. She had been due to sing What a Sad Life for a Black Man for the visit of King George VI, but after the children had stood waiting in the rain, the royal visitor drove by without stopping to hear them.

When apartheid was introduced to South Africa in 1948, Makeba was old enough to grasp the consequences, and to see the limitations placed on the career of her mentor Dolly Rathebe, her senior by four years. Makeba gave birth to her daughter Bongi at the age of 17 and was then diagnosed with breast cancer, which was treated unconventionally, but successfully, by her mother. The first of her five husbands left her shortly after.

Her musical career progressed more smoothly. Since the turn of the century, American jazz and ragtime had been absorbed into South Africa and transposed into local forms. Combined with Anglican church hymnody, this had led to the distinctive vocal harmonic style known as mbube, practised in many communities by "evening" or "night" choirs of enthusiastic amateurs. Following a period with the Cuban Brothers, Makeba's big break came in 1954 when she joined the Manhattan Brothers, a top band whose vocal harmonies were modelled on the American Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots.

Initially, when the Manhattans travelled abroad Makeba joined a female group called the Sunbeams, who became better known as the Skylarks. They recorded more than 100 songs, many of which became big hits, with Miriam singing alongside Abigail Kubeka, Mummy Girl Nketle, Mary Rabatobi and sometimes with Dorothy Masuka, who brought songs from her homeland of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).

Eventually, Makeba went on tour with the Manhattans, getting her first taste of the outside by world visiting Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Congo. Playing at home she also experienced some of the most heartless and shameful aspects of the apartheid system, which she later recalled in her autobiography, Makeba: My Story (1988), written with James Hall.

In 1957 she was recruited as a soloist in the African Jazz and Variety Review that toured Africa for 18 months. Then she landed the female lead role in King Kong, a legendary South African musical about the life of a boxer, which played to integrated audiences and spread her reputation to the liberal white community.

The key to her international success was a small singing part in the film Come Back Africa, a dramatised documentary on black life directed covertly by Lionel Rogosin. Makeba played herself, singing two songs in a shebeen. When the film was finished Rogosin invited her to attend a screening at the 1959 Venice film festival, where she became an instant celebrity. She was flown, via London, to New York, where she appeared on television and played at the Village Vanguard jazz club.

The calypsonian Harry Belafonte took her under his wing and guided her through her first solo recordings. African standards such as Pata Pata and the Click Song, which she first performed with the Skylarks, formed the basis of her repertoire and remained the most popular songs throughout her career. Shortly after the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, Miriam heard that her mother had died, but her own South African passport had been revoked and she was prevented from returning home for the funeral. Thus began 30 years of exile.

Her life in the US continued to unfold like a showbiz dream. She was recording and touring, and meeting all the stars, from Bing Crosby to Marlon Brando: the young newcomer was also staggered to find herself appearing along with Marilyn Monroe at the famous birthday celebration for John F Kennedy.

Her first return to the continent of Africa came with a visit to Kenya in 1962. The following year she gave the first of several addresses to the UN special committee on apartheid, and South Africa reciprocated by banning her records. Shortly afterwards, she was the only performer to be invited by the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie to perform in Addis Ababa at the inauguration of the Organisation of African Unity.

A second marriage, in 1959, proved short-lived. In 1964, Hugh Masekela, the South African trumpeter, became her third husband, and she went to perform in Algeria and at the OAU conference in Accra, Ghana. Backstage at a show in San Francisco, a Kenyan student taught her a song which would become part of her standard repertoire. Called Malaika, it is a Swahili love song which she was wrongly informed was a traditional composition. In 1966 she earned a Grammy award with Belafonte.

Increasingly involved in, and identified with, black consciousness, Miriam became associated with radical activity not just against apartheid but also in the civil rights movement and then black power. In 1967, while in Guinea, she met the Black Panther leader Stokely Carmichael, who became her next husband the following year.

Carmichael changed his name to Kwame Touré and she returned with him to his own place of exile in Guinea, the west African Marxist state whose leader, Sekou Touré, gave sanctuary to enemies of the capitalist west. After that fourth marriage ended in divorce in 1978, she turned down a proposal by the president, but two years later married an airline executive and moved to Brussels. During her time in Guinea, Makeba had become a double exile, unable to return home and unwelcome in many western countries (she was banned from France), although she collected a sheaf of diplomatic passports from sympathetic African states and enlivened several independence celebrations. She recruited a pan-African squad of top musicians who were on call to accompany her on frequent foreign trips.

She also endured some bizarre showbusiness episodes. In Denmark, a country where she had solid support, she once failed to appear for a show. She returned some years later only to be jailed for a night until the outstanding financial penalty had been paid on her behalf. There was also controversy in Tanzania over the provenance of Malaika, which several east Africans had claimed to have written.

When Makeba played at the Royal Festival Hall, London, in 1985, it was her first appearance in Britain for 11 years, and also her 53rd birthday. There she replied to the criticism that she had turned her back on the west and had gratuitously insulted white people, notably some unfortunate teachers in Jamaica who had suffered an unjustified, personal attack while watching her perform: "People have accused me of being a racist, but I am just a person for justice and humanity. People say I sing politics, but what I sing is not politics, it is the truth. I'm going to go on singing, telling the truth." When her beloved daughter Bongi died after a traumatic miscarriage that year, Miriam succumbed to a kind of "spiritual madness" that she believed she had inherited from her mother. The following year she was awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld peace prize for her campaigning efforts.

She always took time to endorse the cultural boycott of South Africa of which she was a figurehead. As the apartheid barriers showed signs of crumbling she was embroiled in another strange episode, which saw ANC supporters boycotting her show at the Royal Albert Hall. She herself was accused of breaking the boycott by collaborating with Paul Simon on his controversial Graceland project, with an album in 1986 and concerts, including one in Zimbabwe the following year. Simon was the one being picketed for not conferring with the exile groups before his recruitment drive for South African session players. Makeba and Masekela gave him full support, however, and welcomed the controversy because it brought important issues into general discussion and made cultural activity even more potent.

To much of the world, Makeba had reached a level of statesmanship that verged on saintliness. She was the first choice performer at festivals as euphoria built up before and after the release of Nelson Mandela in February 1990 and the realisation that apartheid was almost over. After 30 years away, Miriam returned to South Africa to a respectful reception and performed sporadically. But the music business had moved on and, despite working with the hotshot producer and multi-instrumentalist Sipho Mabuse, the opportunities for giving concerts had diminished.

Many younger South Africans had no idea who Makeba was or what she had struggled for on their behalf. Nonetheless, when she announced her retirement in 2005, she found that she was still popular abroad: "Everyone keeps calling me and saying 'you have not come to say goodbye to us!'"

So the farewell tours continued till her death in Naples, where she collapsed on stage after singing in a concert in memory of six immigrants from Ghana shot dead last September, an attack blamed on the city's organised crime. When she was in Britain last May with her much younger eight-piece band, led by her grandson Nelson Lumumba Lee, John L Walters found her in "confident, clear-voiced form", defying the limitations placed on her mobility by osteoarthritis. She is survived by Nelson and her granddaughter Zenzi Monique Lee.

• Miriam Zenzi Makeba, singer and activist, born March 4 1932; died November 10 2008

THE ROYALETTES

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Biography by Richie Unterberger (amg)

This Baltimore quartet was something of a link between the girl group and "sweet soul" styles. Their harmonies were clearly grounded in the early-'60s girl group approach. But they also benefited from pop-oriented, occasionally grandiose production at the MGM label, where they recorded their most successful work. If they sometimes sounded like a female version of Little Anthony & the Imperials' later recordings, it's no coincidence. Little Anthony's producer, Teddy Randazzo, also handled the Royalettes, and wrote much of their MGM material.

The Royalettes made some obscure singles for Chancellor and Warner Bros. before being signed to MGM in 1964. Their third single, the lush "It's Gonna Take a Miracle," was by far their most successful outing, stopping just shy of the Top 40. It was destined to be more identified, however, with singer/songwriter Laura Nyro, who made it the title track of her 1971 album of soul covers. In 1982, Deniece Williams took the song into the Top Ten with her own rendition.

The Royalettes did have another small hit in 1965 with "I Want to Meet Him," but never dented the charts again, although MGM spared no expense on their elaborate productions for the group's singles. A final MGM single, produced by Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers, also failed to get anywhere, and the group broke up by the end of the 1960s, after a final 45 for Roulette.

LEVI STUBBS - (R.I.P) - THE FOUR TOPS

Levi Stubbles (June 6, 1936 – October 17, 2008), better known by the stage name Levi Stubbs was an American baritone singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the famed Motown R&B group The Four Tops.
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Biography

Stubbs began his professional singing career with friends Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton to form the Four Aims in 1954. Two years later, the group changed their name to the Four Tops. The group began as a supper-club act before finally signing to Motown Records in 1963; by the end of the decade, the Four Tops had over a dozen hits to their name. The most popular of the Four Tops hits, all of which featured Stubbs on lead vocals, include "Baby I Need Your Loving", "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)", "It's the Same Old Song", "Reach Out I'll Be There", "Standing in the Shadows of Love", "Bernadette", "Still Water (Love)", and "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)".

Although Stubbs was a natural baritone, most of the Four Tops' hits were written in a tenor range to give the lead vocals a sense of urgency. Stubbs and the other Tops remained a team until Payton died in 1997, at which point Theo Peoples took his place. The Four Tops were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Benson also died on July 1, 2005. Levi Stubbs passed away after a long illness on October 17, 2008.

As an actor, credited as Levi Stubbs, Jr., he provided the voice of the carnivorous plant "Audrey II" in the movie version of the musical Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and the voice of Mother Brain in the animated TV series Captain N: The Game Master (1989). Stubbs has also guest starred in a number of TV shows as himself.

Stubbs and his wife Clineice were married from 1960 until his death, and had five children. In 1995, Stubbs was diagnosed with cancer, and later, a stroke, and stopped touring. Since 2000, Theo Peoples has taken Stubbs' place as the lead singer of the Four Tops, with Ronnie McNeir taking the place that Payton originally held. Stubbs died October 17, 2008 at his home in Detroit after a long serious illness including cancer and a stroke. He was 72.[1]

Stubbs was a cousin of soul singer Jackie Wilson.

STACEY LATTISAW & JOHNNY GILL

Boomp3.com
Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

When she was a teenager in the early '80s, urban soul singer Stacy Lattisaw had a string of Top 40 R&B hits, with three songs -- "Let Me Be Your Angel," "Love on a Two Way Street," "Miracles" -- crossing over to the pop mainstream. Lattisaw recorded her first album for Cotillion Records at the age of 12 in 1979, under the direction of producer Van McCoy. However it wasn't until she hooked up with Narada Michael Walden, a former drummer with the Mahavishnu Orchestra who was just beginning a career as a producer, that she became a star. Under Walden's direction, she had five hit albums between 1981 and 1986. She continued recording into the late '80s, signing to Motown in 1986, but her audience slowly disappeared. By the early '90s, she decided to retire from a music career and concentrate on raising her family.

Biography by William Ruhlmann

Born in Washington, D.C., Johnny Gill was discovered by singer Stacy Lattisaw after singing in his family's group Wings of Faith from age five. His solo career began in 1983 with the Top 30 R&B single "Super Love." In duo with Lattisaw, he scored an R&B Top Ten hit in 1984 with "Perfect Combination." In 1988, Gill joined New Edition, replacing Bobby Brown. In 1989 he sang on two R&B hits: "Where Do We Go from Here," a #1 by Stacy Lattisaw, and "One Love," by George Howard. Gill finally scored as a solo singer in 1990 with the release of his album Johnny Gill, which sold a million copies, topped the R&B chart, and made the Top Ten in the pop chart. Following the relative failure of 1993's Provocative -- which didn't produce any Top 10 R&B singles and only went gold -- Gill reunited with New Edition in 1996. A month after New Edition released Home Again in September of 1996, Gill released Let's Get the Mood Right.

LES MCCAAN

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Biography by Scott Yanow (AMG)

Les McCann reached the peak of his career at the 1968 Montreux Jazz Festival, recording "Compared to What" and "Cold Duck Time" for Atlantic (Swiss Movement) with Eddie Harris and Benny Bailey. Although he has done some worthwhile work since then, much of it has been anti-climactic.

McCann first gained some fame in 1956 when he won a talent contest in the Navy as a singer that resulted in an appearance on television on The Ed Sullivan Show. After being discharged, he formed a trio in Los Angeles. McCann turned down an invitation to join the Cannonball Adderley Quintet so he could work on his own music. He signed a contract with Pacific Jazz and in 1960 gained some fame with his albums Les McCann Plays the Truth and The Shout. His soulful, funk style on piano was influential and McCann's singing was largely secondary until the mid-'60s. He recorded many albums for Pacific Jazz during 1960-1964, mostly with his trio but also featuring Ben Webster, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Blue Mitchell, Stanley Turrentine, Joe Pass, the Jazz Crusaders, and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra. McCann switched to Limelight during 1965-1967 and then signed with Atlantic in 1968. After the success of Swiss Movement, McCann emphasized his singing at the expense of his playing and he began to utilize electric keyboards, notably on 1972's Layers. His recordings became less interesting to traditional jazz fans from that point on, and after his Atlantic contract ran out in 1976, McCann appeared on records much less often. However, he stayed popular and a 1994 reunion tour with Eddie Harris was quite successful. A mid-'90s stroke put him out of action for a time and weakened his keyboard playing (his band began carrying an additional keyboardist) but Les McCann returned to a more active schedule during 1996 and was still a powerful singer. His comeback was solidified by 2002's Pump It Up, a guest-heavy celebration of funk and jazz released on ESC Records.

Review by Andrew Hamilton (AMG)

The godfather of contemporary jazz-soul chills, changing the pace from his electrifying collaborations with Eddie Harris -- Swiss Movement and Second Movement -- that preceded and followed this mellow set of mostly love songs, which includes four selections from the pens of Helen and Kay Lewis (aka the Lewis Sisters). Two cuts, "Baby, Baby" and "Can't We Be Strangers Again," were originally done by Motown's Miracles and Edwin Starr & Blinky respectively. "How Many Broken Wings" and "What I Call Soul" are the sisters' other contributions, and McCann executes them to perfection. The keyboardist plays with an underlying intensity on Bill Evans' "Unless It's You," while the title track is good hard bop. Atlantic Records hasn't reissued this LP, so you have to rummage the Goodwills, online sites, and flea markets for a copy.

IRMA THOMAS

Boomp3.com
Review by J. Poet (amg)
After a lifetime in the business, the Soul Queen of New Orleans finally won a Best Contemporary Blues Grammy in 2006 for After the Rain. As everyone knows, there's a lot more to Thomas than the blues. She's a powerful R&B belter, simmering soul singer, and all round entertainer as comfortable with a standard like "Stormy Weather" as she is with a new tune like Dr. John's "Be You." True to its punny title, Simply Grand features Thomas in the company of 13 piano players laying down accompaniment on the acoustic grand. The tunes are old and new, borrowed and blue, but Thomas makes them all her own. The most powerful tracks here showcase Thomas and a solo pianist, bringing the feel of a smoky late-night bar on the end of lonely street to life. "Be You" features Dr. John, who played piano on the very first Thomas recording session, 1959's "You Can Have My Husband (But Don't Mess with My Man)." Rebennack's piano on "Be You" is dramatic and funky, halfway between a Mardi Gras romp and a Sunday morning sermon. Written by Rebennack and Doc Pomus, it's a simple, soulful love song with a playful vocal by Thomas . On the Louis Jordan standard "If I Had Any Sense I'd Go Back Home" Mac and Thomas get down and dirty, with Thomas delivering a casual vocal that plays around with the beat, while Rebennack backs her with clusters of rippling arpeggios. "Somebody Told You," a sassy Allen Toussaint R&B number Thomas recorded back in 1962, gets a reprise (in the same key as the original) with John Medeski rolling out some stomping New Orleans fonk on his solo while Thomas testifies with her usual soulful intensity. Marcia Ball chose the Leon Russell tune "Same Old Blues" for the session and gives it a gospel twist that lets Thomas flex her moaning lower resister. Randy Newman supplies keys and his own "Think It's Going to Rain Today" to close the album. Thomas makes a bleak lyric even more forlorn with an understated sighing vocal that's downright heartbreaking. But the album also has it's sassy, uptempo moments. John Fogerty's "River Is Waiting" also has a celebratory churchy ambience with great backing vocals, Henry Butler's sanctified piano, and Thomas' testifying lifting the tune to heaven. "Early in the Morning," another Louis Jordan tune, a tongue in cheek tale of a woman looking for solace after being up all night, gets a humorous read from Thomas and pianist Tom McDermott. "Underground Stream" is a pop tune from pianist David Egan that combines R&B and gospel with a classic '40s pop feel. The chorus is instantly memorable, and if there was any justice in the world it'd be the monster hit Thomas deserves.

LITTLE JOHNNY TAYLOR & TED TAYLOR

Boomp3.com
(AMG)
Review by Bill Dahl

Now here'a a relic from Little Johnny Taylor's prolific early '70s Ronn tenure that also features soul-blues singer Ted Taylor. Although they weren't related (except by label), the "Super Taylors" shared this album like long-lost brothers. Four duets find the two complementing one another most soulfully; otherwise, the album is comprised of solo sides by both (including Johnny Taylor's "Everybody Knows About My Good Thing").
Tracks

WILSON PICKETT

Boomp3.com
Review by Ron Wynn

A funny title, and a little bit better material and production for yet another Pickett attempt on RCA. He got a couple of chart hits, although the album itself didn't fare well. But it just wasn't the same; no longer was he roaring and belting out lyrics over a driving beat. Instead, he seemed like a mellow, almost restrained pop/soul type.

HMMMM - I'm not paid to be a critic But I liked this album.

Having had the pleasure of seeing the 'Wicked pickett' several times - it was nice to know that he had a quieter side to his music. Unfortunately, it didn't sell well - so he went back to making the kind of music that was expected by his buying public. But in some of his shows he did tone it down .....

SPANKY WILSON

Boomp3.com
Biography by Marisa Brown (amg)

Born in Philadelphia, PA, soul singer Spanky Wilson (a nickname she received as a child due to the spankings her father gave her when she behaved badly) joined the scene in the late '60s with big-band recordings, moving to Paris in 1985 to continue her career there. With collaborations with the like of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Lalo Schifrin, Marvin Gaye, Willie Bobo, and Sammy Davis, Jr., along with her own solo work, Wilson became a DJ favorite all over the world, including in England, where musician and producer Will Holland (Quantic, Quantic Soul Orchestra) spent many years searching for her (she had moved to Los Angeles in 2000). In 2004 Holland finally found Wilson, and they worked together on two songs for Quantic's record, Mishaps Happening, leading to a full-length Wilson and QSO album, I'm Thankful, which came out in 2006 on Ubiquity.

Review by Richie Unterberger (amg)

Everything that could be dug up from Spanky Wilson's mid-1970s stint at Westbound Records is on this 18-track compilation, including all ten tracks from her 1975 Specialty of the House LP; two cuts that surfaced many years later on CD compilations; and six previously unreleased items retrieved from the vaults. It adds up to a respectable, but not exciting, collection of material by a versatile singer whose jazz-pop leanings are evident in some of the tunes and performances, yet who is reasonably comfortable with numbers that call for more standard soul-funk stylings. Wilson might be a little too talented to deserve the "journeywoman" sticker, but nonetheless this music isn't much above that label, offering fair early-to-mid-1970s soul that's a little less slick than much such fare of the period, almost entirely steering clear of any hints of disco. For the most part, the best cuts are actually those that depart a little from the mainstream soul format, like a satisfyingly funky take on Bill Withers' "Kissing My Love" and a chance to revisit her somewhat jazz-poppier origins on "Home." Some of the cuts not released at the time gave her opportunities to try out some unexpected material, like her earthy take on Harlan Howard's "He Called Me Baby" and her cover of Lesley Duncan's "Love Song" (made more famous by Elton John). The discofied version of Howard's "The Chokin' Kind" was a bad idea, however.

VERNON BURCH

Boomp3.com
Review by Alex Henderson (AMG)

In the late '70s and early '80s, some people argued that Vernon Burch had made a big mistake by leaving the Bar-Kays. At the time, the Bar-Kays were huge. A combo that was originally known for Memphis soul had successfully reinvented itself as a hardcore funk band, and its albums of the period were doing a lot better than Burch's solo efforts. Naturally, some people couldn't help but wonder if Burch would have been better off sticking around for smashes like "Holy Ghost" and "Shake Your Rump to the Funk." But he didn't want to spend his entire career as the Bar-Kays' guitarist; he was determined to see what he could accomplish on his own. Recorded in 1979, Get Up was Burch's second album for Chocolate City/Casablanca and his fourth solo album overall. This LP, which marked the first time he worked with producer/drummer James E. Gadson, was a departure from his previous releases in that it found him emphasizing dance-oriented material. "Once Again in My Life" is the record's only ballad, and Burch is obviously going after the disco crowd on up-tempo dance items like "Arrogant Lady," "Never Can Find the Way (Hot Love)," and "Dr. Do It Good." Even the familiar "Try a Little Tenderness" (a major hit for Otis Redding in the 1960s) gets the disco-funk treatment. Get Up isn't a masterpiece, but it's generally enjoyable -- and it was an improvement over 1978's Love-A-Thon.

LYN COLLINS

Boomp3.com
Biography by Steve Huey (AMG)

Nicknamed the "Female Preacher," Lyn Collins was discovered in the early '70s along with her relatives Bootsy and Catfish Collins by James Brown, who was making the transition to the hardest funk phase of his career. Lyn Collins was born June 12, 1948, in Abilene, TX, where she grew up; she began singing in her teens, waxing a tune called "Unlucky in Love" at age 14, and married a man who served both as her manager and as the local promoter for the James Brown Revue. Collins sent Brown a demo tape and he responded by essentially putting her on standby in 1970, when Marva Whitney left the Revue. Former vocalist Vicki Anderson elected to rejoin, however, so Brown instead invited Collins to come to Georgia for a recording session in early 1971, which produced the single "Wheel of Life." By the end of that year, Anderson was ready to leave again, and Collins officially joined the James Brown Revue. In 1972, Brown's People Records label released Collins' self-penned single "Think (About It)"; produced by Brown, it became her first and biggest hit, made her the most commercially successful female singer in Brown's camp, and was later sampled for the main vocal hook in the party rap classic "It Takes Two" by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock. Collins' first full-length album, also titled Think (About It), was released later in the year. Collins continued to record singles for Brown through 1973, also fulfilling her heavy touring commitments as a member of the Revue. Collins' second album, Check It Out if You Don't Know Me by Now, was released in 1975. She eventually became a backup session vocalist, also appearing on the soundtracks of the film Dr. Detroit and the TV series Fame. Around the late '80s/early '90s, Collins attempted a comeback as a dance-club diva, recording the house single "Shout" for Belgium's ARS label, and a self-penned track called "Break Your Heart" for an Italian label. In 1993, Collins' profile was given a boost by female dancehall reggae singer Patra, who invited Collins to perform on her hit remake of "Think (About It)"; partly due to the resulting interest, her two official albums were reissued in England and Holland. In addition, Collins' work has appeared on Polydor compilations like James Brown's Funky People and James Brown's Original Funky Divas, as well as the bootleg singles comp Female Preacher; she continued to tour and perform, most notably at the European Jazz/Funk Festival (in both 1998 and 1999) and the Montreux Jazz Festival. Shortly after returning from a European tour in February of 2005, Lyn Collins passed away on March 13, 2005 at the age of 56.

Review by Tim Sendra
At the time of the release of Think (About It) in 1972, Lyn Collins had been a member of James Brown's performing revue for about two years. Her full-throated voice had earned her the nickname "the Female Preacher" and a shot to record her own album. Of course, the Godfather was in the producer's chair, writing four of the nine tracks, directing the J.B.'s as they laid down their usual funky grooves, and liberally adding vocals throughout. The title track is the main point of interest here; from Collins' throat-ripping vocals to the track's nasty groove to Brown's background interjections, this is a killer. (Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock later sampled the track for their rap classic "It Takes Two"). The rest of the record is a little uneven: "Just Won't Do Right" is a good doo wop-ish ballad with some churchy organ and great vocals by Collins and Brown, "Wheels of Life" is a nice little groover that sounds like vintage Aretha Franklin, and "Women's Lib" is a very slow ballad that lets Collins show off her anguished yowl of a vocal to its fullest. Where the album stumbles is on the covers of familiar songs. Her versions of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" and the Gamble & Huff classic "Never Gonna Give You Up" are mediocre, and worst of all is her leaden take on "Fly Me to the Moon." Still, the record is worth tracking down for hardcore James Brown or funky soul fans. The less devoted should look for "Think (About It)" on one of the many compilations on which it appears.