Let Us Now Praise Wilson Pickett!

[dbt]

Man, there was sure enough some sappy crap on radio in the 1960's, but two and a half minutes of THIS man could wipe out half an hour of Herman's Hermits, Harper's Bizaare and/or the Ohio Express.

He was Black as night, Bad as bullets and funkier than a towsack full of roaches! When he got onstage, it was a tent show revival and an orgy all at once. His music was thick, greasy, nasty, dangerous and stinky like a pot full of collard greens. Yum!

Whether he cut at Stax in Memphis or Fame in Muscle Shoals, his tunes swaggered and strutted. Consider:

"In The Midnight Hour" (Could John Fogerty have found the opening riff to "Proud Mary" without this song?)

"Mustang Sally" (Tell me astronaut Sally Ride's parents weren't fond of this one!)

"Funky Broadway" (The first note of the sax break in the middle sounds like Satan was blowing that horn.)

"Engine Engine Number Nine" (Put on the long version and let the bass take you to the Funk Supernova.)

He probably holds the world's record for saying "Lord have mercy" the most times on vinyl--and he may well have had the first DUI issued for somebody on a riding lawnmower.

Pick it, Wilson!!!



:loveya:
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[ClintonTyree]

1. You betcha!

As a teenager in the 60's I remember Pickett's music well. I was considered an outcast in my high school because I listened to MoTown and later on, the San Francisco sound. Everyone else was listening to the Beach Boys (who I have nothing against, they're just so whitebread) and bubble-gum music. Wilson had a very big impact on my musical upbringing. "Mustang Sally" was always in the repetoire of any house band at the time and "In the Midnight Hour" still remains one of my all time favorite hits.

[10digits]

2. I can tell you one thing.

I grew up in Cleveland. There was the greatest station in Windsor,Ont. CKLW. It had Motown,Soul,and of course all the hits. Their motto was "The big hits just keep on coming." And they did.
We could always hear it day or night.
We loved it!!!

[Kahuna]

3. All hail, The Wicked Pickett! Funky Broadway is my fav..

:7

[bbernardini]

4. While I absolutely adore Wilson Pickett...

...one can't deny the pure pop power of Herman's Hermits. They had some damn good songs back in the day. (As a matter of fact, I have a live recording of Peter Noone doing a show on the plaza at the World Trade Center in 1996 or so. Good stuff.)

[Zuni]

5. Damn straight

I love the Stax records Soul stuff. I really love Otis.

[cosmicdot]

6. as a high school teenager ... glad I got to see the wicked wilson pickett

live ... at the now defunct Virginia Beach Dome ...

[mac56]

7. He did an asskicking cover of "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies!

Check it out.

[ArkDem]

8. You been running all over town..................

Just you better slow that mustang down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MiddleRiverRefugee]

9. Somebody please mention "Land of 1000 Dances"

1-2-3!!! (crash)

1-2-3....

There, it's been mentioned.

[dbt]

10. Excellent, UBP

There were a lot of gems I purposely left out (including one that had something to do with a phone number).

:yourock:
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