Without a doubt one of Wilson Pickett’s best albums, and the one that launched his career, The Exciting Wilson Pickett is loaded with some of the best cuts in soul history. It established Pickett as a premier, top-tier soul man and a major figure of the 1960’s music scene, and the personnel on this collection of tracks…God…let me name just a few: Steve Cropper, Donald “Duck” Dunn, and Al Jackson Jr. (better known as three-quarters of the backbone of soul: Booker T. and the M.G.’s), Tommy Cogbill, Roger Hawkins, Jimmy Johnson, Chips Moman, and Spooner Oldham (all-stars of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section), Charles Chalmers (saxophonist and Grammy award-winning songwriter and arranger of such hits as Aretha’s “Respect” and “Chain of Fools”, Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man”, Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” and more), Jerry Wexler (the Atlantic Records A&R man responsible for coining the term “rhythm and blues” and signing or producing acts like Led Zeppelin, Ray Charles, Aretha, and Bob Dylan), Jim Stewart (co-founder of Stax Records) and finally Tom Dowd (world famous recording engineer and producer responsible for innovating multi-track recording, inventing the fader, and capturing more classic albums than almost anyone under the sun).
Phew. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s take a closer look.
Every track on the record clocks in at under three minutes and, with thirteen tracks, this is a perfect one-stop morning mix. Fast, frenetic and just fun, each song on here is an absolute gem. There’s not a single second of lag, not a moment of temptation to hit the “seek” button, and if you’re a hits-focused person, take the hit singles “Land of 1,000 Dances” (which has the best danceable gibberish ever), “634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)”, “Ninety-nine and a Half (Won’t Do)”, and “In the Midnight Hour”: all reached the top fifty on the charts (or just missed) and all are rifled through in the first twenty minutes.
Can you do the mashed potato? Can you do the twist? How ‘bout pony like boney maroney? Regardless of how you choose to move, this record will have you moving smoothly all day long, from the first “1, 2, 3,” all the way to the very last second.
