The Exciting Wilson Pickett
Encyclopedia
The Exciting Wilson Pickett, released in 1966, was the second album by R&B
and soul
singer Wilson Pickett
. The album charted at #3 on the U.S. Billboard
R&B albums
chart and #21 on the popular albums
chart. According to All Music
, this second album firmly established Picket's "stature as a major '60s soul man". The album launched four major hits for Pickett, but All Music emphasizes that the non-hit cuts, "of nearly an equal level", will be of more interest to collectors.
Originally released on the Atlantic
label, the album has been re-issued on CD by Rhino, Collectables
and Warner Bros. Records
. In 2007, a new LP
edition was released by the label 4 Men with Beards.
hit singles. "In the Midnight Hour
" reached #1 on the Billboard R&B singles
chart and #21 on the pop singles
chart. "Land of a Thousand Dances
" reached #1 and #6 respectively. "Ninety-nine and a Half (Won't Do)" reached #13 and #53. "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)
", a song which Pickett had not on first hearing liked, reached #1 and #13.
Pickett later redid the song "Land of a Thousand Dances", originally a hit in 1963 for New Orleans-based composer Chris Kenner
, for the soundtrack of The Great Outdoors
, a 1988 film starring Dan Aykroyd
and John Candy
.
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...
and 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 Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
. The album charted at #3 on the U.S. Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B albums
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...
chart and #21 on the popular albums
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...
chart. According to All Music
All Music
All Music was an Italian free-to-air television station which mainly broadcast music videos and music programs. Originally called Rete A, the name was changed to Rete A - All Music , and for a brief period was affiliated before with MTV Italy and after with VIVA.-History:In late 2004 the former...
, this second album firmly established Picket's "stature as a major '60s soul man". The album launched four major hits for Pickett, but All Music emphasizes that the non-hit cuts, "of nearly an equal level", will be of more interest to collectors.
Originally released on the Atlantic
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
label, the album has been re-issued on CD by Rhino, Collectables
Collectables Records
Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Greene was previously associated with New York City's Times Square Record Shop, Philadelphia's Record Museum retail chain, and the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels....
and Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. In 2007, a new LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
edition was released by the label 4 Men with Beards.
Hit singles
The Exciting Wilson Pickett launched four crossoverCrossover (music)
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
hit singles. "In the Midnight Hour
In the Midnight Hour
"In the Midnight Hour" is a song originally performed by Wilson Pickett in 1965 and released on the 1966 album The Exciting Wilson Pickett. It was composed by Pickett and Steve Cropper at the historic Lorraine Motel in Memphis where Martin Luther King, Jr. would later be murdered in April 1968...
" reached #1 on the Billboard R&B singles
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,...
chart and #21 on the pop singles
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...
chart. "Land of a Thousand Dances
Land of a Thousand Dances
"Land of a Thousand Dances" is a song written and first recorded by Chris Kenner in 1962. The song is famous for its "na na na na na" hook, which was added by Cannibal & the Headhunters in their version of the song in 1965, whose version peaked at number thirty...
" reached #1 and #6 respectively. "Ninety-nine and a Half (Won't Do)" reached #13 and #53. "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)
634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)
"634-5789" a.k.a. "6345-789" a.k.a. "634-5789 " is the title of a classic soul track written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper. The song was first recorded by soul legend Wilson Pickett on his 1966 Atlantic Records album The Exciting Wilson Pickett and the single reached #1 on the "Black Singles"...
", a song which Pickett had not on first hearing liked, reached #1 and #13.
Pickett later redid the song "Land of a Thousand Dances", originally a hit in 1963 for New Orleans-based composer Chris Kenner
Chris Kenner
Chris Kenner was a New Orleans R&B singer and songwriter, best known for two hit singles in the early 1960s, that became staples in the repertoires of many other musicians.-Biography:...
, for the soundtrack of The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors (1988 film)
The Great Outdoors is a 1988 American comedy film starring Dan Aykroyd and John Candy. Annette Bening and Stephanie Faracy co-star. Robert Prosky and Lewis Arquette have supporting roles...
, a 1988 film starring Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
and John Candy
John Candy
John Franklin Candy was a Canadian actor and comedian. He rose to fame as a member of the Toronto branch of The Second City and its related Second City Television series, and through his appearances in comedy films such as Stripes, Splash, Cool Runnings, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, and Uncle...
.
Track listing
- "Land of 1000 Dances" (Chris KennerChris KennerChris Kenner was a New Orleans R&B singer and songwriter, best known for two hit singles in the early 1960s, that became staples in the repertoires of many other musicians.-Biography:...
) – 2:28 - "Something You Got" (Kenner) – 2:58
- "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)" (Steve CropperSteve CropperSteve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
, Eddie FloydEddie FloydEddie Lee Floyd is an American soul/R&B singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s and the song "Knock on Wood".-Biography:...
) – 3:00 - "Barefootin'" (Robert Parker) – 2:22
- "Mercy Mercy" (Don CovayDon CovayDon Covay is an American R&B/rock and roll/soul music singer and songwriter most active in the 1950s and 1960s, who received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1994...
, Ronald Dean MillerRon Miller (songwriter)Ronald Norman Miller was an American popular songwriter and record producer, who attained many Top 10 hits with ballads written for Motown artists in the 1960s and 1970s....
) – 2:30 - "You're So Fine" (Lance Finney, Willie Schofield, Bob West) – 2:38
- "In the Midnight HourIn the Midnight Hour"In the Midnight Hour" is a song originally performed by Wilson Pickett in 1965 and released on the 1966 album The Exciting Wilson Pickett. It was composed by Pickett and Steve Cropper at the historic Lorraine Motel in Memphis where Martin Luther King, Jr. would later be murdered in April 1968...
" (Cropper, Wilson PickettWilson PickettWilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
) – 2:36 - "Ninety-nine and a Half (Won't Do)" (Cropper, Floyd, Pickett) – 2:44
- "Danger Zone" (Cropper, Pickett) – 2:12
- "I'm Drifting" (Homer BanksHomer BanksHomer Banks was an African-American songwriter, singer and record producer, best known for his songs for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s...
, Pickett, David PorterDavid Porter (musician)David Porter is an American soul musician. Porter is best known as the songwriting and production partner of Isaac Hayes at Stax Records during the 1960s...
) – 2:54 - "It's All Over" (Cropper, Pickett) – 2:21
- "She's So Good to Me" (Bobby WomackBobby WomackRobert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
) – 2:17
Performance
- Charles Packy Axton – tenor saxTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
- Charles Chalmers – tenor sax
- Tommy CogbillTommy CogbillThomas Clark Cogbill, and known as Tommy Cogbill was an American bassist and record producer.Tommy Cogbill was born in Johnson Grove, Tennessee. He was a highly sought-after session and studio musician who appeared on many now-classic recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, especially those recorded in...
– bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2... - Steve CropperSteve CropperSteve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Donald "Duck" Dunn – bass
- Joe Hall – pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Roger HawkinsRoger HawkinsRoger G Hawkins , is an American drummer best known for playing as part of the studio backing band known as The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section of Alabama...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Isaac HayesIsaac HayesIsaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Al Jackson, Jr. – drums
- Wayne Jackson – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Jimmy JohnsonJimmy Johnson (musician)Jimmy Johnson is an American a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section that was attached to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama for a period in the 1960s and 1970s, and later was the a founder of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio located at first on 3614 Jackson Highway in Sheffield, Alabama and at...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Andrew Love – tenor sax
- Gene Miller – trumpet
- Chips MomanChips MomanLincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman is an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. As a record producer, Moman is known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960s...
– guitar - Floyd Newman – baritone saxBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
- Spooner OldhamSpooner OldhamDewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and at FAME Studios on such hit R&B songs as "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge, "Mustang Sally" by Wilson Pickett and "I Never Loved a Man" by Aretha...
– piano - Wilson PickettWilson PickettWilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Production
- Haig Adishian – cover design
- Steve CropperSteve CropperSteve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
– supervisor - Tom DowdTom DowdTom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
– engineer, supervisor - A. Scott Galloway – liner notes
- Rick Hall – engineer, supervisor
- Dan Hersch – digital remastering
- Bill Inglot – digital remastering
- John Peck
- Bob Rolontz – liner notes
- Nick Samardge – photography
- Jim StewartJim Stewart (music)Jim Stewart is a former record company executive and producer who co-founded Stax Records.- Biography :Raised on a farm in Middleton, Tennessee, Stewart moved to Memphis in 1948, after graduating from high school. He worked at Sears, at First National Bank, and then was drafted into the United...
– engineer, supervisor - Jerry WexlerJerry WexlerGerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
– supervisor