The music world has suffered a terrible loss with the recent passing of soul music’s most distinctive voice, Wilson Pickett. One of the most popular black singers of the 1960s, he helped to introduce the dynamic and rhythmic style of the essence of soul music. Born in Alabama in 1942 and raised in the area of Prattsville, Wilson got his musical start by singing gospel. The world of rock and roll beckoned however, and, at the age of sixteen he moved to Detroit and made his professional debut as the lead singer of the Violinaires in the late 1950s. From 1961-1963 he was a part of a rock group called “The Falcons”, writing and singing their 1962 hit, “I Found Love.”
He then went solo and signed on with Lloyd Price’s Double L Records, where he wrote and recorded “If You Love Me” and “It’s Too Late.” He scored a series of R & B and pop hits on Atlantic records between the years of 1963 and 1972. In 1965 he hit pay dirt with his fabulous hit, “The Midnight Hour.” Mustang Sally” and “Funky Broadway,” just to name a few. Many of these tunes contained lyrics with double entendre sexual connotations and even though he was far from the first entertainer to do that, this practice earned him the nickname of “Wicked Pickett.”
But he sang his heart out at every performance he ever gave, and his fans loved him for it. His last big hit was in 1972, “Fire and Water.” In 1991, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He died of a heart attack and even though his health was failing him in the last years of his life, he always wanted to return to the stage and perform.
He was only 64 years old and will be missed by many.
What are some of YOUR favorite Wilson Pickett songs?