Wilson Pickett - Funky Midnight Mover: The Atlantic Recordings (1962-1978)

Pres' fantastic Opal Nations Pickett collection spurred a request for new links on my first Wicked Pickett post. Well rather than just restore my post of the Double L album I've decided to shoot the works and give you the whole 6 disc Rhino Handmade box of all the Atlantic material including the Double L material which Jerry Wexler bought when he signed Pickett to Atlantic. It a bit of overkill but I'll let each of you pare it down as you will.

"Wilson Pickett was a force of nature, a one-man hurricane that blew everything out of his path. As he sang in one of his many Top 40 R&B singles, he was A Man and a Half, a title so fitting it served as a summary for Rhino's 1993 double-disc compilation, a collection that stood as the most exhaustive Pickett retrospective until Rhino Handmade unleashed the six-disc box Funky Midnight Mover: The Atlantic Recordings (1962-1978), a monumental testament to the sweatiest, grittiest, soul singer who ever grabbed a microphone. This set may not be billed as the "complete recordings", but it is effectively that, rounding up all the master takes Pickett cut for Atlantic during those 16 years, dipping back for a few sides by his early group the Falcons, skipping his three-year sojourn at RCA from 1972-1975, adding some rarities, but essentially serving up all his prime titles in a handsome, hardcover book."

What has been glossed over by most writers when discussing Pickett is the REAL derivation of the name Wicked Pickett or Evil Pickett. The fact is he earned the name with an extremely volatile temper and a penchant for violence and weapons. His first session at Stax was largely responsible for the split between Stax and Atlantic as Wexler was told in no uncertain terms to never bring that crazy MF into their studio again. There was an incident of Pickett and the Isley brothers getting into a gun battle in the parking lot outside a show. Most people in the industry fully expected him to be the next Little Willie John and to end up in prison for having killed someone. Pickett was a stupendous talent no doubt, a great voice and dynamic stage presence, but apparently his ego and temper made him difficult to be around and a constant disruption on a tour because everyone had to walk on eggshells around him. At one point he erupted on someone who was attempting to compliment him because they included a reference to another singer in the compliment! You won't read too many warm fuzzy memories of Wilson as a young man.

So here is the whole shebang, all the Atlantic material -- I think it could really be distilled to 2, one of the hits and maybe one of the many  covers he did so relentlessly might be interesting. you get to decide.

Wilson Pickett - It's Too Late

 Pickett was born March 18, 1941 in Prattville, Alabama, and grew up singing 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 — (one time I ran away and) cried for a week. Stayed in the woods, me and my little dog." Pickett eventually left to live with his father in Detroit in 1955.

Pickett's forceful, passionate style of singing was developed in the church and on the streets of Detroit, under the influence of recording stars such as Little Richard, whom he later referred to as "the architect of rock and roll.

In 1955, Pickett became part of a gospel music group called the Violinaires. The group accompanied The Soul Stirrers, The Swan Silvertones, and The Davis Sisters on church tours across the country. After singing for four years in the locally popular gospel-harmony group, Pickett, lured by the success of other gospel singers of the day, who left gospel music in the late 1950s for the more lucrative secular music market, joined the Falcons in 1959.

The Falcons were one of the first vocal groups to bring gospel into a popular context, thus paving the way for soul music. The Falcons also featured some notable members who went on to become major solo artists; when Pickett joined the group, Eddie Floyd and Sir Mack Rice were also members of the group. Pickett's biggest success with The Falcons came in 1962, when "I Found a Love," (co-authored by Pickett and featuring his lead vocals), peaked at #6 on the R&B chart, and at #75 on the Hot 100.

Soon after recording "I Found a Love," Pickett cut his first solo recordings, including "I'm Gonna Cry," his first collaboration with Don Covay. Around this time, Pickett also recorded a demo for a song he co-wrote, called "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 heard the demo and gave it to one of the label's own recording artists, Solomon Burke. Burke's recording of "If You Need Me" became one of his biggest hits (#2 R&B, #37 Pop) and is now considered a soul standard, but Pickett was crushed when he discovered that Atlantic had given away his song. However, when Pickett—holding a demo tape under his arm—returned to Wexler's personal studio, Wexler asked him whether he was angry about this loss, but denied it saying "It's over". "First time I ever cried in my life". Pickett's version of the song was released on Double L Records, and was a moderate hit, peaking at #30 R&B, #64 pop.

Pickett's first big 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 eventually peaked at #7 on the R&B chart (#49 Pop). This record's success convinced Wexler and Atlantic to buy Pickett's recording contract from Double L Records in 1964.