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Among all of soul music's throat-shredding testifiers of the 1960s, none could match the sheer raw power of Wilson Pickett. He was one of the roughest and sweatiest performers, offering up some of the decade's hottest dance floor songs on hits like "In the Midnight Hour," "Land of 1000 Dances," "Mustang Sally," and "Funky Broadway." Born March 18, 1941, Pickett's forceful style was nurtured in the Baptist choirs of his native Prattville, Alabama, and on the streets of Detroit, where he moved with his family as a teenager. After singing for four years in a locally popular gospel-harmony group, the Violinaires, Pickett crossed into secular music, joining the Falcons in 1959. In addition to Pickett, the Falcons included future soul stars Eddie Floyd and Sir Mack Rice. The Falcons' gospel-influenced R&B style gave shape to the Detroit soul scene of the early Sixties. Their biggest hit, "I Found a Love," eventually led to Pickett's signing to Atlantic Records. Nicknamed "the Wicked Pickett" for his boasting, uninhibited style, the gruff-throated singer came into his own during his 1965 sessions at Stax, arranged by Atlantic's Jerry Wexler. Pickett collaborated with Booker T. and the M.G.'s guitarist Steve Cropper on "In the Midnight Hour," one of the most enduring soul classics of all time. It's success signaled a new era of soul in which the focus shifted to the looser, funkier sounds of the South. Eventually, Wolfman Jack adopted "In the Midnight Hour" as his theme song. Cropper and Eddie Floyd gave Pickett his next hit song, "634-5789." He was then on his way, releasing a string of chart topping hits including "Land of a Thousand Dances" (1966), written by Fats Domino and Chris Kenner. It is also one of those rare songs that does not mention the title anywhere in the song. In the early Seventies, Pickett collaborated with the Philadelphia-based production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. He cut the album titled In Philadelphia (1970) and scored such sizable hits as "Engine Number 9" and "Don't Let the Green Grass Bring You Down" in the emerging Philly-soul style, which would become a cornerstone sound of that decade. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Pickett remained a viable hitmaker well into the Seventies. His 1971 album Don't Knock My Love yielded five charting singles, including the title track. Subsequently, Pickett recorded for other companies, including RCA and Motown, and even founded his own Wicked label. Remaining active into the Eighties on both the touring and recording fronts, Pickett continued to embody the notion of soul at its ferocious, unbridled best. In 1991 he was inducted into the Rock-and-Roll Hall Of Fame. Pickett burst back into the spotlight in the late 1990s with his appearance in the 1998 movie Blues Brothers 2000 where he performed "634-5789" with Eddie Floyd and Jonny Lang. He recently signed with the Bullseye label where he will be releasing his new album during the coming year.
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