Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett, perhaps the most hardcore of the big Southern stars of the late sixties, passed away yesterday after suffering a heart attack. Til the other side, I suppose.
Pickett’s always been interesting to me. I read a bio online once that said he was the alternative to Otis Redding if you didn’t find Otis to be southern enough. Look, if you don’t find Otis to be southern enough, you must take your grits with pigs feet and barbecue sauce.
But that’s really the case with Wilson. He was that hardcore Southern. Invariably, that cut into his audience, but it also meant a more faithful and devoted audience. The people that love Wilson Pickett’s music love his music, jack.
Reminds me a lot of Scarface and UGK. They’re so Southern that it’s ridiculous, as Texas as anything. Their records have never moved colossal units, but they’ll be able to go gold until 2017 because the people that love them are never going anywhere.
WEll, lemme skip some steps and get to where I wanna go–I do fear a bit that we’re losing musicians that package themselves with that model. It leads to some really great music, so such a thing would be a shame.
Anyway, I figure a couple are probably a little unfamiliar with Pickett, so here’s a great example of how he could flip a record up–his incredible cover of “Hey Jude.” FYI, that’s a young Duane Allman on guitar.
And dont forget to check the Quickie after 9 Eastern.