(best work in color)
1965: In the Midnight Hour (Atlantic). 1966: The Exciting Wilson Pickett (Atlantic) * The Wicked Pickett (Atlantic). 1967: The Sound of Wilson Pickett (Atlantic) * The Best of Wilson Pickett (Atlantic). 1968: I’m in Love (Atlantic) * Midnight Mover (Atlantic). 1969: Hey Jude (Atlantic). 1970: Right On (Atlantic) * Wilson Pickett in Philadelphia (Atlantic). 1971: Don’t Knock My Love (Atlantic). 1973: Mr. Magic Man (RCA) * Miz Lena’s Boy (RCA) * Wilson Pickett's Greatest Hits (Atlantic double LP). 1974: Pickett in the Pocket (RCA) * Tonight I’m My Biggest Audience (RCA). 1975: Join Me and Let’s Be Free (RCA). 1976: Chocolate Mountain (Wicked). 1977: Join Me and Let’s Be Free. 1978: A Funky Situation (Big Tree). 1979: I Want You (EMI). 1981: The Right Track (EMI). 1987: American Soul Man (Motown). 1992: A Man and a Half: The Best of Wilson Pickett (2 disc-set). 1998: Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It: Best of the RCA Years. 1999: It’s Harder Now (MSF CD-release new material).
Born March 18, 1941, Prattville, Alabama. One of ten brothers and sisters.
In approaching Wilson Pickett’s recording career, it’s best to forget the "Wicked" Pickett moniker. Whatever "wicked" was supposed to suggest in Pickett’s performance, the adjective never quite described his heartfelt renditions of gospel, funk, pop and surprising takes on white boy rock. The attitude Pickett carried around in public - the speak-what’s-on-your mind hardass jive - may have earned him a certain notoriety, but generally meandered into campy self-hype. Even Pickett’s patented 60’s soul shriek now seems playful, rather than sexually provocative or dangerous. Pickett referred to his holler as a "hood ornament" – a suggestion, rather than a description, of style, but gospel music is the vibe that anchors Pickett’s musical firmament throughout his career. According to Gerri Hirshey in Nowhere to Run: the Story of Soul Music, Wilson "maintains that gospel was all he thought he could sing until a Detroit neighbor named Willie Schofield convinced him that R & B wasn’t but a sigh and scream away." When the Alabama singer moved to Detroit, a stint with a band called the Falcons shifted Pickett’s gospel roots towards r&b. In 1962, Pickett scored a hit record – "I Found a Love." From the liberating actions of "Land of 1000 Dances" and the mystical elements of sex, time and space in "Midnight Hour," to later spellbinding non-hits like "Higher Consciousness," "What Good is a Lie," and "Take a Closer Look at the Woman You Love," Pickett mines funky gospel truth in a pop-wary manner. "Take a Closer Look at the Woman You Love," a highlight from his seventies career, is a witty Superfly parody in both music and characterization. In fact, Pickett’s songs often reveal a gentleman ruminating on serious moral questions.
When Pickett found a mid-sixties niche on Atlantic Records, it was as part of the Southern soul apotheosis engendered by a mixture of explosive Memphis and Muscle Shoals musicians, producers, songwriters and singers. Pickett’s back up band on many of his best recordings rivaled Booker T. and the M.G.s in stripped down flair and fortitude. The Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section was composed of Barry Beckett (keyboards), Jimmy Johnson (rhythm guitar), David Hood (bass) and Roger Hawkins (drums), with help from many other gifted Atlantic musicians. The albums from this era – Midnight Hour, The Exciting Wilson Pickett, The Sound of Wilson Pickett, I’m in Love and Hey Jude – are juicy representations of an irresistible musical stew.
Even in the seventies, when the personalities of many quasi-classic soul acts were unmercifully drowned by neo-production gloss, or disco’s ocean of groove (i.e. Aretha, many Motown acts), Wilson Pickett was able to rule over most arrangements with a forcefully engaged vocal style. Does this constitue a complete escape from the sixties? Not really. But there are some pluses. Despite the unevenness of Pickett's material in the seventies, his soul shriek became more deeply emotional. His choice of hard-working bands has always been superb. A Southern flavor remained in both his relaxed vocal demeanor and in his blended interaction with the music and musicians. For the most part the band aesthetic keeps the production aesthetic at bay, with good results. Only I Want You and The Right Track threatened to erase Pickett’s personality, as crafty production irrelevancies and "super" musicians like Jean Roussel and Gary Brown wrest the spotlight away from Pickett in a way that is consummate without being aesthetically defensible.
Proof that Pickett weathered this atmosphere with some fortitude can be found on the 20-track compilation of his seventies’ releases called "Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It: The Best of the RCA Years." About half of the songs show the performer in full emotive glory. It's the sound of a sixties' r&b artist fighting the seventies jinx with better success than usual.