The Exciting Wilson Pickett

The Exciting Wilson Pickett, released in 1966, was the third album by R&B and soul singer Wilson Pickett. The album charted at #3 on the U.S. Billboard R&B albums chart and #21 on the popular albums chart, becoming the highest-charting studio album of Pickett's career. The making of the album saw Pickett end his relationship with Stax Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had cut his early singles, and move to Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where he would record for the next two years. According to AllMusic, this album firmly established Picket's "stature as a major '60s soul man". The album launched four major hits for Pickett, but AllMusic emphasizes that the album cuts, "of nearly an equal level", will be of more interest to collectors.

Originally released on the Atlantic label, the album has been re-issued on CD by Rhino, Collectables and Warner Bros. Records. In 2007, a new LP edition was released by the label 4 Men with Beards.

Hit singles
The Exciting Wilson Pickett launched four crossover hit singles. "In the Midnight Hour" reached #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart and #21 on the pop singles chart. "Land of a Thousand Dances" reached #1 and #6 respectively, his biggest pop hit. "Ninety-nine and a Half (Won't Do)" reached #13 and #53. "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)", a song which Pickett had not on first hearing liked, reached #1 and #13.

Pickett later redid the song "Land of a Thousand Dances", originally a hit in 1963 for New Orleans-based composer Chris Kenner, for the soundtrack of The Great Outdoors, a 1988 film starring Dan Aykroyd and John Candy.

Track listing

 * 1) "Land of 1000 Dances" (Chris Kenner) – 2:28
 * 2) "Something You Got" (Kenner) – 2:58
 * 3) "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)" (Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd) – 3:00
 * 4) "Barefootin'" (Robert Parker) – 2:22
 * 5) "Mercy Mercy" (Don Covay, Ronald Dean Miller) – 2:30
 * 6) "You're So Fine" (Lance Finney, Willie Schofield, Robert West) – 2:38
 * 7) "In the Midnight Hour" (Cropper, Wilson Pickett) – 2:36
 * 8) "Ninety-nine and a Half (Won't Do)" (Cropper, Floyd, Pickett) – 2:44
 * 9) "Danger Zone" (Cropper, Pickett) – 2:12
 * 10) "I'm Drifting" (Homer Banks, Pickett, David Porter) – 2:54
 * 11) "It's All Over" (Cropper, Pickett) – 2:21
 * 12) "She's So Good to Me" (Bobby Womack) – 2:17


 * Tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 12 recorded May 9–11, 1966 in Muscle Shoals
 * Track 7 recorded May 12, 1965 in Memphis
 * Tracks 9, 11 recorded September 16, 1965 in Memphis
 * Tracks 3, 8, 10 recorded December 20, 1965 in Memphis

Personnel

 * Wilson Pickett – vocals
 * Albert "Junior" Lowe (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 12), Donald Dunn (tracks 3, 7–11) – bass guitar
 * Steve Cropper (tracks 3, 7–11), Jimmy Johnson (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 12), Chips Moman (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 12) Tommy Cogbill (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 12) – guitar
 * Isaac Hayes (tracks 3, 8–11), Spooner Oldham (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 12), Joe Hall (track 7) – piano
 * Roger Hawkins (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 12), Al Jackson Jr. (tracks 3, 7–11) – drums
 * Wayne Jackson, Gene "Bowlegs" Miller (tracks 9, 11) – trumpet
 * Charles "Packy" Axton (tracks 3, 7–11), Andrew Love, Charles Chalmers (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 12) – tenor saxophone
 * Floyd Newman – baritone saxophone
 * John Peck – unknown

Production

 * Haig Adishian – cover design
 * Steve Cropper – supervisor
 * Tom Dowd – engineer, supervisor
 * A. Scott Galloway – liner notes
 * Rick Hall – engineer, supervisor
 * Dan Hersch – digital remastering
 * Bill Inglot – digital remastering
 * John Peck
 * Bob Rolontz – liner notes
 * Nick Samardge – front cover photography
 * Jim Stewart – engineer, supervisor
 * Jerry Wexler – supervisor