Gloria Lavern Collins (June 12, 1948 – March 13, 2005), better known as Lyn Collins, was an American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer best known for working with

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

in the 1970s and for the influential 1972

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

single, "

Think (About It) "Think (About It)" is a funk song recorded by Lyn Collins and released as a single on James Brown's People Records in 1972. The recording was produced by Brown (who also wrote the song) and features instrumental backing from his band The J.B.'s. ...

". A favorite among hip hop, R&B, and dance music producers for decades, Collins is by far the most sampled female artist of all time, with portions of her recordings used in well over 3,500 songs.

Early life and career

Collins began her recording career at age 14. She played with Charles Pike & The Scholars. Collins recorded "What My Baby Needs Now Is a Little More Lovin'" with James Brown in 1972. Her biggest solo hit was the James Brown-produced

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

-style song "

", from her 1972 album of the same name on

People Records __NOTOC__ Over the course of his career James Brown owned and operated several different record labels, which he used primarily to release his own Record producer, productions of artists associated with his revue. Try Me Brown founded his first la ...

. The song contains five

breaks Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...

which have been sampled widely in hip-hop and

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

, most famously, the "

Yeah! Woo! The Think break is a drum break that has been widely sampled in popular music. It comes from the 1972 song "Think (About It)" by the American soul singer Lyn Collins, written and produced by James Brown. The drum break was performed by John "Ja ...

" and "It takes two to make a thing go right" loops in

Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock were an American hip hop duo from Harlem, New York City. Rob Base is the stage name of Robert Ginyard (b. 1967) and DJ E-Z Rock was Rodney "Skip" Bryce (1967–2014). They are best known for the 1988 hit " It Takes Two", ...

's " It Takes Two" which is composed almost completely from samples of ''Think'', including a few lines of Collins' vocals. She also recorded the 1974 funk song "Rock Me Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again". Furthermore, it was used in the early sociocritical

eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

classic "I Can't Stand It" by

Twenty 4 Seven Twenty 4 Seven is a Dutch Eurodance group formed in 1989 by Dutch producer Ruud van Rijen. The project is best known in Europe for the hit singles " I Can't Stand It", " Are You Dreaming?", " Slave to the Music", " Is It Love" and " Take Me Awa ...

, and in the 2013 EDM/House song "

Everything You Never Had (We Had It All) "Everything You Never Had (We Had It All)" is a song by British producer Breach. It features vocals from Andreya Triana. It was released on 18 November 2013, through Atlantic Records. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number nine and the UK Dance ...

" by

Breach Breach, Breached, or The Breach may refer to: Places * Breach, Kent, United Kingdom * Breach, West Sussex, United Kingdom * ''The Breach'', Great South Bay in the State of New York People * Breach (DJ), an Electronic/House music act * Miroslava ...

. Another album followed in 1975, ''Check Me Out If You Don't Know Me by Now''. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Collins attempted a comeback as a dance/club diva, recording the

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

single "Shout" for Belgium's ARS label. In 1993, Collins' profile was given a boost by female

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

singer Patra, who invited Collins to perform on her hit remake of "

"; partly due to the resulting interest, her two official albums were reissued in England and the Netherlands. In February 2005, Collins embarked on her first solo tour. For three weeks, she performed in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Death

Shortly after returning from her 2005 European tour, Collins died from

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

, at the age of 56.

Legacy

In 2006, Paris-based Hi&Fly Records released a live album titled ''Mama Feelgood'', which included recordings from her European tour and some interview clips. This release was produced by German-born

DJ Pari DJ Pari, born Markus Schmidt, is a German-American DJ, producer and journalist. He is mostly known for his collaborations with Soul legends like Marva Whitney, Gwen McCrae, Lyn Collins, The Impressions and James Brown amongst others. Life DJ Pa ...

, who produced for

Marva Whitney Marva Whitney (born Marva Ann Manning; May 1, 1944 – December 22, 2012) was an American funk singer commonly referred to by her honorary title, Soul Sister #1. Whitney was considered by many funk enthusiasts to be one of the "rawest" and "brass ...

and managed Collins' last tour. Reflecting on her time working with

, she reportedly said "I would have preferred to sing more and scream less."

Cultural references

In October 2004, "Rock Me Again and Again" and "Think (About It)" featured on the '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

, playing on fictional radio station Master Sounds 98.3. "Rock Me Again and Again" was covered by synth band

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

on their 1984 album ''

Hysteria Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...

.''

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

's song "Shackled and Drawn" from his 2012 album ''

Wrecking Ball A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball, usually hung from a crane, that is used for demolishing large buildings. It was most commonly in use during the 1950s and 1960s. Several wrecking companies claim to have invented the wrecking ball. An e ...

'' and Ludacris' song "Southern Fried Intro" from his 2003 album '' Chicken-n-Beer'' both feature an excerpt from Collins' song "Me and My Baby Got Our Own Thing Going".

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Lyn 1948 births 2005 deaths People from Lee County, Texas Singers from Texas African-American women singers American soul singers American funk singers James Brown vocalists