January 19, 2006

Wilson Pickett was born in Prattville on March 18, 1941 and was one of 11 children who worked on the cotton farm of his sharecropper parents. In 1955, Pickett moved with his father to Detroit to escape his violent mother, and soon began his music career with a gospel quartet called the Violinaires. In the 1960s, Pickett’s voice and style found a fan in Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler, who decided to record him at Stax Records studios in Memphis. In 1965, Pickett recorded a series of singles that defined his “hard soul” sound, including “In the Midnight Hour” and “634-5789.” In 1966, Wexler wanted Pickett to record in Muscle Shoals at FAME Studios, which produced hits for him such as “Land of a Thousand Dances” and “Mustang Sally.” Pickett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Wilson Pickett and Pino Presti during The European Tour, 1970. (Gatti GP, Wikipedia)

In 1966, Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler, right, brought Alabama-born soul artist Wilson Pickett, left, to Florence Alabama Music Enterprises (FAME) Studios to record “Land of 1,000 Dances.” (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame)

Wilson Pickett (1941-2006) of Autauga County was a soul, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll sensation during the 1960s and 1970s, with many hit singles including “In the Midnight Hour.” Pickett is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1999. (Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Alabama Music Hall of Fame)

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