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Pickett's first success as a solo artist came with "It's Too Late," an original composition, not to be confused with the [[Chuck Willis]] standard of the same name. Entering the charts on July 27, 1963, it eventually peaked at #7 on the [[R&B]] charts, and at #49 pop. This record's success convinced Wexler and Atlantic to buy Picket's contract from Double L Records in [[1964 in music|1964]]. | Pickett's first success as a solo artist came with "It's Too Late," an original composition, not to be confused with the [[Chuck Willis]] standard of the same name. Entering the charts on July 27, 1963, it eventually peaked at #7 on the [[R&B]] charts, and at #49 pop. This record's success convinced Wexler and Atlantic to buy Picket's contract from Double L Records in [[1964 in music|1964]]. | ||
| − | ===Rise To Stardom | + | ===Rise To Stardom=== |
| − | Pickett's Atlantic career began with a self-produced single, "I'm Gonna Cry," which failed to chart. Looking to boost Pickett's chart chances, Atlantic | + | Pickett's Atlantic career began with a self-produced single, "I'm Gonna Cry," which failed to chart. Looking to boost Pickett's chart chances, Atlantic paired him with producer [[Bert Berns]] and established songwriters [[Barry Mann]] and [[Cynthia Weil]]. With this team, Pickett recorded "Come Home Baby," a pop duet with [[New Orleans]] singer Tammi Lynn, but this single also failed to chart. |
| − | Pickett's voice was | + | Pickett's voice was a mixture of the passion and power, replete with screams, moans, and hollers, which was clearly destined for commercial success. His inevitable breakthrough would come at [[Stax Records]]' recording studio in Memphis, where he recorded his third Atlantic single, "[[In the Midnight Hour]]" ([[1965 in music|1965]]), his best-remembered hit, peaking at #1 R&B, #21 pop. |
| − | The genesis of "In the Midnight Hour" was a recording session on May 12, 1965 in which producer [[Jerry Wexler]] worked out a powerful rhythm track with studio musicians [[Steve Cropper]] and [[Al Jackson]] of the [[Stax Records]] house band, which also included bassist [[Donald "Duck" Dunn]]. (Stax keyboard player [[Booker T. Jones]], who | + | The genesis of "In the Midnight Hour" was a recording session on May 12, 1965 in which producer [[Jerry Wexler]] worked out a powerful rhythm track with studio musicians [[Steve Cropper]] and [[Al Jackson]] of the [[Stax Records]] house band, which also included bassist [[Donald "Duck" Dunn]]. (Stax keyboard player [[Booker T. Jones]], who played with Dunn, Cropper and Jackson as [[Booker T. & the MG's]], did not play on any of the Pickett studio sessions.) The song that resulted from this encounter established Pickett as a star and also gave [[Atlantic Records]] a huge hit. |
===The Stax/Fame Years (1965-67)=== | ===The Stax/Fame Years (1965-67)=== | ||
Revision as of 15:34, 5 May 2008
Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American Rhythm and Blues, Rock and Roll and soul singer. Known for his raw, passionate vocal delivery, he recorded some of the most incendiary soul music of the twentieth century. A major figure in the development of Southern soul music, his recordings between 1963 and 1973 left behind a legacy of some of the most powerful soul music ever to emerge from the South. Among his hits were "Midnight Hour" and "Land of a Thousand Dances." The impact of his recordings resulted in his 1991 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[1]
Biography
Early life
Pickett was born in Prattville, Alabama, and grew up singing in Baptist church choirs.
He was the youngest of 11 children and called his mother "the baddest woman in my book," telling historian Gerri Hirshey: "I get scared of her now. She used to hit me with anything, skillets, stove wood. (One time I ran away and) cried for a week. Stayed in the woods, me and my little dog." Pickett eventually left to live with his father in Detroit in 1955.
Early musical career (1955-1964)
Pickett's forceful, passionate style of singing was developed in the church and on the streets of Detroit. In 1955, Pickett became part of a gospel music group called the Violinaires. The group accompanied The Soul Stirrers, The Swan Silvertones, and The Davis Sisters on church tours across the country. After singing for four years in the popular gospel-harmony group, Pickett that left gospel music for the more lucrative secular music market, lured by the success of other former gospel singers of the day such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin).
Pickett's first major commercial break came when he joined The Falcons in 1959.[2] One of the first vocal groups to bring the gospel style into a popular context, The Falcons also featured other members who went on to become major solo artists, including Eddie Floyd and Sir Mack Rice. Pickett's biggest success with The Falcons came in 1962, when "I Found a Love," (co-authored by Pickett and featuring his intense lead vocals), peaked at #6 on the R&B charts, and at #75 on the pop charts.
Soon after recording "I Found a Love," Pickett cut his first solo recordings, including "I'm Gonna Cry," his first collaboration with Don Covay, an important figure in Southern soul music. Around this time, Pickett also recorded a demo for a song he co-wrote called "If You Need Me." A slow-burning soul ballad featuring a spoken sermon-style recitation, Pickett sent the demo to Jerry Wexler, a producer at Atlantic Records. Wexler heard the demo and liked it so much that he gave it to one of the label's own recording artists, Solomon Burke. Burke's recording of "If You Need Me" became one of his biggest hits and is now considered a soul standard, but Pickett was crushed when he discovered that Atlantic had given his song to another artist. Pickett's version of the song was released on Double L Records, and was also a moderate hit, peaking at #30 R&B, #64 pop.
Pickett's first success as a solo artist came with "It's Too Late," an original composition, not to be confused with the Chuck Willis standard of the same name. Entering the charts on July 27, 1963, it eventually peaked at #7 on the R&B charts, and at #49 pop. This record's success convinced Wexler and Atlantic to buy Picket's contract from Double L Records in 1964.
Rise To Stardom
Pickett's Atlantic career began with a self-produced single, "I'm Gonna Cry," which failed to chart. Looking to boost Pickett's chart chances, Atlantic paired him with producer Bert Berns and established songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. With this team, Pickett recorded "Come Home Baby," a pop duet with New Orleans singer Tammi Lynn, but this single also failed to chart.
Pickett's voice was a mixture of the passion and power, replete with screams, moans, and hollers, which was clearly destined for commercial success. His inevitable breakthrough would come at Stax Records' recording studio in Memphis, where he recorded his third Atlantic single, "In the Midnight Hour" (1965), his best-remembered hit, peaking at #1 R&B, #21 pop.
The genesis of "In the Midnight Hour" was a recording session on May 12, 1965 in which producer Jerry Wexler worked out a powerful rhythm track with studio musicians Steve Cropper and Al Jackson of the Stax Records house band, which also included bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. (Stax keyboard player Booker T. Jones, who played with Dunn, Cropper and Jackson as Booker T. & the MG's, did not play on any of the Pickett studio sessions.) The song that resulted from this encounter established Pickett as a star and also gave Atlantic Records a huge hit.
The Stax/Fame Years (1965-67)
Pickett recorded three sessions at Stax in May and October of 1965, and was joined by keyboardist Isaac Hayes for the October sessions. In addition to "In the Midnight Hour," Pickett's 1965 recordings included the singles "Don't Fight It," (#4 R&B, #53 pop) "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A,)" (#1 R&B, #13 pop) and "Ninety-Nine and A Half (Won't Do)" (#13 R&B, #53 pop). All but "634-5789" were original compositions Pickett co-wrote with Eddie Floyd and/or Steve Cropper; "634-5789" was credited to Cropper and Floyd alone. All these recordings are considered soul classics, and show a range of different styles, from the hard-driving "Midnight Hour" and "Don't Fight It," to the more overtly gospel- influenced "Ninety-Nine and A Half" (which borrowed its title from a gospel standard recorded by The Ward Singers) and the pop-soul of "634-5789."
For his next sessions, Pickett would not return to Stax; the label's owner, Jim Stewart banned all outside productions in December 1965. As a result, Wexler took Pickett to Fame studios, another recording studio with an even closer association to Atlantic Records. Located in a converted tobacco warehouse in nearby Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Fame was very influential in shaping soul music, and Pickett recorded some of his biggest hits there, including the highest-charting version ever of the kinetic "Land of 1000 Dances," which became Pickett's third R&B #1, and his biggest ever pop hit, peaking at #6. The song had previously been a hit for writer Chris Kenner and Mexican-American band Cannibal & the Headhunters.
Other big hits from this era in Pickett's career included two other covers:Mack Rice's "Mustang Sally," (#6 R&B, #23 pop), and Dyke & the Blazers' "Funky Broadway," (another R&B #1 for Pickett, as well as a #8 pop hit.) The band heard on almost all of Pickett's Fame recordings included keyboardist Spooner Oldham and drummer Roger Hawkins.
Later Atlantic Years (1967-1972)
Towards the end of 1967, Pickett began recording at American Studios in Memphis with producers Tom Dowd and Tommy Cogbill, and also began recording numerous songs by Bobby Womack. The songs "I'm In Love," "Jealous Love," "I've Come A Long Way," "I'm A Midnight Mover" (a Pickett/Womack co-write) and "I Found A True Love" were all Womack-penned hits for Pickett in 1967 and 1968. "I'm In Love" was also a return to the soul ballad genre for Pickett; he would continue to record a mixture of ballads, soul and funk for the rest of his career. Pickett also recorded work by other writers during this era; Rodger Collins' "She's Looking Good" and a cover of the traditional blues standard "Stagger Lee" were also top 40 Pickett hits recorded at American in 1967/68. Womack was the guitarist on all these recordings.
Pickett returned to Fame studios in late 1968 and early 1969, where he worked with a band that featured guitarist Duane Allman, as well as Muscle Shoals stalwart Hawkins and newly recruited bassist David Hood. A top 40 cover of The Beatles' "Hey Jude" came from these Fame sessions, as well as the minor hits "Mini-Skirt Minnie" and "Hey Joe."
Late 1969 found Pickett at Criteria Studios in Miami. Hit covers of The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (#16 R&B, #92 Pop) and The Archies' "Sugar Sugar" (#4 R&B, #25 Pop), as well as the Pickett original "She Said Yes" (#20 R&B, #68 Pop) came from these sessions.
Pickett then teamed up with established Philadelphia-based hitmakers Gamble and Huff for the 1970 album Wilson Pickett In Philadephia, which featured his next two hit singles, the funk-oriented "Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9" (#3 R&B, #14 Pop) and the pop number "Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You" (#2 R&B, #17 Pop).
Following these two big hits, Pickett returned to Muscle Shoals and the Muscle Shoals band, featuring Hood, Hawkins, et al (though not Allman, who had moved on to Derek & the Dominoes.) This line-up recorded Pickett's fifth and last R&B #1 hit, "Don't Knock My Love, Pt. 1," which also peaked at #13 on the pop charts in 1971. Two further hits followed in '71: "Call My Name, I'll Be There" (#10 R&B, #52 Pop) and "Fire and Water" (#2 R&B, #24 Pop), a cover of a song by Free.
Pickett recorded several tracks in 1972 for a planned new album on Atlantic, but after the single "Funk Factory" reached #11 R&B and #58 pop in June of 1972, he left Atlantic for RCA Records.
Post-Atlantic recording career
Pickett continued to record with some success on the R&B charts for RCA in 1973 and 1974, scoring four top 30 R&B hits with "Mr. Magic Man," "Take a Closer Look at the Woman You're With," "International Playboy" and "Soft Soul Boogie Woogie." However, he was no longer crossing over to the pop charts with any regularity, as none of these songs hit higher than #90 on the Billboard Hot 100.
As the decade continued, the advent of disco put Pickett's soul-based musical style out of step with the then-current trends in R&B. None of his post-1974 RCA recordings hit the charts, and in 1977 RCA dropped Pickett from the label.
Pickett continued to record sporadically with several different labels over the following decades, occasionally making the lower rungs of the R&B charts. His last record was issued in 1999.
Remaining fairly active into the twenty first century on the touring front until he became ill in 2004, Pickett devoted his life to embodying the notion of soul at its ferocious, unbridled best.[3]
Personal life and honours
Outside of music, Pickett's personal life was troubled. Even in his 1960s heyday, Pickett's friends found him to be temperamental and preoccupied with guns; Don Covay described him as "young and wild." Then in 1987, as his recording career was drying up, Pickett was given two years' probation and fined $1,000 for carrying a loaded shotgun in his car. In 1991, he was arrested for allegedly yelling death threats while driving a car over the mayor's front lawn in Englewood, New Jersey, and less than a year later was charged with assaulting his girlfriend.[citation needed]
In 1993, he was convicted of drunk driving and sentenced to one year in jail after hitting an 86-year-old man with his car. Pickett had been previously convicted of various drug offenses.
Throughout the 1990s, despite his personal troubles, Pickett was continuously honoured for his contributions to music. In addition to being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and his music was prominently featured in the film The Commitments, with Pickett as an off-screen character. In 1993, he was honored with a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.
Pickett was also a popular songwriter, as songs he wrote were recorded by artists like Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, the Grateful Dead, Booker T. & the MGs, Genesis, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Hootie & the Blowfish, Echo & The Bunnymen, Roxy Music, Bruce Springsteen, Los Lobos, The Jam, Ani DiFranco, among others.
Several years after his release from prison,[citation needed] Pickett returned to the studio and received a Grammy nomination for the 1999 album It's Harder Now. In 2000, Pickett was honored as Soul/Blues Male Artist of the Year by the Blues Foundation in Memphis.[1] It's Harder Now was voted Comeback Blues Album of the Year and Soul/Blues Album of the Year.
In 2003, he co-starred in the D.A. Pennebaker-directed documentary "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of both the 2002 Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals.
Pickett spent the twilight of his career playing dozens of concert dates a year until 2004, when he began suffering from health problems. He told his sister, while he was in hospital, that he wanted to record a gospel album when he recovered, but he, sadly, kept fading.
Pickett died of a heart attack January 19, 2006 in the hospital near his Ashburn, Virginia home and was laid to rest next to his mother in Louisville, Kentucky. Rhythm & Blues/Rock and Roll pioneer Little Richard gave the eulogy and preached briefly at the funeral. Wilson spent many years in Louisville when his mother moved there from Alabama. He is considered an honorary son of the city. His funeral procession was flanked by well wishers welcoming him home.
He was remembered on March 20, 2006, at NYC's BB King Blues Club with performances by the Commitments, his long-term backing band the Midnight Movers, and others including vocalist Southside Johnny Lyons in front of an audience that included many members of his family, including two brothers.
Discography
Singles
| Release date | Title | Chart Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US R&B | UK | ||
| 1962 | "If You Need Me" | #64 | #30 | |
| 1963 | "It's Too Late" | #49 | #7 | |
| 1963 | "I'm Down to My Last Heartbreak" | |||
| 1963 | "My Heart Belongs to You" | |||
| 1964 | "I'm Gonna Cry" | |||
| 1964 | "Come Home Baby" | |||
| 1965 | "In the Midnight Hour" | #21 | #1 | #12 |
| 1965 | "Don't Fight It" | #53 | #4 | #29 |
| 1966 | "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)" | #13 | #1 | #36 |
| 1966 | "Ninety Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" | #53 | #13 | |
| 1966 | "Land of 1000 Dances" | #6 | #1 | #22 |
| 1966 | "Mustang Sally" | #23 | #6 | #28 |
| 1967 | "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" | #29 | #19 | |
| 1967 | "I Found a Love - Pt. 1" | #32 | #6 | |
| 1967 | "You Can't Stand Alone" (A-Side) | #70 | #26 | |
| 1967 | → "Soul Dance Number Three" (B-Side) | #55 | #10 | |
| 1967 | "Funky Broadway" | #8 | #1 | |
| 1967 | "I'm in Love" (A-Side) | #45 | #4 | |
| 1967 | → "Stagger Lee" (B-Side) | #22 | #13 | |
| 1968 | "Jealous Love" (A-Side) | #50 | #18 | |
| 1968 | → "I've Come a Long Way" (B-Side) | #46 | ||
| 1968 | "She's Looking Good" | #15 | #7 | |
| 1968 | "I'm a Midnight Mover" | #24 | #6 | #38 |
| 1968 | "I Found a True Love" | #42 | #11 | |
| 1968 | "A Man and a Half" | #42 | #20 | |
| 1968 | "Hey Jude" | #23 | #13 | #16 |
| 1969 | "Mini-skirt Minnie" | #50 | #19 | |
| 1969 | "Born to Be Wild" | #64 | #41 | |
| 1969 | "Hey Joe" | #59 | #29 | |
| 1969 | "You Keep Me Hangin' On" | #92 | #16 | |
| 1970 | "Sugar, Sugar" (A-Side) | #25 | #4 | |
| 1970 | → "Cole, Cooke, and Redding" (B-Side) | #91 | #11 | |
| 1970 | "She Said Yes" | #68 | #20 | |
| 1970 | "Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9" | #14 | #3 | |
| 1971 | "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You" | #17 | #2 | |
| 1971 | "Don't Knock My Love - Pt. 1" | #13 | #1 | |
| 1971 | "Call My Name, I'll Be There" | #52 | #10 | |
| 1971 | "Fire and Water" | #24 | #2 | |
| 1972 | "Funk Factory" | #58 | #11 | |
| 1973 | "Mr. Magic Man" | #98 | #16 | |
| 1973 | "Take a Closer Look at the Woman You're With" | #90 | #17 | |
| 1973 | "International Playboy" | #30 | ||
| 1974 | "Soft Soul Boogie Woogie" | #20 | ||
| 1974 | "Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It" | #68 | ||
| 1979 | "I Want You" | #41 | ||
| 1980 | "Live With Me" | #95 | ||
| 1987 | "Don't Turn Away" | #74 | ||
| 1987 | "In the Midnight Hour" (re-recording) | |||
| 1988 | "Love Never Let Me Down" | |||
Albums
- In the Midnight Hour (1965, Atlantic) US: #107
- The Exciting Wilson Pickett (1966) US: #21
- The Best of Wilson Pickett (1967) US: #35
- The Wicked Pickett (1967) US: #42
- The Sound of Wilson Pickett (1967) US: #54
- I'm In Love (1967) US: #70
- The Midnight Mover (1968) US: #91
- Hey Jude (1968) US: #97
- Wilson Pickett in Philadelphia (1970) US: #64
- Right On (1970) US: #197
- The Best of Wilson Pickett, Vol. II (1971) US: #73
- Don't Knock My Love (1972) US: #132
- Mr. Magic Man (1973) US: #187
- Wilson Pickett's Greatest Hits (1973) US: #178
- Miz Lena's Boy (1973) (RCA Victor)
- Pickett in the Pocket (1974)
- Funky Situation (1978)
- I Want You (1980)
- American Soul Man (1987)
- A Man and a Half: The Best of Wilson Pickett (1992)
- It's Harder Now (1999)
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Bibliography
- Ross, Andrew and Rose, Tricia (Ed.). (1994). Microphone fiends: Youth music and youth culture. Routledge: New York. ISBN 0-415-90908-2
- Hirshey, Gerri. Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music. Da Capo Press; Reprint edition (September 1, 1994) ISBN 0-306-80581-2
- Hirshey, Gerri (February 9, 2006). Wilson Pickett, 1941-2006. Rolling Stone #933.
- Sacks, Leo. Liner notes to "A Man And A Half: The Best of Wilson Pickett" (1992, Rhino).
External links
- Unterberger, Richie. Wilson Picket 1999 induction profile via Alabama Music Hall of Fame
- Wilson Pickett via classicbands.com
- Escott, Colin. The Wicked Wilson Pickett.
- Boone, Mike. In The Midnight Hour. via soul-patrol.com
- Associated Press (19 January 2006). Soul Singer Wilson Pickett Dies at 64
- Muskal, Michael (19 January 2006). Soul Pioneer Wilson Pickett Dies at 64. Los Angeles Times
- Epstein, Dan (19 January 2006). Soul Legend Wilson Pickett Dies. Rolling Stone
- Leeds, Jeff (19 January 2006). Wilson Pickett, 64, Soul Singer of Great Passion, Dies. New York Times
- Jansen, Lex (19 January 2006). Wilson Pickett at the Heart of Rock and Soul
