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 sister 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.) 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

Other James Brown versions

James Brown & The Famous Flames recorded an extremely fast rendition of "Think" on their 1963 album Live at the Apollo. A version of this recording that King distributed as a radio promo single mechanically slowed down the song to make it longer, lowering the pitch by an interval of more than a whole step in the process.

In 1967 Brown recorded "Think" as a duet with Vicki Anderson, in a version that grazed the bottom of the Billboard Hot 100, at #100. The B-side of the King single (K6091) featured Anderson singing the song alone.

Brown returned to "Think" again in 1973, when he released two different performances of the song as singles on the Polydor label (PD14177 and PD14185), 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 it on their 1969 album Both Sides of People! (Capitol ST-151)^[3] and again in 2006's Best of People! Vol. 2.^[4]

Citations

1. ^ 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.
2. ^ Wolk, Douglas. (2004). Live at the Apollo, 50. New York: Continuum Books.
3. ^ "Both Sides of People! (1969)", http://www.meetjesushere.com/both_sides_of_people.htm
4. ^ "The Best Of People! Volume 2 (2006) (40 Year Anniversary)", http://www.meetjesushere.com/best_of_people2.htm

References

• Leeds, Alan M., and Harry Weinger (1991). Star Time: Song by Song. In Star Time (pp. 46-53) [CD liner notes]. London: Polydor Records.
• White, Cliff (1991). Discography. In Star Time (pp. 54-59) [CD liner notes]. London: Polydor Records.