Jerry Wexler had a problem to solve in 1966, when Stax Records co-owner Jim Stewart decided to withdraw his invitation to Wilson Pickett to record at Stax, where he had achieved some major successes working with Booker T & the MGs. Given the growing reputation of the studios in the Muscle Shoals area and the success of Percy Sledge, Wexler approached Rick Hall at FAME Studios, who welcomed Pickett to Alabama.
Pickett was not sure about the new set-up, with a White producer and an all-White session band. Segregation was strong in Alabama too. However, he trusted Wexler and began working with Spooner Oldham, Jimmy Johnson, Roger Hawkins and Tommy Cogbill.
By the end of 1966, Pickett had added two more hits to his growing collection. The first was “Land of 1000 Dances”, released in May 1966, which went to number one on the Billboard R&B Chart, number six on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and number twenty-two on the Official UK Pop Singles Chart. The second was “Mustang Sally”, released in October, which reached number six on the R&B chart, number twenty-three on the US Pop chart and number twenty-eight on the UK Pop chart. Both singles won Pickett a gold disc from the RIAA. Pickett was convinced!
The following year saw the release of “Funky Broadway”, also recorded by Pickett at FAME Studios. The Muscle Shoals magic was still intact. The single reached the top of the R&B chart, number eight on the Pop chart and entered the top fifty of the UK Pop chart. It was another gold disc for Pickett and for FAME Studios.
Wilson Pickett 1967
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He returned to FAME in late 1968 and worked with a session band featuring Duane Allman, Jerry Jemmott and Roger Hawkins. Pickett recorded several cover versions of well-known songs from the Pop charts, including “Hey Jude” and “Hey Joe”, the first of which gave him a number sixteen hit on the UK Pop chart, with success in America too. The single reached number twenty-three on the US Pop chart and number thirteen R&B.
In 1971, Pickett came to FAME to record an album entitled “Don’t Knock My Love”. Three singles were released from the album that year, all of which sold well. The best of the three was “Don’t Knock My Love, Pt. 1”, which was awarded gold certification by the RIAA. It reached number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and achieved the number one position on the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles Chart week-ending 26th June 1971 (1 week), becoming Pickett’s fifth R&B number one. The other two singles, “Call My Name, I’ll Be There” and “Fire and Water” (originally a song recorded by the UK band Free), also entered the Pop and R&B charts. The band on these sessions included David Hood, Roger Hawkins and Tippy Armstrong.
All in all, Jerry Wexler and Wilson Pickett must have been extremely happy with the switch to Muscle Shoals. The recordings made there were amongst the best of Pickett’s career, certainly a match for the hits from Stax.
Rick Hall had equal reason to be happy, as the reputation of his studio grew, especially amongst the black R&B singers that he loved to record. There were some big names soon to follow in Pickett’s footsteps.
