With a little more than two weeks until the most important presidential election of our lives, we wanted to inspire the Steady community to get out and vote! To do so we are turning to one of Kamala Harris’s favorite artists as our reason to smile.
Harris has said she and her sister would dance around their living room to Franklin’s incredible vocals. “My mother had every Aretha album,” Harris told running mate Tim Walz. “Our Christmas gift to my mother — her birthday gift — was always like what’s the latest Aretha Franklin record.”
One of those records was “Aretha Now,” released in 1968. The first single was the rollicking “Think.”
The song, written by Franklin and Ted White, was a big hit at the time. Then “Think” had a second life in 1980 when it was featured in the movie “The Blues Brothers.” Franklin had a part in the film and performed the song.
As I listened and watched this video, I found that I was definitely smiling! So much energy … and I loved it when the Blues Brothers even joined in the dancing!
Just a bit of added background from SongFacts …
This song was released on May 2, 1968, less than a month after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4. Franklin’s family was close to King, and Aretha attended his funeral. The song’s insistent refrain of “freedom” evoked one of King’s famous quotes: “Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last.”
Franklin performed this in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers, starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Her career was experiencing a lull at that point, so she was happy to get back into the public eye with the film. A few years later, she was back on top with her hits “Who’s Zoomin’ Who” and “Freeway of Love.”
The Blues Brothers themselves also recorded the song, which was released as the B-side of their 1989 UK single “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love.”
This charted at #6 in Canada, #7 in the U.S., and #26 in the UK.
Think
Aretha Franklin
Source: ♫ Think ♫ | Filosofa’s Word












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