Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Land of 1000 Dances...CD of 24 Great Songs, May 12, 2000
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.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
All The Hits and Then Some, April 18, 2004
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!
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Fight It, February 7, 2000
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..
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by Wilson Pickett 
