"Think" is a song written by American singer Aretha Franklin and Ted White, and first recorded by Franklin. It was released as a single in 1968, from her ''

Aretha Now ''Aretha Now'' is the thirteenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on June 14, 1968, by Atlantic Records. Quickly certified Gold, it eventually reached a million in US sales. It hit No. 3 on ''Billboards album chart. In 19 ...

'' album. The song reached No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Franklin's seventh top 10 hit in the United States. The song also reached number 1 on the magazine's

Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

, becoming her sixth single to top the chart. The song was written by Franklin and her then husband Ted White. Franklin re-recorded the song in the Atlantic Records New York studio for the soundtrack of the 1980 film ''

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

'' and in 1989 for the album '' Through the Storm''. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' placed it at number 15 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s". '' Billboard'' described the single as a "pulsating swinger with another wild performance" that had a similar feel to " Respect" and which it expected would quickly reach a million sales. '' Cash Box'' said it has "wailing lyrics of a hard-luck love affair" and "tremendous rhythmic drive."

Chart performance

Sales and certifications

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''

''. Musicians * Aretha Franklin – lead vocals, piano *Willie Bridges,

Floyd Newman Floyd Newman (born August 17, 1931) is a saxophonist, session musician and bandleader. As a baritone sax player, he was long associated with Stax Records, and as a member of The Mar-Keys’ horn section and the Memphis Horns. Born in Memphis, in ...

– baritone saxophone *

Charles Chalmers Charles Chalmers is an American saxophonist, session musician, backup singer, songwriter and producer. He has written several hit songs for many recording artists, and has also arranged and performed on many Grammy winning recordings. Seven of tho ...

, Andrew Love – tenor saxophone *

Tommy Cogbill Thomas Clark Cogbill (April 8, 1932 – December 7, 1982) was an American bassist, guitarist and record producer known for his work in R&B, soul and country music. Life and career Cogbill was born in Johnson Grove, Tennessee. He was a high ...

, Jimmy Johnson – guitar * Roger Hawkins – drums * Wayne Jackson – trumpet *

Jerry Jemmott Gerald Stenhouse Jemmott (born March 22, 1946, in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, New York City) is an American bass guitarist. Jemmott was one of the chief session bass guitarists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, working with many of th ...

– bass guitar *

Spooner Oldham Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham (born June 14, 1943) is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at FAME Studios as part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on such hit R&B songs as Percy ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

The Sweet Inspirations The Sweet Inspirations were an American R&B girl group mostly known for their work as backup singers on studio recordings for other R&B and rock artists. A founding member of the group was Dionne Warwick, who was later replaced by her aunt, Cis ...

– background vocals Production *

Jerry Wexler Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian fil ...

– producer *

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recordings ...

Arif Mardin Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for ov ...

– arrangements *Tom Dowd – engineer

Versions

Franklin lip-synched to a new version of the song in a musical sequence of the 1980 film ''

''. Because Franklin was not used to lip-syncing, this sequence required a number of takes and considerable editing.''Stories Behind the Making of The Blues Brothers'', documentary feature on 1998 DVD and 25th Anniversary DVD (2005). The 3:15 version of the song appears on the soundtrack album, and in addition to Franklin's singing features the Blues Brothers band and backup vocals from Franklin's sister Carolyn and cousin Brenda Corbett. Franklin recorded an updated 3:38 version titled "Think (1989)" for her 1989 album '' Through the Storm''. It was produced and arranged by

with his son

Joe Mardin Joe Mardin (born Yusuf Mardin) is a Turkish-American music producer, arranger and engineer from New York City. He is a Berklee College of Music graduate and is the son of the Turkish American producer Arif Mardin. Joe Mardin is also a conductor, ...

. She re-recorded the song for

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada and Brazil that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and strive for stricter impaired drivi ...

as a public service announcement during the late 1980s.

Cover versions

Katharine McPhee Katharine Hope McPhee (born March 25, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. In May 2006, she rose to fame as the runner-up on the fifth season of ''American Idol.'' Her eponymous debut album was released on RCA Records on Janua ...

's version of the song was released as a limited single from the '' American Idol 5: Encores'' (2006) album. The song became a minor Internet hit for McPhee—it was her first song to chart in the

Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...

, where it peaked at No. 90 due to download sales.

References

External links

Song Review
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{Authority control 1968 singles 1968 songs 2006 singles Aretha Franklin songs Atlantic Records singles Katharine McPhee songs Songs with feminist themes Song recordings produced by Jerry Wexler Songs written by Aretha Franklin