Customer Reviews

Greatest Hits

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Wilson Pickett sang Southern soul straight from the bottom. He shouted the gospel, screamed the blues, all with a touch of aggressive, near-punk sneer. Success took long for Pickett, and every track on this hits CD caught the joy of achieving it and the pain and anger of waiting for it.

Working with R&B's finest producers (Jerry Wexler, Rick Hall, Gamble-Huff, Tom Dowd) and best sidemen (that's Duane Allman's guitar on "A Man And A Half," and an impressive "Hey Jude"), Pickett turned fast ("Land of 1000 Dances,") slow ("634-5789," "Mustang Sally,") hard ("You Keep Me Hangin' On" Staxifies the Vanilla Fudge arrangement!) soft ("I Found A True Love"), groovy ("Mama Told Me Not to Come") and even bubblegum (hear what happens to "Sugar Sugar") into Memphis/Muscle Shoals soul stew. Legendary Philadelphia DJ Hy Lit covered it when calling Pickett's music "psychedelic soulization."

The hits, some of the 60s sweatiest and intense, are all here, ironically ending at the beginning with three songs Pickett recorded with the Falcons (his hit "If You Need Me," is here, but not "You're So Fine.") His voice is powerful and raw, raising the roof, testifying about the infamous "midnight hour," but without the controlled fury he gave the rest, and best, of his music. This is R&B coming at you 90 miles an hour, three minutes at a time, and is an essential set from a soul survivor.

If you buy this album for the well known classics-"Mustang Sally", "In The Midnight Hour", "634-5789", "Land Of A 1,000 Dances" and "Funky Broadway", you will not be disappointed as they are all here. But after you've heard them all a couple of dozen times, you will find yourself going crazy over his versions of late sixties hits like "Mama Told Me Not To Come", "You Keep Me Hangin'On" and even "Sugar, Sugar", the song made popular by the cartoon group The Archies. Damn if Wilson doesn't make this as soulful and alive as "A Man and A Half" or any of his other classic soul hits. That would be more than enough for most greatest hits albums, but this one doesn't stop there. It goes back to his early success with his vocal group The Falcons for "I Found A Love" and early solo songs like "It's Too Late" and "If You Need Me". There are 24 songs on this album, and it's a single disc!! If you want liner notes and pictures, get the Rhino compilation, but if you want the strongest single disc career retrospective available, then buy this one. You'll be glad you did!

Otis Redding was the master, but if there was ever a record to define the entire Stax/Volt soul era, Wilson Pickett's classic '65 Don't Fight It/In The Midnight Hour would be the only choice. Real soul, gospel soul, straight from the baptist church.. Steve Cropper & co. redefined rhythm & blues and I-IV-V arrangements.. This record takes you to the beginning in Memphis, uncovers a few gems along the way, through Muscle Shoals, Miami, Philadelphia, back to Muscle Shoals, and back to Memphis.. 24 tracks in all, and every one of them, and I do mean every one of them, is a keeper.. One of the most playable records and greatest greatest hits packages ever made.. Atlantic outdid themselves here.. Don't waste your time with any of the other compilations, this is by far the best..

For someone who only wants one Wilson Pickett compilation, I think this is the one to go for. 'A Man And A Half - The Best Of' has maybe a bit too much for the less dedicated fan, while Rhino's 'Very Best Of' only has 16 tracks compared to the 24 featured on 'Greatest Hits'. True Pickett fanatics need this anyway - it's the only CD to contain his great reading of 'Mama Told Me Not To Come'.

Wilson Pickett had only limited success in the UK singles charts but had far more success in his native America. His first success (I found a love) was as lead singer with the Falcons, but he soon split from them to go solo. Two promising singles (It's too late, If you need me) preceded his move to Atlantic, where he recorded the classic songs for which he is best remembered.

With Atlantic, Wilson recorded In the midnight hour (his most famous song), Don't fight it, 634-5789, Land of 1,000 dances, Mustang Sally, Funky Broadway and I'm a midnight mover among other songs, all between 1965 and 1968, establishing his reputation as one of great soul singers. He enhanced that reputation with an incredible cover of Hey Jude (the Beatles classic) and had further American hits with Engine number nine, Don't let the green grass fool you and Don't knock my love. Wilson left Atlantic in 1972 but his subsequent recordings failed to make an impact.

If you are interested in sixties soul music, you should enjoy Wilson's music. This compilation, focusing on his Atlantic music but also including his three earlier tracks (the last three tracks here), contains all the essential tracks.

I am a bit embarrassed to have to admit this but I guess I never did fully appreciate the abundant talent of one Wilson Pickett while he was still among us. Like so many other kids who grew up in the 1960's I was completely captivated by the Motown sound while the real afficianados of soul music were groovin' to the sounds of James Brown and Wilson Pickett. I have owned "Wilson Pickett's Greatest Hits" for more than two decades and I doubt I ever listened to the entire 24 tracks at one time. My mistake.
After learning of the "Wicked Pickett"'s untimely death a couple of weeks ago I decided to finally sit down and listen to all 24 tracks of "Greatest Hits". I quickly began to realize what I had been missing all these years. Wilson Pickett was a consummate pro who put his heart and soul into every song he ever recorded. Wilson Pickett began his career in Detroit while a vocal group known as the Falcons. He made his very first recordings as a solo performer on the Double-L label back in 1963. Happily, two of his three charted records from those early days are included on "Greatest Hits". Great stuff!! In 1963 Pickett met guitarist/producer Steve Cropper. Most observers would agree that it was Cropper who was largely responsible for launching Wilson's highly successful solo career at Atlantic. Over the next couple of years they would collaborate on memorable tunes like "634-5789" and "Ninety Nine and One Half". Aside from Steve Cropper there were a number of other talented producers at Atlantic in those days and they all wanted a shot at working with Wilson Pickett. Jerry Wexler produced several great sides including "Funky Broadway", the remarkable "Soul Dance Number 3", "Mustang Sally" and Wilson's biggest hit of all "Land of 1000 Dances" from 1966. As the 60's became the 70's Wilson Pickett continued to release great singles. Among my favorites from that period are 1968's "I'm A Midnight Mover" and "Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You" from 1971. Wilson Pickett's contract with Atlantic expired at the end of 1972. He moved on to RCA for a brief period but was never able to recapture the magic from those early days at Atlantic. After a couple of very minor hits in 1973 he would never again hit the Hot 100.
It is hard to believe but "Wilson Pickett's Greatest Hits" was first released as a double LP way back in 1973!! In my view it remains the finest available compilation of this remarkable artist. There is nary a bad tune on this disc. As I have finally discovered after all these many years Wilson Pickett is an American original. He will be missed. This is essential stuff for any collection. Highly recommended!!!

This has some of Pickett's best songs. It's digitally re-mastered, so the music sounds clean and crisp. Great album.

this man has madd pipes.he can tourch light to any type of song.this is soul singing a lost art and talent.but this man has the juice to deliever.great songs and a powerful voice.

I grew up hearing some of his songs being covered first by the Blues Brothers and then in the movie The Commitments and always loved the songs. Recently I've been adding to my cd collection, so I had to get this cd. Wilson Pickett put his heart and soul into every song he sang, which makes it all the more compelling to listen to. If I had heard Pickett's version first, I would realize that the rest were very poor imitations indeed. There's nothing like the original they say and in this case that would definitely be correct.

A must for any collector of soul or R&B treasures. Wilson's cover of Mama Told Me Not to Come, Hey Jude and Sugar, Sugar were a pleasant surprise to me. Track 22 I Found A Love, sounds just like the 45rpm--very authentic with marginal engineering.