Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter.

A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded more than 50 songs that made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100. Among his best-known hits are "In the Midnight Hour" (which he co-wrote), "Land of 1000 Dances", "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)", "Mustang Sally", "Funky Broadway", "Engine No. 9", and "Don't Knock My Love".

Biography

Early life and family

Pickett was born March 18, 1941, in Prattville, Alabama, and sang in Baptist church choirs. He was the fourth 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."

Early musical career (1955–1964)

Pickett's forceful, passionate style of singing was developed in the church and on the streets of Detroit, Pickett recorded "Come Home Baby", a duet with singer Tami Lynn, but this single failed to chart. This song was Pickett's first big hit, peaking at No. 1 R&B, No. 21 pop (US), and No. 12 (UK). It garnered Pickett his first Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording at the 8th Annual Grammy Awards.

The genesis of "In the Midnight Hour" was a recording session on May 12, 1965, at which Wexler worked out a powerful rhythm track with studio musicians Steve Cropper and Al Jackson of the Stax Records house band, including bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn. (Stax keyboard player Booker T. Jones, who usually played with Dunn, Cropper and Jackson as Booker T. & the M.G.'s, did not play on the studio sessions with Pickett.) Wexler said to Cropper and Jackson: "Why don't you pick up on this thing here?" He performed a dance step. Cropper explained in an interview that Wexler told them that "this was the way the kids were dancing; they were putting the accent on two. Basically, we'd been one-beat-accenters with an afterbeat; it was like 'boom dah,' but here was a thing that went 'um-chaw,' just the reverse as far as the accent goes."

Stax/Fame years (1965–1967)

Pickett recorded three sessions at Stax in May and October 1965. He 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" (No. 4 R&B, No. 53 pop), "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)"(No. 1 R&B, No. 13 pop), and "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" (No. 13 R&B, No. 53 pop). All but "634-5789" were original compositions that Pickett co-wrote with Eddie Floyd or Steve Cropper or both; "634-5789" was credited to Cropper and Floyd alone.

For his next sessions, Pickett did not return to Stax, as the label's owner, Jim Stewart, had decided in December 1965 to ban outside productions. Wexler took Pickett to Fame Studios, a studio also with a close association with Atlantic Records, located in a converted tobacco warehouse in nearby Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Pickett recorded some of his biggest hits there, including the highest-charting version of "Land of 1000 Dances", which was his third R&B No. 1 and his biggest pop hit, peaking at No. 6. It was a million-selling disc.|width=20%|align=right|style=padding:8px;

Near the end of 1967, Pickett began recording at American Studios in Memphis with producers Tom Dowd and Tommy Cogbill, and began recording songs by Bobby Womack. The songs "I'm in Love", "Jealous Love", "I've Come a Long Way", "I'm a Midnight Mover" (co-written by Pickett and Womack), and "I Found a True Love" were Womack-penned hits for Pickett in 1967 and 1968. Pickett recorded works by other songwriters in this period; Rodger Collins' "She's Lookin' Good" and a new arrangement of the traditional blues standard "Stagger Lee" were Top 40 hits Pickett recorded at American. Womack was the guitarist on all recordings.

Pickett returned to Fame Studios in late 1968 and early 1969, where he worked with a band that featured guitarist Duane Allman, Hawkins, and bassist Jerry Jemmott. A No. 16 pop hit remake of the Beatles' "Hey Jude" came out of the Fame sessions, as well as the minor hits "Mini-Skirt Minnie" and "Hey Joe" (a remake of the Jimi Hendrix hit).

Late 1969 found Pickett at Criteria Studios in Miami. His remakes of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (No. 16 R&B, No. 92 pop) and the Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" (No. 4 R&B, No. 25 pop), and the Pickett original "She Said Yes" (No. 20 R&B, No. 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 Philadelphia, which featured his next two hit singles, "Engine No. 9" and "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You", the latter selling one million copies. He is featured on the soundtrack album, Soul To Soul, which peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Soul LPs chart.

Pickett recorded several tracks in 1972 for a planned new album on Atlantic, but after the single "Funk Factory" reached No. 11 R&B and No. 58 pop in June 1972, he left Atlantic for RCA Records. His final Atlantic single, a recording of Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me Not to Come", was culled from Pickett's 1971 album Don't Knock My Love. However, six years later, the Big Tree division of Atlantic released his album, the disco-influenced Funky Situation in 1978.

In 2010, Rhino Handmade released a comprehensive compilation of these years titled Funky Midnight Mover – The Studio Recordings (1962–1978). The compilation included all recordings originally issued during Pickett's Atlantic years along with previously unreleased recordings. This collection was sold online only by Rhino.com.

Post-Atlantic recording career

Pickett continued to record sporadically with several labels over the following decades (including Motown), occasionally making the lower to mid-range of the R&B charts, but he had no pop hit after 1974. His career was hindered by his addictions. His alcoholism was exacerbated by heavy cocaine use, and he became increasingly violent towards his family and bandmates.

Throughout the 1980s and '90s, despite his personal troubles, Pickett was repeatedly honored for his contributions to music. During this period, he was invited to perform at Atlantic Records' 40th Anniversary concert in 1988, and his music was prominently featured in the 1991 film The Commitments, with Pickett as an off-screen character.

In the late 1990s, Pickett returned to the studio and received a Grammy Award nomination for the 1999 album It's Harder Now. The comeback resulted in his being honored as Soul/Blues Male Artist of the Year by the Blues Foundation in Memphis. It's Harder Now was voted 'Comeback Blues Album of the Year' and 'Soul/Blues Album of the Year.'

Pickett spent the twilight of his career playing dozens of concert dates every year until the end of 2004, when he began suffering from health problems and took what was initially intended to be year-long break from performing. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Pickett at number 76 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Personal life

Pickett was the father of four children. At the time of his death, he was engaged.

Legal problems and drug abuse

Pickett's struggle with alcoholism and cocaine addiction led to run-ins with the law. He faced charges of drunk driving, refusing to take a breath test, and resisting arrest. Pickett agreed to perform a benefit concert in exchange for having the disorderly conduct and property damage charges dropped.

In 1992, Pickett struck 86-year-old pedestrian Pepe Ruiz with his car in Englewood. Police allegedly found six empty miniature vodka bottles and six empty beer cans in Pickett's car. Ruiz, who had helped organize the New York animation union, died later that year. Pickett pleaded guilty to drunk driving charges. A week after this incident, a judge ordered Pickett to move out of his home after his live-in girlfriend charged him with threatening to have her killed and throwing a vodka bottle at her. Pickett was charged with cocaine possession. He had been suffering from health problems for the last year of his life and had spent considerable time in the hospital. He died at a hospital in Reston, Virginia. At the time of his death, Pickett was living in Ashburn, Virginia. He was laid to rest in a mausoleum at Evergreen Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. Pickett spent many years in Louisville. Pastor Steve Owens of Decatur, Georgia, presided over his funeral, and Little Richard, a long-time friend of Pickett's, delivered the eulogy.

Awards and nominations

Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. In 1993, he was honored with a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. In 2005, Wilson Pickett was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. In 2015 Wilson Pickett was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.

Grammy Awards

Pickett was nominated for five Grammy Awards during the course of his career.

! width="40"|US R&B

! style="width:40px;"|US R&B

! style="width:40px;"|UK

! style="width:40px;"|AUS

|rowspan="4"|1963

|"If You Need Me" b/w "Baby, Call on Me"

|style="text-align:center;"|64

|style="text-align:center;"|30

|style="text-align:center;"|–

|rowspan="3"|It's Too Late

|"It's Too Late" b/w "I'm Gonna Love You"

|style="text-align:center;"|49

|style="text-align:center;"|7

|style="text-align:center;"|–

|"I'm Down to My Last Heartbreak" b/w "I Can't Stop"

|style="text-align:center;"|95

|style="text-align:center;"|27

|style="text-align:center;"|–

|"My Heart Belongs to You" b/w "Let Me Be Your Boy" Reissue charted in 1965

|style="text-align:center;"|109

|style="text-align:center;"|–

|Non-album tracks

|rowspan="2"|1964

|"I'm Gonna Cry" b/w "For Better or Worse"

|style="text-align:center;"|124

|style="text-align:center;"|–

|rowspan="4"|In the Midnight Hour

|"Come Home Baby" b/w "Take a Little Love"

|style="text-align:center;"|–

|rowspan="2"|1965

|"In the Midnight Hour" b/w "I'm Not Tired"

|style="text-align:center;"|21

|style="text-align:center;"|1

|style="text-align:center;"|12

|style="text-align:center;"|–

BPI: Silver

|"Don't Fight It" b/w "It's All Over" (from The Exciting Wilson Pickett)

|style="text-align:center;"|53

|style="text-align:center;"|4

|style="text-align:center;"|29

|style="text-align:center;"|–

|rowspan="4"|1966

|"634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)" b/w "That's a Man's Way" (from In the Midnight Hour)

|style="text-align:center;"|13

|style="text-align:center;"|1

|style="text-align:center;"|36

|style="text-align:center;"|–

|rowspan="3"|The Exciting Wilson Pickett

|"Ninety Nine and a Half (Won't Do)" b/w "Danger Zone"

|style="text-align:center;"|53

|style="text-align:center;"|13

|style="text-align:center;"|–

|"Land of 1000 Dances" b/w "You're So Fine"

|style="text-align:center;"|6

|style="text-align:center;"|1

|style="text-align:center;"|22

BPI: Silver

|"Don't Knock My Love – Pt. I" b/w "Don't Knock My Love – Pt. II"

|style="text-align:center;"|13

|style="text-align:center;"|1

|style="text-align:center;"|–

RIAA: Gold