Wilson Pickett - The Best Of Wilson Pickett, Volume II '1971/2012

Tracks list

	Tracklist

01. Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You
02. Sugar Sugar
03. Get Me Back On Time, Engine Number 9 (Part 1/Part)
04. I'm A Midnight Mover
05. A Man And A Half
06. Born To Be Wild
07. She's Lookin' Good
08. I'm In Love
09. Hey Joe
10. Cole, Cooke & Redding
11. Hey Jude
12. You Keep Me Hangin' On
13. I Found A True Love


Of the major '60s soul stars, Wilson Pickett was one of the roughest and
sweatiest, working up some of the decade's hottest dancefloor grooves on hits
like "In the Midnight Hour," "Land of 1000 Dances," "Mustang Sally," and "Funky
Broadway." Although he tends to be held in somewhat lower esteem than more
versatile talents like Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin, he is often a preferred
alternative of fans who like their soul on the rawer side. He also did a good
deal to establish the sound of Southern soul with his early hits, which were
often written and recorded with the cream of the session musicians in Memphis
and Muscle Shoals.

Before establishing himself as a solo artist, Pickett sang with the Falcons, who
had a Top Ten R&B hit in 1962 with "I Found a Love." "If You Need Me" (covered
by the Rolling Stones) and "It's Too Late" were R&B hits for the singer before
he hooked up with Atlantic Records, who sent him to record at Stax in Memphis in
1965. One early result was "In the Midnight Hour," whose chugging horn line,
loping funky beats, and impassioned vocals combined into a key transitional
performance that brought R&B into the soul age. It was an R&B chart-topper and a
substantial pop hit (number 21), though its influence was stronger than that
respectable position might indicate: thousands of bands, black and white,
covered "In the Midnight Hour" on-stage and record in the 1960s.

Pickett had a flurry of other galvanizing soul hits over the next few years,
including "634-5789," "Mustang Sally," and "Funky Broadway," all of which, like
"In the Midnight Hour," were frequently adapted by other bands as dance-ready
numbers. The king of that hill, though, had to be "Land of 1000 Dances,"
Pickett's biggest pop hit (number six), a soul anthem of sorts with its roll
call of popular dances, and covered by almost as many acts as "Midnight Hour"
was.

Pickett didn't confine himself to the environs of Stax for long; soon he was
also cutting tracks at Muscle Shoals. He recorded several early songs by Bobby
Womack. He used Duane Allman as a session guitarist on a hit cover of the
Beatles' "Hey Jude." He cut some hits in Philadelphia with Gamble & Huff
productions in the early '70s. He even did a hit version of the Archies' "Sugar,
Sugar." The hits kept rolling through the early '70s, including "Don't Knock My
Love" and "Get Me Back on Time, Engine Number 9."

One of the corollaries of '60s soul is that if a performer rose to fame with
Motown or Atlantic, he or she would produce little of note after leaving the
label. Pickett, unfortunately, did not prove an exception to the rule. His last
big hit was "Fire and Water," in 1972. He continued to be active on the tour
circuit; his most essential music, all from the 1960s and early '70s, was
assembled for the superb Rhino double-CD anthology A Man and a Half. It's Harder
Now, his first new material in over a decade, followed in 1999. Pickett spent
the early part of the 2000s performing, before retiring in late 2004 due to ill
health. He passed away on January 19, 2006, following a heart attack. In 2017,
Rhino released a more extensive career overview, The Complete Atlantic Albums
Collection. 



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