Lyn Collins

The Female Preacher

Lyn Collins was born on June 12, 1948, in Texas; sources disagree on the town. She began recording in her early teens with a local group and a first single, "Unlucky in Love." After sending a demo tape to James Brown she was brought into his orbit, and by the early 1970s she was the lead woman in his touring Revue, alongside Marva Whitney and Vicki Anderson. Brown called her the Female Preacher for her gospel-rooted delivery, and she was also known as Mama Feelgood after a 1973 single.

People Records

Her records came out on Brown's People label with Brown writing and producing and the J.B.'s as the band. "Think (About It)" in 1972 reached number 9 on the soul chart and number 66 on the Hot 100, and its album reached number 34 on the R&B albums chart. A duet with Brown, "What My Baby Needs Now Is a Little More Lovin'," reached the Hot 100 the same year. Further singles included "Mama Feelgood" and "How Long Can I Keep It Up," both written for 1973 films, and a second album, Check Me Out If You Don't Know Me By Now, followed in 1975.

She left the Revue around 1975 or 1976, moved to Los Angeles and worked as a backing singer. Interest in her records returned in the late 1980s as hip-hop producers found the break on "Think," and in 1993 she appeared on a remake of the song by Patra. She made her first solo tour in February 2005, across Britain and Europe, and died on March 13, 2005, at 56. A live album from that tour, Mama Feelgood, came out in 2006.