Al Wilson (singer)
Encyclopedia
Al Wilson was an American
soul
singer best known for the million-selling #1 hit
, "Show and Tell
". He is also remembered for his Northern soul
anthem, "The Snake".
. He showed little interest in education but performed in school plays, sang in talent shows and won first prize in a local art contest. Wilson began his career at the age of twelve leading his own spiritual quartet and singing in the church choir, and performing covers of country and western hits. While he was in high school, Wilson and his family relocated to San Bernardino, California
, where he worked odd jobs as a mail carrier, a janitor, and an office clerk, in addition to teaching himself to play drums. After graduation he spent four years touring with Johnny Harris and the Statesmen, before joining the U.S. Navy
, and singing with an enlisted men's chorus. He also developed his stand-up comedy routine in case he did not succeed as a singer.
After a two-year military stint, Wilson settled in Los Angeles
, touring the local nightclub
circuit before joining the R&B
vocal group the Jewels; from there he landed with the Rollers, followed by a stint with the instrumental combo the Souls. In 1966, Wilson signed with manager Marc Gordon, who quickly sought his client an a cappella audition for Johnny Rivers
. Wilson was signed to the Soul City
imprint, but Rivers also produced
the sessions that yielded the 1968 U.S. R&B
hit single
"The Snake" (U.S. Pop
#27), which became popular on the Northern Soul
circuit in the United Kingdom
. It also provided Wilson with his only UK Singles Chart
hit, reaching #41 in 1975. The minor hit "Do What You Gotta Do" appeared that same year. In 1969, Wilson charted with his cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival
's "Lodi" (U.S. #67), and Rivers' own "Poor Side Of Town
" (U.S. #75).
Wilson largely disappeared from sight until 1973, when he issued Show And Tell — the album's success was matched by the single
"Show and Tell", which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
by the R.I.A.A. in December 1973.
"The La La Peace Song", released in 1974, proved another hit although O. C. Smith
also recorded a version and sales suffered as a result. Two years later in 1976 Wilson recorded "I've Got a Feeling We'll Be Seeing Each Other Again" for Playboy Records which reached #3 in the R&B chart. He tried to leave Playboy Records, but was unable to get a release from his recording contract
. Two years later the label folded. With 1979's "Count the Days" Wilson scored his final chart hit, however, and he spent the next two decades touring clubs and lounges; in 2001 he re-recorded his hits for the album Spice of Life.
In March 2007 many of his original master tapes were lost to a fire that swept through his home garage he had converted into a recording studio
.
Wilson's recording of "The Snake" was featured in a Lambrini
advert in the UK
.
, in Fontana
, California
, at the age of 68.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
singer best known for the million-selling #1 hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, "Show and Tell
Show and Tell (song)
"Show and Tell" is a popular song written by Jerry Fuller and first recorded by Johnny Mathis in 1972. A 1973 recording of the song by Al Wilson reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week on January 19, 1974, which sold over two million copies and was named a Cashbox Magazine Number...
". He is also remembered for his Northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
anthem, "The Snake".
Career
Allen LaMar Wilson was born in Meridian, MississippiMeridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
. He showed little interest in education but performed in school plays, sang in talent shows and won first prize in a local art contest. Wilson began his career at the age of twelve leading his own spiritual quartet and singing in the church choir, and performing covers of country and western hits. While he was in high school, Wilson and his family relocated to San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
, where he worked odd jobs as a mail carrier, a janitor, and an office clerk, in addition to teaching himself to play drums. After graduation he spent four years touring with Johnny Harris and the Statesmen, before joining the U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, and singing with an enlisted men's chorus. He also developed his stand-up comedy routine in case he did not succeed as a singer.
After a two-year military stint, Wilson settled in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, touring the local nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
circuit before joining the R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
vocal group the Jewels; from there he landed with the Rollers, followed by a stint with the instrumental combo the Souls. In 1966, Wilson signed with manager Marc Gordon, who quickly sought his client an a cappella audition for Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
. Wilson was signed to the Soul City
Soul City Records (U.S. label)
Soul City Records is an American record label founded by singer Johnny Rivers in 1966. The most notable acts on Soul City were The 5th Dimension, Al Wilson, and Rivers himself. The label was distributed by Liberty Records. Rivers sold the label to Bell Records in 1970...
imprint, but Rivers also produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
the sessions that yielded the 1968 U.S. R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
"The Snake" (U.S. Pop
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
#27), which became popular on the Northern Soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
circuit in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It also provided Wilson with his only UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
hit, reaching #41 in 1975. The minor hit "Do What You Gotta Do" appeared that same year. In 1969, Wilson charted with his cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
's "Lodi" (U.S. #67), and Rivers' own "Poor Side Of Town
Poor Side of Town (Johnny Rivers song)
"Poor Side of Town" is a song by Johnny Rivers that reached number one on the Hot 100 and on the RPM Canadian Chart in November 1966.-Song:...
" (U.S. #75).
Wilson largely disappeared from sight until 1973, when he issued Show And Tell — the album's success was matched by the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Show and Tell", which sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the R.I.A.A. in December 1973.
"The La La Peace Song", released in 1974, proved another hit although O. C. Smith
O. C. Smith
O.C. Smith was an American musician. His recording of "Little Green Apples", which went to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968, also sold over one million records.-Biography:...
also recorded a version and sales suffered as a result. Two years later in 1976 Wilson recorded "I've Got a Feeling We'll Be Seeing Each Other Again" for Playboy Records which reached #3 in the R&B chart. He tried to leave Playboy Records, but was unable to get a release from his recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
. Two years later the label folded. With 1979's "Count the Days" Wilson scored his final chart hit, however, and he spent the next two decades touring clubs and lounges; in 2001 he re-recorded his hits for the album Spice of Life.
In March 2007 many of his original master tapes were lost to a fire that swept through his home garage he had converted into a recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
.
Wilson's recording of "The Snake" was featured in a Lambrini
Lambrini
Lambrini is a brand of light perry, created by Wallasey born John Halewood and is manufactured in Liverpool by Halewood International Limited. It has been marketed under the slogan, "Lambrini girls just wanna have fun," and currently dominates the commercial light perry market.-Products:Lambrini is...
advert in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Death
Wilson died on April 21, 2008 of kidney failureRenal failure
Renal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...
, in Fontana
Fontana, California
Fontana is a city of 196,069 residents in San Bernardino County, California. Founded in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, at the age of 68.
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||||
| 1968 | Searching for the Dolphins | — | — | Soul City Soul City Records (U.S. label) Soul City Records is an American record label founded by singer Johnny Rivers in 1966. The most notable acts on Soul City were The 5th Dimension, Al Wilson, and Rivers himself. The label was distributed by Liberty Records. Rivers sold the label to Bell Records in 1970... |
||
| 1973 | Weighing In | — | — | Rocky Road Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 by Arthur Shimkin in New York, the owner of children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny Bell who used the Bell name to issue risque novelty records. A... |
||
| Show And Tell Show and Tell (Al Wilson album) -Track listing:#Show And Tell - 3:28 #I'm Out To Get You - 3:39 #Queen Of The Ghetto - 2:53 #Touch And Go - 3:09 #My Song - 3:43... |
70 | 9 | ||||
| 1974 | La La Peace Song | 171 | 35 | |||
| 1976 | I've Got a Feeling | 185 | 43 | Playboy Playboy Records Playboy Records was a record label in Los Angeles, California, and a unit of Playboy Enterprises. Artists recording for the label included Barbi Benton, Blue Ash, Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers, Brenda Patterson, Jeanne French , Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds, Ivory, Wynn Stewart, Mickey Gilley... |
||
| 1979 | Count the Days | — | — | Roadshow | ||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||||
| 2001 | Spice of Life | — | — | Classic World | ||
| 2004 | Show & Tell: The Best of Al Wilson | — | — | Fuel 2000 Fuel 2000 Formed in 1994, Fuel 2000 Records, part of the Fuel Label Group, has amassed an amazing catalog over 20,000 master recordings making it one of the biggest independent labels specializing in current music and deep catalog... |
||
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B |
US A/C |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 1967 | "Who Could Be Lovin' You" | — | — | — | — | |
| "Do What You Gotta Do" | 102 | 39 | — | — | ||
| 1968 | "The Snake" | 27 | 32 | — | 41 | |
| 1969 | "Poor Side of Town Poor Side of Town (Johnny Rivers song) "Poor Side of Town" is a song by Johnny Rivers that reached number one on the Hot 100 and on the RPM Canadian Chart in November 1966.-Song:... " |
75 | — | — | — | |
| "I Stand Accused" | 106 | — | — | — | ||
| "Lodi" | 67 | — | — | — | ||
| 1970 | "Mississippi Woman" | — | — | — | — | |
| "Bachelor Man" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971 | "I Hear You Knocking" | — | — | — | — | |
| "Falling (In Love with You)" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972 | "Heavy Church" | — | — | — | — | |
| "Born on the Bayou Born on the Bayou "Born on the Bayou" is the first track on Creedence Clearwater Revival's second album, Bayou Country. It was released as the B-side of the single "Proud Mary" and reached #2 on the Billboard Charts.As the songwriter, John Fogerty, commented:... " |
— | — | — | — | ||
| 1973 | "Show and Tell Show and Tell (song) "Show and Tell" is a popular song written by Jerry Fuller and first recorded by Johnny Mathis in 1972. A 1973 recording of the song by Al Wilson reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week on January 19, 1974, which sold over two million copies and was named a Cashbox Magazine Number... " |
1 | 10 | 3 | — | |
| 1974 | "Touch and Go" | 57 | 23 | 43 | — | |
| "La La Peace Song" | 30 | 19 | — | — | ||
| "I Won't Last a Day Without You I Won't Last a Day Without You "I Won't Last a Day Without You" is a song composed by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols. Williams released his version as a single in 1973, but garnered only minor success. Maureen McGovern recorded the song and also released it as a single in 1973 , with results similar to those of Williams... "/"Let Me Be the One" (medley) |
70 | 18 | 39 | — | ||
| 1976 | "I've Got a Feeling (We'll Be Seeing Each Other Again) " | 29 | 3 | 38 | — | |
| "Baby I Want Your Body" | — | 28 | — | — | ||
| "You Did It for Me" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979 | "Count the Days" | — | 84 | — | — | |
| "Earthquake" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart | ||||||