The influential Wilson Pickett was born on this day in 1941
Wilson Pickett was a major figure in the development of American soul music, during the 1960’s
The influential Wilson Pickett was born on this day in 1941
Wilson Pickett was born on March 18, 1941, in Prattville, Alabama. He was part of several bands during the 1950’s and was also signed by Atlantic, however his breakthrough came in 1965, when at Stax Records’ studio in Memphis, Tennessee, he recorded his third Atlantic single, “In the Midnight Hour” This song was Pickett’s first big hit, peaking at #1 R&B, #21 pop (US), and #12 (UK). It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Other big hits from this era in Pickett’s career included two covers: Mack Rice’s “Mustang Sally” and Dyke & the Blazers’ “Funky Broadway”.After leaving Atlantic, Pickett continued to record with 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” (a re-recording of a song he had previously recorded for Atlantic), and “Soft Soul Boogie Woogie”. However, he was failing to cross over to the pop charts with regularity, as none of these songs reached higher than #90 on the Hot 100. But despite that, he remained an influential figure in Soul music and one of it’s greatest representatives throughout the years. Pickett died at 64 of a heart attack on January 19, 2006, in Reston, Virginia. Wilson Pickett was a major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100. Some of his best-known hits are “In the Midnight Hour” (which he co-wrote), “Land of 1,000 Dances”, “Mustang Sally”, and “Funky Broadway”, all remain classics and regularly played on Soul and Classic Rock stations.
Watch the legendary Wilson Pickett him performing his hit “In The Midnight Hour” in 1965
Listen to the compilation “The Definitive Wilson Pickett” on Spotify
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