Editing Wilson Pickett (section)

== Biography ==
=== Early life and family ===
Pickett was born March 18, 1941, in [[Prattville, Alabama|Prattville]], Alabama,<ref name="The Great Rock Discography">{{cite book|first=Martin C.|last=Strong|year=2000|title=The Great Rock Discography|edition=5th|publisher=Mojo Books|location=Edinburgh|pages=745–746|isbn=1-84195-017-3}}</ref> 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&nbsp;... [one time I ran away and] cried for a week. Stayed in the woods, me and my little dog."<ref name="latimes"/> Pickett eventually left to live with his father in Detroit in 1955.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thewilsonpickett.com/wilsonpickett/?page_id=829|title=Bio|publisher=Official Website|access-date=May 8, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723151256/http://thewilsonpickett.com/wilsonpickett/?page_id=829|archive-date=July 23, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Early musical career (1955–1964) ===
Pickett's forceful, passionate style of singing was developed in the church and on the streets of Detroit,<ref name="Wilson Pickett"/> under the influence of recording stars such as [[Little Richard]], whom he referred to as "the architect of rock and roll."

In 1955, Pickett joined the Violinaires, a [[gospel music|gospel]] group. The Violinaires played with another gospel group on concert tour in America. After singing for four years in the popular gospel-harmony group, Pickett, lured by the success of gospel singers who had moved to the lucrative secular music market, joined [[the Falcons]] in 1959.<ref name="Wilson Pickett"/>

By 1959, Pickett recorded the song "Let Me Be Your Boy" with [[The Supremes|the Primettes]] as background singers. The song is the B-side of his 1963 single "My Heart Belongs to You".

The [[The Falcons|Falcons]] were an early vocal group bringing gospel into a popular context, thus paving the way for soul music. The group featured notable members who became major solo artists; when Pickett joined the group, [[Eddie Floyd]] and [[Mack Rice|Sir Mack Rice]] were members. Pickett's biggest success with the Falcons was "I Found a Love", co-written by Pickett and featuring his lead vocals. While only a minor hit for the Falcons, it paved the way for Pickett to embark on a solo career. Pickett later had a solo hit with a re-recorded two-part version of the song, included on his 1967 album ''The Sound of Wilson Pickett''.

Soon after recording "I Found a Love", Pickett cut his first solo recordings, including "I'm Gonna Cry", in collaboration with [[Don Covay]]. Pickett also recorded a demo for a song he co-wrote, "[[If You Need Me]]", a slow-burning [[soul ballad]] featuring a spoken sermon. Pickett sent the demo to [[Jerry Wexler]], a producer at [[Atlantic Records]]. Wexler gave it to the label's recording artist [[Solomon Burke]], Atlantic's biggest star at the time. Burke admired Pickett's performance of the song, but his own recording of "If You Need Me" became one of his biggest hits (No. 2 R&B, No. 37 pop) and is considered a soul standard. Pickett was crushed when he discovered that Atlantic had given away his song. When Pickett—with a demo tape under his arm—returned to Wexler's studio, Wexler asked whether he was angry about this loss. He denied it, saying "It's over".{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|pp=95–96}} Pickett's version was released on Double L Records as his debut solo single and was a moderate hit, peaking at No. 30 R&B and No. 64 pop.

Pickett's first significant success as a solo artist came with "It's Too Late", an original composition (not to be confused with the [[Chuck Willis]] standard of the same name). Entering the charts on July 27, 1963, it peaked at No. 7 on the R&B chart (No. 49 pop); the same title was used for Pickett's debut album, released in the same year. Compiling several of Pickett's single releases for Double L, ''It's Too Late'' showcased a raw soulful sound that foreshadowed the singer's performances throughout the coming decade. The single's success persuaded Wexler and Atlantic to buy Pickett's recording contract from Double L in 1964.

=== Rise to stardom: "In the Midnight Hour" (1965) ===
Pickett's Atlantic career began with the self-produced single, "I'm Gonna Cry". Looking to boost Pickett's chart chances, Atlantic paired him with record producer [[Bert Berns]] and established songwriters [[Barry Mann]] and [[Cynthia Weil]]. With this team, along with arranger, conductor [[Teacho Wiltshire]]<ref>''The Bert Berns Story, Mr. Success'', Vol. 2, Ace Records, London, England, 2010, liner notes</ref> Pickett recorded "Come Home Baby", a [[duet (music)|duet]] with singer [[Tami Lynn]], but this single failed to chart.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/>

Pickett's breakthrough came at [[Stax Records]]' studio in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], Tennessee, where he recorded his third Atlantic single, "[[In the Midnight Hour]]" (1965).<ref name=pc51>{{Gilliland|https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19832/m1/|Show 51 – The Soul Reformation: Phase three, soul music at the summit. [Part 7&#93; : UNT Digital Library}}</ref> This song was Pickett's first big hit, peaking at No. 1 R&B, No. 21 pop (US), and No. 12 (UK).<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> It sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Murrells|year=1978|title=The Book of Golden Discs|edition=2nd|publisher=Barrie nd enkins Ltd|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/194 194, 210, 227 & 301]|isbn=0-214-20512-6|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/194}}</ref> It garnered Pickett his first Grammy nomination for [[Grammy Award for Best R&B Song|Best Rhythm & Blues Recording]] at the [[8th Annual Grammy Awards]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/wilson-pickett|title=Wilson Pickett|website=Recording Academy Grammy Awards}}</ref>

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, Jr.|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."<ref>Pickett, Wilson, ''The Very Best of Wilson Pickett'', Atlantic Recording Corp. and Rhino records Inc., 1993, liner notes by Kevin Phinney.</ref>

=== 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.)]]"<ref>[https://www.allmusic.com/album/in-the-midnight-hour-634-5789-mw0000424814  In the Midnight Hour/634-5789] Retrieved May 31, 2022</ref>(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 which 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 a Thousand Dances|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 [[gramophone record|disc]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs"/>

Other big hits from this era in Pickett's career included his remakes of [[Mack Rice]]'s "[[Mustang Sally (song)|Mustang Sally]]" (No. 6 R&B, No. 23 pop), and [[Dyke & the Blazers]]' "[[Funky Broadway]]", (R&B No. 1, No. 8 pop).<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> Both tracks were million sellers.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs"/> The band heard on most of Pickett's Fame recordings included keyboardist [[Spooner Oldham]], guitarist [[Jimmy Johnson (session guitarist)|Jimmy Johnson]], drummer [[Roger Hawkins (drummer)|Roger Hawkins]], and bassist [[Tommy Cogbill]].{{sfn|Guralnick|1999|p=259}}

=== Later Atlantic years (1967–1972) ===
{{quote box|quoted=1|quote='A Man and a Half' is the quintessential Pickett title from this period—he's always striving to become more than he has any reason to expect to be.|source=–''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981)<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: P|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=P&bk=70|access-date=March 10, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>|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 (song)|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 [[The Supremes|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.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs"/>

[[File:American soul singer Wilson Pickett with Pino Presti (1970).jpg|thumb|Wilson Pickett with [[Pino Presti]] during the European tour in 1970]]
Following these two hits, Pickett returned to Muscle Shoals and the band featuring David Hood, Hawkins and Tippy Armstrong. This lineup recorded Pickett's fifth and last R&B No. 1 hit, "Don't Knock My Love, Pt. 1".<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> It was another Pickett recording that rang up sales in excess of a million copies.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs"/> Two further hits followed in 1971: "Call My Name, I'll Be There" (No. 10 R&B, No. 52 pop) and "Fire and Water" (No. 2 R&B, No. 24 pop), a cover of a song by the rock group [[Free (band)|Free]].

In March 1971, Pickett headlined the [[Soul to Soul (film)|''Soul To Soul'']] concert in [[Accra]] to commemorate [[Ghana]]'s 14th [[Independence Day (Ghana)|Independence Day]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/08/19/archives/rousing-soul-to-soul.html|title=Rousing 'Soul to Soul'|last=Thompson|first=Howard|date=August 19, 1971|work=The New York Times}}</ref> He is featured on the soundtrack album, [[Soul to Soul (soundtrack)|''Soul To Soul'']], which peaked at No. 10 on the [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|''Billboard'' Soul LPs chart]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=October 30, 1971|title=Best Selling Soul LP's|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1971/Billboard%201971-10-30.pdf|magazine=Billboard|pages=33}}</ref>

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 Records|Big Tree]] division of Atlantic released his album, [[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 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 on ''Wilson Pickett in Philadelphia''), 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 No. 90 on the Hot 100. In 1975, with Pickett's once-prominent chart career on the wane, RCA dropped Pickett from the label. After being dropped, he formed the short-lived Wicked label, where he released one LP, ''Chocolate Mountain''. In 1978, he made a [[disco]] album with [[Big Tree Records]] titled ''[[Funky Situation]]'', which is a coincidence as, at that point, Big Tree was distributed by his former label, Atlantic. The following year, he released an album on [[EMI]] titled ''I Want You''.

Pickett was a popular composer, writing songs that were recorded by many artists, including [[Van Halen]], the [[the Rolling Stones|Rolling Stones]], [[Aerosmith]], the [[Grateful Dead]], [[Booker T. & the MGs]], [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]], [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]], [[Hootie & the Blowfish]], [[Echo & the Bunnymen]], [[Roxy Music]], [[Bruce Springsteen]], [[Los Lobos]], the [[The Jam|Jam]] and [[Ani DiFranco]], among others.

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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/in-the-midnight-hour-the-life-soul-of-wilson-picketttony-fletcher-2495402195.html|title=Pickett Was Wicked Good and Wicked Bad: 'In the Midnight Hour'|last=De Stefano|first=George|date=February 8, 2017|website=PopMatters|language=en}}</ref>

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 (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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blues.org/|title=Blues.org|publisher=Blues.org|access-date=February 6, 2012}}</ref> ''It's Harder Now'' was voted 'Comeback Blues Album of the Year' and 'Soul/Blues Album of the Year.'

Pickett appeared in the 1998 film ''[[Blues Brothers 2000]]'', in which he performed "634-5789" with [[Eddie Floyd]] and [[Jonny Lang]]. He was previously mentioned in the 1980 film ''[[The Blues Brothers (film)|Blues Brothers]]'', which features several members of Pickett's backing band, as well as a performance of "[[Everybody Needs Somebody to Love]]".

He co-starred in the 2002 documentary ''Only the Strong Survive,'' directed by [[D. A. Pennebaker]], a selection of both the 2002 Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. In 2003, Pickett was a judge for the second annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

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.<ref name = Leeds/> While in the hospital, he returned to his spiritual roots and told his sister that he wanted to record a gospel album, but he never recovered.

On September 10, 2014, TVOne's Unsung program aired a documentary that focused on Pickett's life and career.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/ns/wilson-pickett-obituary/16395997|title=Wilson Pickett Obituary on Legacy.com|website=Legacy.com|date=January 19, 2006 |access-date=October 27, 2017}}</ref> In 2023, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked Pickett at number 76 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=January 1, 2023|title=The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/wilson-pickett-2-1234643080/|access-date=July 5, 2023|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}</ref>