Update - here the download: http://wrir.org/x/modules...oryid=9229

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We've had some Lyn Collins threads in the past, but this one is meant to be a special tribute for her. On March 13th four years ago, Lyn Collins surprisingly passed away only days after having returned from her first European tour as a headliner.

First a little background on Lyn for those who are not familiar with her (courtsey of Wikipedia):

Lyn Collins (12 June 1948 – 13 March 2005) was an African American soul singer best known for working with James Brown in the 1970s. Contrary to some reports, she is not related to Bootsy Collins, nor Catfish Collins.

Born in Abilene, Texas, U.S.A., she began her recording career aged 14. Her biggest solo hit was the James Brown-produced gospel-style song "Think (About It)", from her 1972 album of the same name on People Records. The song contains 5 breaks which have been widely sampled in hip-hop and drum and bass, most famously, the "Woo! Yeah!" backing loop in Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock's It Takes Two which is composed almost completely from samples of Think including a few lines of Collins' vocals. Furthermore, it was used in the early sociocritical eurodance classic I Can't Stand It by Twenty 4 Seven. Another album followed in 1975 Check Me Out If You Don't Know Me by Now. After the release of this album, she returned to performing mainly as a back-up vocalist.

In the late 80s and early 90s, Collins attempted a comeback as a dance/club diva, recording the house single "Shout" for Belgium's ARS label. In 1993, Collins' profile was given a boost by female dancehall 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. Collins 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 2005, Collins died aged 56 in Pasadena, California, following a cardiac arrest.

I have a personal story to share as well. In 2003, I started preparing a solo tour for Lyn in Europe. She had toured Europe a few times in the 1990s, as part of the Bobby Byrd Show, but never headlined a tour herself. We teamed her up with former James Brown backing vocalist Martha High and sent the James Brown's Original Funky Divas Tour on the road in February, 2005, touring five countries in Europe. It was an amazing experience, and I was fortunate to get know Lyn quite well and we eventually became friends. She was very happy when she left Europe, excited about being back, and she couldn't wait for the next tour we had already lined up for April 2005.

But then came that fateful day in March, when Lyn choked on some food. There are different stories circulating about what happened, whether she choked as a result of a sudden cardiac arrest or vice versa, but by the time help came, she was already in a coma and her family decided to take her off life support only days later.

Although we were saddened by the loss, it still comforts me to know that Lyn died being a very happy woman, and she was happy to re-unite with her ex-husband Bobby, who was her soul mate and who had died in summer 2004.

As a first tribute, to Lyn, we produced an album with recordings from her last tour. The album was released in fall 2006.



This coming Friday, March 6th, we'll dedicate the full two hours of our weekly radio show Midnight Soulstice to Lyn. We'll play her music, some interviews snippets and we'll have some surprise guests who will join us live on the show to talk about Lyn. If you're a fan, you should definitely tune in from 11 pm to 1 am Eastern Time by clicking the lives stream on www.wrir.org



Here some Lyn Collins clips. I might post some pictures from her last tour within the next days.




[Edited 3/2/09 11:58am]
[Edited 3/12/09 4:53am]
[Edited 3/12/09 5:33am]

Has it been 4 years?! damn.

Thanks for the heads up MrSoulpower, I'll make a note to make sure I listen to that tribute. "Think (About)" is my favorite Collins song, it's up there with R-E-S-P-E-C-T; two songs which should be every woman's National Anthem. Thanks for sharing.
[Edited 3/2/09 14:04pm]

TD3 said:

You're welcome!

Here the last promo pictures of Lyn Collins. They were taken in Germany, about two weeks before she passed away. We were going to use them for future tour posters - but that never happened. Instead, one of these pics ended up on the cover of her live album. That same picture was also shown at her funeral. The other lady in the pics is Ms. Martha High. Photographer is Ammaniel Hintza.

Damn, four years ago, a funk legend left this earth to go to the funky Pearly Gates. Rest in peace, The Female Preacher!

I miss her.

Vendetta1 said:

Me too. The great thing about Lyn is that she was a really cool person. She was 56, but she acted like she was still 25. Really fun.

Pics from her last tour ...

MrSoulpower said:

Nice work.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Its not done yet.

Lyn live in Paris, February 2005 ...

Show airs tonight! We'll have some interesting surprise guests on the show to talk about Lyn ...

MrSoulpower said:

Thanks for the reminder, I'll be listening Mr. Soooulpower.

TD3 said:

You're welcome! Show airs in 12 minutes .. at 11 p.m. EST.

MrSoulpower said:

Alrighty, will discuss after the show.

TD3 said:

That was special and reaffirming, excellent tribute. I like hearing the story of how Ms. Collins came to write "Think". It's amazing to me and speaks of the musicianship/talent and I guess confidence Mr. Brown had in his singers that he would call on them to write songs on the spot. Aretha Franklin has said, "Any singer worth her salt makes a song her own". I've always loved Ms. Collins rendition of "Foggy Day" and this was my first time hearing her sing "Fly Me To The Moon". Ms. Collins had a depth of feeling in her voice I could only compare to Otis Redding.

Ms. Marva Whitney:I hope all (especially young adults) listened very carefully to what she had to say about getting through difficult times and keeping the faith. Ms.Collins son (Bobby) was right on when he said his mother message wasn't just geared towards women but to all: self/respect, self-awareness, and critical thinking. May Lyn Collins RIP.

I would loved to hear what she had to say if she had been asked to "Think" about Barack Obama. If she had lived to see this day.
[Edited 3/13/09 0:08am]

Thanks for your thoughts. You are spot on. We enjoyed doing this tribute a lot - it is well deserved. Lyn should get so much more attention than she does, I think few people understand what an amazing singer and artist she was.

I also found it interesting that Fred Wesley said that he considered Lyn his artist, while Marva was Brown's artist.

Looks like Fred's in your town this evening.

P.S. I'll post the link to the download of the show later today (Saturday). I know there are a few Lyn Collins fans on this site, they'll love this .. especially since Fred Wesley and Marva Whitney joined us on the show as well.

Last week's Midnight Soulstice was a tribute to Soul diva Lyn Collins, who passed away this March four years ago. Listen to many of Lyn's unforgettable tracks and hear Fred Wesley, Marva Whitney and other guests on the show talk about Lyn. This download is a must for every James Brown fan!

Download here:

http://wrir.org/x/modules...oryid=9229


Playlist:

- Lyn Collins: It's a foggy Day (People)
- Lyn Collins: Rock me again & again & again & again & again & again (People)
- Lyn Collins: Wheel of Life (Polydor)
- Lyn Collins & James Brown: Just won't do right (Polydor)
- Lyn Collins: Things got to get better (People)
- Lyn Collins: Fly me to the Moon (People)
- Lyn Collins: Me and my baby got a good thing going (People)
- Lyn Collins: Think (About it) (People)
- Lyn Collins: Give it up or turnit a loose (People)
- Lyn Collins: Don't make me over (People)
- Lyn Collins: Wild Awake in a Dream (People)
- Lyn Collins: To each his Own (People)
- Lyn Collins: Never gonna give you up (People)
- Lyn Collins: Take me just as I am (People)
- Lyn Collins: Do your thing (People)
- Lyn Collins: Women's Lib (People)
- Lyn Collins: You can't love me if you don't respect me (People)
- Lyn Collins: Mr. Bigstuff (People)
- Lyn Collins: Backstabbers (People)
- Lyn Collins: Mama Feelgood (People)

MrSoulpower said:

I love Lyn I thought she was the baddest of the bad Fly on Female preacher

IAintTheOne said:

I know, she was baaaaad. She should have been much more successful.

Are you ready for the Hip Joint, bro?

MrSoulpower said:

you betta believe it baby

to quote the Godfather " I'm mellow as I can be"