Think (The "5" Royales song)

"Think" is a rhythm and blues song written by Lowman Pauling and originally recorded by his group The "5" Royales. Released as a single on King Records in 1957, it was a national hit and reached number nine on the U.S. R&B chart.

James Brown & The Famous Flames version

In 1960 James Brown and The Famous Flames recorded a cover version of "Think". The song's instrumental backing featured a pronounced rhythmic attack that anticipated Brown's later funk music. Critic Peter Guralnick described Brown's version of the song as a "radical reworking... Sung rapid-fire with the kind of sharp prompting from the Famous Flames that was the aural equivalent of their precision steps, 'Think' embodied an approach different from any in the past, with not only the song but the structure of the song turned inside out and a classic shuffle blues rhythmically and melodically transformed."^[1] Douglas Wolk called it "[Brown's] first great dance record."^[2]

"Think" was released as a single on the King Records subsidiary label Federal Records and charted #7 R&B and #33 Pop. ("Think"'s B-side, "You've Got the Power", was also a hit, reaching #14 R&B and #86 Pop.)^[3] It was Brown and The Famous Flames' first recording to enter the Pop Top 40, and their next-to-last single for the Federal label before they switched to King. "Think" was also included on Brown's 1960 album of the same name.

Personnel

James Brown - lead vocal

and The Famous Flames:

Bobby Byrd - vocals
Bobby Bennett - vocals
"Baby Lloyd" Stallworth - vocals
Bill Hollings - vocals
Johnny Terry - vocals

with the James Brown Band

Alfred Corley - alto saxophone
J.C. Davis - tenor saxophone
Bobby Roach - guitar
Bernard Odum - bass
Nat Kendrick - drums^[4]

Other James Brown versions

James Brown & The Famous Flames recorded an extremely fast live rendition of "Think" for their 1963 album Live at the Apollo. Brown also performs the song on Live at the Apollo, Volume II in a duet with Marva Whitney.

In 1967 Brown recorded "Think" in the studio as a duet with Vicki Anderson. The version grazed the bottom of the Pop chart, peaking at #100. Brown returned to "Think" again in 1973, when he released two different solo performances of the song as singles on the Polydor label, both of them backed with his cover of The Beatles' "Something". Both versions charted, the former at #15 R&B and #77 Pop, the latter at #37 R&B and #80 Pop.

Other cover versions

Mick Jagger covered "Think" on his 1993 solo album Wandering Spirit.
People! covered the song on their 1969 album Both Sides of People! (Capitol ST-151)^[5] and again in 2006's Best of People! Vol. 2.^[6]
Booker T. & the M.G.'s recorded an instrumental version of the song for their 1966 album And Now!.

References

↑ Guralnick, P. (1986). Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom, 233. New York: Back Bay Books. ISBN 0-452-26697-1.
↑ Wolk, Douglas. (2004). Live at the Apollo, 50. New York: Continuum Books.
↑ White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In Star Time (pp. 54–59) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
↑ Leeds, Alan, and Harry Weinger (1991). "Star Time: Song by Song". In Star Time (pp. 46–53) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
↑ "Both Sides Of People". Meetjesushere.com. Retrieved 2016-08-29.
↑ "The Best Of People". Meetjesushere.com. Retrieved 2016-08-29.

James Brown singles

Billboard charting singles (R&B and Pop)

1950s

1956	"Please, Please, Please"

1958	"Try Me"

1959	"I Want You So Bad"

1960s

1960	"I'll Go Crazy" "Think" "You've Got the Power" "This Old Heart" "The Bells"

1961	"Bewildered" "I Don't Mind" "Baby, You're Right" "Just You and Me, Darling" "Lost Someone"

1962	"Night Train" "Shout and Shimmy" "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." "Three Hearts in a Tangle" "I've Got Money"

1963	"Like a Baby" "Every Beat of My Heart" "Prisoner of Love" "These Foolish Things" "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered"

1964	"Oh Baby Don't You Weep" "Please, Please, Please" "Caldonia" "The Things That I Used to Do" "Out of Sight" "Have Mercy Baby"

1965	"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" "Try Me" "I Got You (I Feel Good)"

1966	"Lost Someone" "I'll Go Crazy" "Ain't That a Groove" "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" "Money Won't Change You" "Don't Be a Drop-Out" "Sweet Little Baby Boy"

1967	"Bring It Up" "Kansas City" "Think" "Let Yourself Go" "Cold Sweat" "Get It Together" "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)" "There Was a Time"

1968	"You've Got to Change Your Mind" "I Got the Feelin'" "Licking Stick – Licking Stick" "America Is My Home" "I Guess I'll Have to Cry, Cry, Cry" "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" "Goodbye My Love" "Tit for Tat (Ain't No Taking Back)"

1969	"Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" "Soul Pride" "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I'll Get It Myself)" "The Popcorn" "Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)" "Lowdown Popcorn" "World" "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn" "Ain't It Funky Now"

1970s

1970	"It's a New Day" "Funky Drummer" "Brother Rapp" "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" "Super Bad" "Santa Claus Is Definitely Here to Stay" "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved"

1971	"Spinning Wheel" "Soul Power" "I Cried" "Escape-ism" "Hot Pants" "Make It Funky" "I'm a Greedy Man"

1972	"Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" "King Heroin" "There It Is" "Honky Tonk" "Get on the Good Foot" "I Got a Bag of My Own" "What My Baby Needs Now Is a Little More Lovin'"

1973	"I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Want to Dance)" "Down and Out in New York City" "Think" "Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" "Stoned to the Bone"

1974	"The Payback" "My Thang" "Papa Don't Take No Mess" "Funky President (People It's Bad)" "Coldblooded"

1975	"Reality" "Sex Machine" "Hustle!!! (Dead on It)" "Superbad, Superslick" "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)"

1976	"(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" "Get Up Offa That Thing" "I Refuse to Lose" "Bodyheat"

1977	"Kiss in 77" "Give Me Some Skin" "If You Don't Give a Doggone About It"

1978	"Eyesight" "The Spank" "For Goodness Sakes, Look at Those Cakes"

1979	"It's Too Funky in Here" "Star Generation"

1980s

1980	"Regrets" "Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)"

1981	"Stay with Me"

1983	"The Night Time Is the Right Time (To Be With the One That You Love)"

1984	"Unity"

1985	"Living in America"

1986	"Gravity"

1987	"How Do You Stop"

1988	"I'm Real" "Static"

1989	"Gimme Your Love"

1990s

1991	"(So Tired of Standing Still We Got to) Move On"

1993	"Can't Get Any Harder"

UK-only
charting
singles

"Hey America" (1970)
"Bring It On...Bring It On" (1983)
"Froggy Mix" (1985)
"She's the One" (1988)
"The Payback Mix" (1988)
"I Got You (I Feel Good) [James Brown v. Dakeyne]" (1992)
"Funk on Ah Roll" (1999)

Notable
productions

"The Grunt" (1970)
"Gimme Some More" (1971)
"I Know You Got Soul" (1971)
"Pass the Peas" (1972)
"Think (About It)" (1972)
"Doing It to Death" (1973)
"Soul Power 74" (1973)

Other
songs

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