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Think vs. Its My Thing

DustedDonDustedDon 830 Posts
edited November 2011 in Strut Central
Lynn Collins "Think" vs. Marva Whitney "Its My Thing"

Go!

  Comments

  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    DustedDon said:
    Lynn Collins "Think" vs. Marva Whitney "Its My Thing"

    Go!

    Apples and oranges.

    Lyn is sublimely funky.

    Marva drops like an atomic bomb.

    Both have their place and time.

    Both brilliant.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    think
  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    'memer this?



    Hot fiyah!
  • ReynaldoReynaldo 6,054 Posts
    Think
  • eliseelise 3,252 Posts
    Think
  • DustedDonDustedDon 830 Posts
  • tabiratabira 856 Posts
    Think wins overall, but Whitney wins on vocals alone
  • pppppppp 261 Posts
    tabira said:
    Think wins overall, but Whitney wins on vocals alone

    Yeah, this. Think has the break but It's My Thing is way harder.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    "Think About It" is the better song of the two.

    Marva Whitney's cut is okay, but do we really need an "It's Your Thing" rewrite?

    As far as vocals, I don't hear much of a difference - JB usually had all his female singers hollering in their upper range.
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    pickwick33 said:
    JB usually had all his female singers hollering in their upper range.

    Yea, It's My Thing is just that much too yell-y over Think for me.

    I prefer It's My Thing musically (no JBs instrumental of it I guess?) and Think vocally.
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,475 Posts
    "It's My Think" ("It's My Thing" with the "Think" break underneath it.)
  • tabiratabira 856 Posts
    DJ_Enki said:
    "It's My Think" ("It's My Thing" with the "Think" break underneath it.)

    Yeah it's nice to have a good break on any song but Think would still win without the break. For me the killer moment is when the whole goddam monster conception explodes in one funk mushroom cloud after the tense preacher intro. That's one of the toughest moments in funk ever and transcends anything a break can deliver IM not so humble O.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    tabira said:
    DJ_Enki said:
    "It's My Think" ("It's My Thing" with the "Think" break underneath it.)

    Yeah it's nice to have a good break on any song but Think would still win without the break. For me the killer moment is when the whole goddam monster conception explodes in one funk mushroom cloud after the tense preacher intro. That's one of the toughest moments in funk ever and transcends anything a break can deliver IM not so humble O.

    And then there's that bridge: "it takes two to make a thing go right (BLAAAM! do-do-do)"

    A lot more dynamics than "It's My Thing," which is cool, but in the end just a sloppy attempt at turning an Isley Bros. hit sideways.

    I'll agree with Bassie: Lyn Collins could be just as "shouty" as Marva Whitney and Vicki Anderson before her, but she actually dialed it down a little on "Think About It."
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Its the organ.
  • ReynaldoReynaldo 6,054 Posts
    batmon said:
    Its the organ.
    Yup.
  • phatmoneysackphatmoneysack Melbourne 1,124 Posts
    think
  • SoulpowerSoulpower 204 Posts
    "Think" has more dynamics because it was recorded in a live studio setting (in a recording studio called The Cave in Indepence, Missouri). It was a very spontaneous session. Fred Wesley was fired right before that session, which is why the recording lacked direction. JB had a rough idea for the song, which Jab'o Starks carried out on drums. No one seems to remember who came up with the bridge. Lyn wrote the lyrics and to her dying day she fought to be compensated for her work - she never saw a penny, even though one of the most famous samples in Hip Hop ('It takes two") was written by her.

    "It's my thing" was a very different kind of session. Marva Whitney ALWAYS overdubbed her vocals to pre-recorded tracks. On this particular session, JB called her in the studio at around 5 a.m. when she was still sleepy. She co-wrote the lyrics on the way to the studio as JB wanted a response song to "It's your thing" by the Isley Brothers. Marva even accidentaly sings "your" instead of "my" at one point, but quickly corrects her slip.

    Both Lyn and Marva had a very different vocal approach. Lyn sung in her natural range, while JB pushed Marva to sing in her familiar high pitch. That wasn't always the case though. Her early sessions for King, which were to be released on an album called "I sing Soul", featured her "normal" singing voice on most songs .. including cover tunes like "Somewhere over the rainbow." On of those early sides that saw a release was "Your love was good for me." When this single flopped, JB shelved "I sing Soul" and overhauled Marva's style from a Soul singer to a Funk singer. The first recording as a Funk singer was "Unwind yourself." Since she never was in the studio at the same time as the band, she had to make up for that lack of musical interchange with playing around with her vocal range.

    But in my book, both are top notch recordings.
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