Definitive - Wilson Pickett

Advantages: still soulful
Disadvantages: no hits - buy a compilation

...This cd was originally produced in 1969, maybe after Soul's heyday, but still a whole lot better than the majority of songs passed off as soulful today. Wilson "in the midnight hour" Pickett has an excellant voice conveying true emotion and really let's you know when he's hurting or yearning. The songs themselves are a mixed bag:- Hey Jude, and Born to be wild, the 2 covers on the cd suffer in that the style of the original is so strong that they don't quite feel right. The uptempo songs such as Save me, toe hold, and man and a half are yhe stanout tracks where the braggardo Mr Pickett drives these songs forward. Slower songs such as back in your arms lack the drive to make them vital Stylishly this is still pure horn driven soul, and as the majority of the songs are uptemp originals you can't help but move your feet - like the huge... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Every recording is good to totally superb!
Disadvantages: NONE!

...Aretha Franklin, daughter of a famous Pentecostel pastor, inevitably began singing in a church choir at a very early age and it was clear then that she had the gift of a deep, raw talent. Her vocal style, even as a young child, was capable of such immense power and volume. She began her musical career recording secular tracks for Columbia Records, none of which really bought her much chart recognition. Signed by John Hammond at the dawn of the 1960's, he tried invain to nurture her talent effectively. By the time of 1966, all she had released on the Columbia label was a string of minor selling hits. So in 1966 she signed a new deal with Jerry Wexler (who had enjoyed enormous success with such fantastic Soul music legends as the unforgetable Ray Charles and the divine Wilson Pickett) to Atlantic Records which finally propelled her... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Some decent rhythm and blues
Disadvantages: Film dialogue in the wrong places

.... The big names of 1960s soul music keep coming, with Eddie Floyd and Wilson Pickett performing "634-5789", which was originally a hit for Wilson Pickett, but was written by Eddie Floyd. I think they missed a trick by not including the dialogue over the intro that is in the film, but this minor concern apart, this is a great upbeat and mid-tempo soul number. It doesn't quite have the edge of some of Pickett's other song, seeming a bit smoother than "In the Midnight Hour" for example, but it's got a couple of great soul voices on it and it's a great tune and would probably be my favourite on the album, if it wasn't for the next track. From the first time I heard it, Blues Traveler's "Maybe I'm Wrong" has become one of my favourite songs ever, not just in the film and I've bought several of their albums since. Indeed, had this song been on any... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful