SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SUMMER, 2019
VOLUME SEVEN NUMBER TWO
HOLLAND DOZIER HOLLAND
(L-R: Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland, Brian Holland)
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
SHIRLEY SCOTT
(June 15-21)
FREDDIE HUBBARD
(June 22-28)
BILL WITHERS
(June 29- July 5)
OUTKAST
(July 6-12)
J. J. JOHNSON
(July 13-19)
JIMMY SMITH
(July 20-26)
JACKIE WILSON
(July 27-August 2)
BUSTER WILLIAMS
(August 3-9)
KENNY BARRON
(August 10-16)
BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON
(August 17-23)
MOS DEF
(August 24-30)
BLIND BOY FULLER
(August 31-September 6)https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jackie-wilson-mn0000108826/biography
Jackie Wilson
(1934-1984)
Artist Biography by Richie Unterberger
Jackie Wilson
was one of the most important agents of black pop's transition from
R&B into soul. In terms of vocal power (especially in the upper
register), few could outdo him; he was also an electrifying on-stage
showman. He was a consistent hitmaker from the mid-'50s through the
early '70s, although never a crossover superstar. His reputation isn't
quite on par with Ray Charles, James Brown, or Sam Cooke,
however, because his records did not always reflect his artistic
genius. Indeed, there is a consensus of sorts among critics that Wilson
was something of an underachiever in the studio, due to the sometimes
inappropriately pop-based material and arrangements that he used.
Wilson was well-known on the R&B scene before he went solo in the late '50s. In 1953 he replaced Clyde McPhatter in Billy Ward & the Dominoes, one of the top R&B vocal groups of the '50s. Although McPhatter was himself a big star, Wilson was as good as or better than the man whose shoes he filled. Commercially, however, things took a downturn for the Dominoes in the Wilson years, although they did manage a Top 20 hit with "St. Therese of the Roses" in 1956. Elvis Presley was one of those who was mightily impressed by Wilson in the mid-'50s; he can be heard praising Jackie's on-stage cover of "Don't Be Cruel" in between-song banter during the Million Dollar Quartet session in late 1956.
Wilson would score his first big R&B (and small pop) hit in late 1956 with the brassy, stuttering "Reet Petite," which was co-written by an emerging Detroit songwriter named Berry Gordy Jr. Gordy would also help write a few other hits for Jackie in the late '50s, "To Be Loved," "Lonely Teardrops," "That's Why (I Love You So)," and "I'll Be Satisfied"; they also crossed over to the pop charts, "Lonely Teardrops" making the Top Ten. Most of these were upbeat, creatively arranged marriages of pop and R&B that, in retrospect, helped set the stage both for '60s soul and for Gordy's own huge pop success at Motown. The early Gordy-Wilson association has led some historians to speculate how much differently (and better) Jackie's career might have turned out had he been on Motown's roster instead of the Brunswick label.
In the early '60s, Wilson
maintained his pop stardom with regular hit singles that often used
horn arrangements and female choruses that have dated somewhat badly,
especially in comparison with the more creative work by peers such as Charles and Brown from this era. Wilson
also sometimes went into out-and-out operatic pop, as on "Danny Boy"
and one of his biggest hits, "Night" (1960). At the same time, he
remained capable of unleashing a sweaty, up-tempo, gospel-soaked number:
"Baby Workout," which fit that description to a T, was a number five
hit for him in 1963. It's true that you have to be pretty selective in
targeting the worthwhile Wilson records from this era; 1962's At the Copa, for instance, has Jackie
trying to combine soul and all-around entertainment, and not wholly
succeeding with either strategy. Yet some of his early Brunswick
material is also fine uptown soul; not quite as earthy as some of his
fans would have liked him to sound, no doubt, but worth hearing.
Wilson
was shot and seriously wounded by a female fan in 1961, though he made a
recovery. His career was more seriously endangered by his inability to
keep up with changing soul and rock trends. Not everything he did in the
mid-'60s is totally dismissible; "No Pity (In the Naked City)," for
instance, is something like West Side Story done uptown soul style. In
1966, his career was briefly revived when he teamed up with Chicago soul
producer Carl Davis, who had been instrumental in the success of Windy
City performers like Gene Chandler, Major Lance, and Jerry Butler. Davis successfully updated Wilson's
sound with horn-heavy arrangements, getting near the Top Ten with
"Whispers," and then making number six in 1967 with "Higher and Higher."
And that was really the close of Wilson's
career as either a significant artist or commercial force, although he
had some minor chart entries through the early '70s.
While playing a Dick Clark oldies show at the Latin Casino in New Jersey in September 1975, Wilson suffered an on-stage heart attack while singing "Lonely Teardrops." He lapsed into a coma, suffering major brain damage, and was hospitalized until his death in early 1984.
https://www.history-of-rock.com/jackie_wilson.htm
Jackie "Sonny" Wilson was born June 9,1934 in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in Highland Park, Michigan. The only child of Jack and Eliza Mae (nee Ranson) Wilson from Columbus, Mississippi, Wilson's father was an alcoholic and generally unemployed. Eliza Mae who had lost two earlier children doted on Wilson and was a powerful influence on his life.
Wilson began singing at an early age. In his early teens Jackie formed a quartet, the Ever Ready Gospel Singers Group, which became a popular feature of churches in the area. Jackie wasn't religious, he just loved to sing and the cash came in handy for the cheap wine which he drank from the age of nine.
Growing up in North End, a rough section of Detroit, Wilson was an habitual truant, belonged to a gang called the Shakers, and was continuously in and out of trouble. Twice he was sent to detention in the Lansing Correctional Institute. It was there that he learned how to box. Wilson dropped out of the school in the ninth grade, in 1950 at 16.
At sixteen Wilson became a Golden Gloves welterweight boxing champion in Detroit.
In February 1951 Wilson married Freda Hood, whom he had known since he was ten, after she had become pregnant. It was the first of her 15 pregnancies. A daughter was born the next month. At this time he was singing in a group that consisted of Levi Stubbs, Sonny Woods and Lawson Smith. They only knew a few songs, but were welcome additions at house parties where they split the five dollars they were paid to perform.
Jackie trusted Nat Tarnopol implicitly and foolishly signed over power-of-attorney to him. Deciding that Wilson should not limit himself to singing rock and roll, Tarnopol had veteran band leader and Decca arranger Dick Jacobs produce most of Jackie's recordings from 1957 through 1966. Jacobs knew Jackie could sing and reveled in all styles, so he combined him with huge orchestral accompaniments.
Wilson married Harris in May 1967
Nat Tarnapol is pictured far left
September 1970 Wilson's oldest son, 16-year-old Jackie Jr., was shot and killed
during a confrontation on the porch of a Detroit neighbors' home.
On the night of September 29, 1975 while performing at the Latin Casino near Cherry Hill, New Jersey Wilson was stricken with a massive heart attack. One of the first to reach Jackie was Cornell Gunter of the Coasters group who immediately noticed he wasn't breathing. Gunter applied resuscitation and got him breathing again. An ambulance quickly got him to the nearby hospital where he remained in a coma for over three months.
Jackie gradually improved to the stage of semi-coma state, but obviously he had suffered severe brain damage and, at 41, a tremendous career was ended. Although he never uttered another word, he remained clinging to life for a further eight and a quarter years. He remained hospitalized until his death on January 21, 1984, at the age of forty-nine.
Jackie Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
https://aaregistry.org/story/jackie-wilson-was-mr-excitement/
Born: 6-9-1934
*On this date in 1934, Jackie Wilson was born. He was an African American soul singer.
Born Jack Leroy Wilson in Detroit, Michigan, he was well known in the R&B arena in his early years. In 1953 he replaced Clyde McPhatter in the group Billy Ward & the Dominoes, one of the top R&B vocal groups of the '50s. Wilson had his first big R&B hit in late 1956 with Reet Petite, which was co-written by Detroit songwriter Berry Gordy, Jr. Gordy would also help write a few other hits for Wilson in the late '50s, To Be Loved, Lonely Teardrops, That's Why (I Love You So), and I'll Be Satisfied.
In the early '60s, Wilson maintained his pop stardom with regular hit singles that often used horn arrangements and female choruses. He also went into out-and-out operatic pop, on song such as Danny Boy and one of his biggest hits, Night (1960). Also during this time, he released Baby Workout, which was a #5 hit for him in 1963. Wilson was shot and seriously wounded by a female fan in 1961, though he made a recovery. His resume in the mid-'60s also included No Pity (In the Naked City).
In 1966, his career moved forward when he teamed up with producer Carl Davis, who successfully updated his sound with horn-heavy arrangements, getting near the Top Ten with Whispers, and then making #6 in 1967 with Higher and Higher. While playing a Dick Clark oldies show at the Latin Casino in New Jersey in September 1975, Wilson suffered an on stage heart attack while singing Lonely Teardrops. He lapsed into a coma, suffering major brain damage, and was hospitalized until his death on Jan 21, 1984 in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
Jackie Wilson was one of the most important performers of the transition from rhythm & blues into soul.
Reference:
Heart & Soul
A Celebration of Black Music Style in America 1930-1975
by Merlis Davin Seay, Forward by Etta james
Copyright 2002, Billboard Books
ISBN 0-8230-8314-4
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125019270
Wilson was well-known on the R&B scene before he went solo in the late '50s. In 1953 he replaced Clyde McPhatter in Billy Ward & the Dominoes, one of the top R&B vocal groups of the '50s. Although McPhatter was himself a big star, Wilson was as good as or better than the man whose shoes he filled. Commercially, however, things took a downturn for the Dominoes in the Wilson years, although they did manage a Top 20 hit with "St. Therese of the Roses" in 1956. Elvis Presley was one of those who was mightily impressed by Wilson in the mid-'50s; he can be heard praising Jackie's on-stage cover of "Don't Be Cruel" in between-song banter during the Million Dollar Quartet session in late 1956.
Wilson would score his first big R&B (and small pop) hit in late 1956 with the brassy, stuttering "Reet Petite," which was co-written by an emerging Detroit songwriter named Berry Gordy Jr. Gordy would also help write a few other hits for Jackie in the late '50s, "To Be Loved," "Lonely Teardrops," "That's Why (I Love You So)," and "I'll Be Satisfied"; they also crossed over to the pop charts, "Lonely Teardrops" making the Top Ten. Most of these were upbeat, creatively arranged marriages of pop and R&B that, in retrospect, helped set the stage both for '60s soul and for Gordy's own huge pop success at Motown. The early Gordy-Wilson association has led some historians to speculate how much differently (and better) Jackie's career might have turned out had he been on Motown's roster instead of the Brunswick label.
While playing a Dick Clark oldies show at the Latin Casino in New Jersey in September 1975, Wilson suffered an on-stage heart attack while singing "Lonely Teardrops." He lapsed into a coma, suffering major brain damage, and was hospitalized until his death in early 1984.
https://www.history-of-rock.com/jackie_wilson.htm
Jackie Wilson (1934-1984)
Jackie Wilson became one of the first R&B vocalists to enjoy success
in the early rock and roll era and became to be regarded as one of the first great soul
singers.
Jackie "Sonny" Wilson was born June 9,1934 in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in Highland Park, Michigan. The only child of Jack and Eliza Mae (nee Ranson) Wilson from Columbus, Mississippi, Wilson's father was an alcoholic and generally unemployed. Eliza Mae who had lost two earlier children doted on Wilson and was a powerful influence on his life.
Wilson began singing at an early age. In his early teens Jackie formed a quartet, the Ever Ready Gospel Singers Group, which became a popular feature of churches in the area. Jackie wasn't religious, he just loved to sing and the cash came in handy for the cheap wine which he drank from the age of nine.
Growing up in North End, a rough section of Detroit, Wilson was an habitual truant, belonged to a gang called the Shakers, and was continuously in and out of trouble. Twice he was sent to detention in the Lansing Correctional Institute. It was there that he learned how to box. Wilson dropped out of the school in the ninth grade, in 1950 at 16.
At sixteen Wilson became a Golden Gloves welterweight boxing champion in Detroit.
In February 1951 Wilson married Freda Hood, whom he had known since he was ten, after she had become pregnant. It was the first of her 15 pregnancies. A daughter was born the next month. At this time he was singing in a group that consisted of Levi Stubbs, Sonny Woods and Lawson Smith. They only knew a few songs, but were welcome additions at house parties where they split the five dollars they were paid to perform.
Billy Ward and the Dominoes
Jackie Wilson on the far right
After dropping out of high school in the ninth grade, Wilson began
performing at local clubs. He was discovered at a talent show by Johnny Otis in 1951.
Wilson sang with the Thrillers before they changed their name to the Royals, an R&B
quartet. Before Wilson could become a full fledged member of the group they signed with King Records and left him behind. He the briefly recorded with
Dizzy Gillespie's Dee Gee label ("Danny Boy" 1952) before he successfully
audition for Billy Ward's Dominoes in 1953. He eventually replaced Clyde McPhatter when
McPhatter left the group to form the Drifters. The Dominoes
first release with Wilson, "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down," became a near
R&B hit and was soon followed by the R&B hit "Rags to Riches." Wilson
was lead singer on the Dominoes first pop hit, "St. Therese of the Roses" in
1956.
Standing Al Green |
Wilson, Nat Tarnopol and Alan Freed |
In 1957 Wilson left the Dominoes for a solo career. Al Green, a music
publisher and manager, who already managed singers Johnnie Ray, Della Reese and LaVern
Baker, took over as Wilson's manager. Green went to New York, met Decca Records' Bob
Theile, and secured Wilson a contract with Decca's Brunswick label. The day before
the deal was to be signed, Al Green died. Upon Green's death , Nat Tarnopol, a Green
business associate, became Wilson's manager.
Signing with Brunswick Records, Wilson soon had a minor hit with
"Reet Petite," co-written with Berry Gordy, Jr
and Roquel "Billy" Davis. Gordy/Davis also co-wrote Wilson's major pop and
R&B smash hits "To Be Loved," "That's Why," and "I'll Be
Satisfied," and his top R&B and pop hit classic "Lonely Teardrops."
Wilson appeared in the film Go, Johnny, Go singing "You Better Know
It."
The initial success Wilson had with the song writing team of Davis/Gordy
ended due to disagreements between them and Tarnopol over inadequate payment. Tarnopol
felt confident he could do without them, despite the remarkable success the team had, and
refused to pay what they felt was owed them. Without knowing it, Tarnopol did Davis and
Gordy a favor, as both went on to have successful careers.
Berry Gordy used his royalties on the nine hits he'd co-written for Jackie to establish his Hitsville USA Studios - destined to become the enormous Motown recording label. Davis joined Chess Records in Chicago as A&R manager, song writer and producer, achieving success for himself and other black acts.
Berry Gordy used his royalties on the nine hits he'd co-written for Jackie to establish his Hitsville USA Studios - destined to become the enormous Motown recording label. Davis joined Chess Records in Chicago as A&R manager, song writer and producer, achieving success for himself and other black acts.
Jackie trusted Nat Tarnopol implicitly and foolishly signed over power-of-attorney to him. Deciding that Wilson should not limit himself to singing rock and roll, Tarnopol had veteran band leader and Decca arranger Dick Jacobs produce most of Jackie's recordings from 1957 through 1966. Jacobs knew Jackie could sing and reveled in all styles, so he combined him with huge orchestral accompaniments.
Jackie Wilson at the Apollo Theatre
Performing engagements at major Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York
nightclubs and recording a variety of material, including bland pop material and classical
adaptations such as "Night," "Alone at Last," and "My Empty
Arms," Wilson suffered through intrusive arrangements and critical neglect in the
early '60s. Nonetheless, he scored four two sided crossover hits in 1960-1961 with
"Night"/"Doggin' Around," "All My Love"/"A Woman, a
Lover, a Friend," "Alone at Last"/ "Am I the Man," and "My
Empty Arms"/"The Tear of the Year." "Night" was a pop smash,
while "Alone at Last" and "My Empty Arms," were near pop smashes.
"Doggin' Around" and "A Woman, a Lover, a Friend" were top R&B
hits. Later in 1961 Wilson had major pop and R&B hits with "Please Tell Me
Why" and "I'm Comin' Back to You," followed by moderate pop hit with
"Years from Now" and "The Greatest Hurt." He subsequently formed a
songwriting partnership with Alonzo Tucker that yielded a top R&B and smash pop hit
with "Baby Workout" in 1961. Later R&B and pop hits included "Shake a
Hand" and "Shake! Shake! Shake!"
Wilson married Harris in May 1967
Nat Tarnapol is pictured far left
By 1961 Jackie was involved with Harlean Harris, a former girlfriend of Sam Cooke and a Ebony magazine fashion model while at the same
time having a relationship with a Juanita Jones.
 Juanita Jones identifying gun which she shot Wilson |
Leaving the hospital after being shot with mother Eliza
Wilson, Jackie and wife Freda |
February 15, 1961, Jones shot Wilson twice as he returned with Harris
to his Manhattan
apartment.
apartment.
Despite his wounds, Wilson made it downstairs where he
was taken to the Roosevelt Hospital. Life saving surgery was performed followed by weeks
of medical care. Wilson lost a kidney and would carry the bullet that was to close to his
spine to be removed, around for the rest of his life.
A month and a half later Jackie was discharged and, apart from a limp and discomfort for a
while, he was quickly on the mend. He discovered that despite being at the peak of
success, he was 
broke.
broke.
Around this time the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seized Jackie's Detroit family
home. Tarnopol and his accountant were supposed to take care of such matters. At the time
Jackie had declared annual earnings of $263,000, while the average salary a man earned
then was just $5,000 a year. Yet the fact was he was nearly broke. Fortunately Jackie made
arrangements with the IRS to make restitution on the unpaid taxes and to re-purchase the
family home at auction.
However, Freda's patience had finally run out due to Jackie's notorious philandering and she filed for divorce. Jackie didn't contest it and so their thirteen year marriage was annulled in 1965. Freda was granted the house, $10,000 and a modest $50-per-week for each of their four children. For the rest of her life Freda regretted seeking the divorce and, moreover, Jackie still treated her as though she was still his wife.
In March 1967 Jackie and his friend and drummer, Jimmy Smith, were arrested in South
Carolina on morals charges. Both were arrested in a motel with two 24-year-old white
women. Lurid details of the case appeared in the newspapers. Tarnopol decided that to
restore Jackie's public image, a marriage to long-time girlfriend Harlean had to be held.
The civil ceremony was held the next month. Jackie had been going with Harlean from at
least 1960 and they'd had a son in 1963. Jackie and Smith were only fined a few hundred
dollars and the "morals charges" were soon forgotten.However, Freda's patience had finally run out due to Jackie's notorious philandering and she filed for divorce. Jackie didn't contest it and so their thirteen year marriage was annulled in 1965. Freda was granted the house, $10,000 and a modest $50-per-week for each of their four children. For the rest of her life Freda regretted seeking the divorce and, moreover, Jackie still treated her as though she was still his wife.
LaVern Baker and Jackie Wilson
Although he continued to have hits over the next three years, Wilson
didn't have another major pop and smash R&B hit until he began recording in Chicago
with producer Carl Davis. Under Davis, Wilson staged a dramatic comeback with
"Whispers (Getting Louder)," and the classic "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me)
Higher and Higher," a top R&B and smash pop hit, and "I Get the Sweetest
Feeling." Wilson recorded with Count Basie in 1968 and managed his last near
smash R&B and moderate pop hit with "This Love is Real" in the late '70s. He
was subsequently relegated to the oldies revival circuit, despite having continued R&B
hits.
On the night of September 29, 1975 while performing at the Latin Casino near Cherry Hill, New Jersey Wilson was stricken with a massive heart attack. One of the first to reach Jackie was Cornell Gunter of the Coasters group who immediately noticed he wasn't breathing. Gunter applied resuscitation and got him breathing again. An ambulance quickly got him to the nearby hospital where he remained in a coma for over three months.
Jackie gradually improved to the stage of semi-coma state, but obviously he had suffered severe brain damage and, at 41, a tremendous career was ended. Although he never uttered another word, he remained clinging to life for a further eight and a quarter years. He remained hospitalized until his death on January 21, 1984, at the age of forty-nine.
Jackie Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
https://aaregistry.org/story/jackie-wilson-was-mr-excitement/
Born: 6-9-1934
Jackie Wilson was Mr. Excitement
Jackie Wilson
*On this date in 1934, Jackie Wilson was born. He was an African American soul singer.
Born Jack Leroy Wilson in Detroit, Michigan, he was well known in the R&B arena in his early years. In 1953 he replaced Clyde McPhatter in the group Billy Ward & the Dominoes, one of the top R&B vocal groups of the '50s. Wilson had his first big R&B hit in late 1956 with Reet Petite, which was co-written by Detroit songwriter Berry Gordy, Jr. Gordy would also help write a few other hits for Wilson in the late '50s, To Be Loved, Lonely Teardrops, That's Why (I Love You So), and I'll Be Satisfied.
In the early '60s, Wilson maintained his pop stardom with regular hit singles that often used horn arrangements and female choruses. He also went into out-and-out operatic pop, on song such as Danny Boy and one of his biggest hits, Night (1960). Also during this time, he released Baby Workout, which was a #5 hit for him in 1963. Wilson was shot and seriously wounded by a female fan in 1961, though he made a recovery. His resume in the mid-'60s also included No Pity (In the Naked City).
In 1966, his career moved forward when he teamed up with producer Carl Davis, who successfully updated his sound with horn-heavy arrangements, getting near the Top Ten with Whispers, and then making #6 in 1967 with Higher and Higher. While playing a Dick Clark oldies show at the Latin Casino in New Jersey in September 1975, Wilson suffered an on stage heart attack while singing Lonely Teardrops. He lapsed into a coma, suffering major brain damage, and was hospitalized until his death on Jan 21, 1984 in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
Jackie Wilson was one of the most important performers of the transition from rhythm & blues into soul.
Reference:
Heart & Soul
A Celebration of Black Music Style in America 1930-1975
by Merlis Davin Seay, Forward by Etta james
Copyright 2002, Billboard Books
ISBN 0-8230-8314-4
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125019270
Jackie Wilson: The Singer And The Showman
Jackie Wilson inspired singers ranging from Elvis Presley to Michael Jackson. Tom Copi / Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
HEAR THE MUSIC: <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/125019270/125030035" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"></iframe>
Danny Boy [Version 2]
Lonely Teardrops
You could, if you were so inclined, sort the top pop singers into
two groups. There's the fairly small club of singers who consistently
produce hits. And then there's an even smaller elite, the singers that
the other singers look up to. Jackie Wilson was one of those: a singer's singer.The Jackie Wilson most people know is the chart-topping performer of 1967's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me ) Higher and Higher." But that only hints at the vocal power and onstage presence that inspired a succession of other influential musicians. In 1972, Van Morrison recorded what may be the most exuberant tune he's ever written, "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)."
A Wild Man Onstage
If Morrison was influenced by Wilson's records, the older performer's shows were something else. You just had to see one. The late Philly soul singer Teddy Pendergrass did when he was a kid. In 2001, Pendergrass told WHYY's Fresh Air how Wilson lay down and rolled himself off the edge of the stage onto the floor. "And to see the ladies run through the guardrails and ... and just lay on top of him and appear to make mad passionate love to him in the middle of the floor, at whatever time it was that morning. My jaws dropped. I said, 'My God!' " Pendergrass recalled.
An Early Start
Jackie Wilson had wanted to be a boxer, and when his parents said "No," he turned to singing in Detroit clubs. Wilson was a teenager when he replaced Clyde McPhatter (who went on to form the Drifters) singing lead for Billy Ward & the Dominoes. Elvis Presley remembered seeing the R&B group in 1956. "Billy Ward and his Dominoes. There was a guy out there, doing a takeoff on me: 'Don't Be Cruel,' " Presley recalled on the recording The Million Dollar Session — a legendary jam that brought together Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. "I went back four nights straight and heard that guy do that," Presley recalled. "He'd shake his head and [sing], 'I don't-uh want no other love. Baby it's-uh just you I'm-uh thinkin' of.' He'd [sing] 'Mmmmm! Well then-uh don't stop-uh think-ih-in' of meh!' Shhh Man he sung the hell outta the song. Man I was on the table lookin' at him. Git him off! Git him off!" In January of '57, Presley took Wilson's treatment of "Don't Be Cruel" onto The Ed Sullivan Show.
A Rough Life
Away from the bandstand, Wilson's life wasn't so good — alcohol, drugs, a broken marriage, a teenage son killed in a neighborhood shooting and a brush with death from a jealous woman with a gun. All of this is in The Jackie Wilson Story (My Heart Is Crying, Crying) — a play that was written by Jackie Taylor, the director of the Black Ensemble Theater in Chicago.
"[The play] told about the womanizing, and the drugs, and the difficulties that he had," Taylor says. "But it also talked about the heights that Jackie Wilson was able to achieve. What he did in changing the sound and feel of music." And he may have changed it more than his fans wanted. Wilson cut a great, bluesy rendition of "Danny Boy" in 1965. It didn't sell. Ditto for a tribute album to vaudeville singer Al Jolson.
And there's this: "He loved opera," says playwright Taylor. "But it was hard enough just being a black singer, let alone being a black opera singer." That love came through in "The Night," a 1960 hit that reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wilson cracked the pop Top 10 just six times. But on the R&B charts, 15 of Wilson's records were Top 10 hits.
The late Michael Jackson was a fan. In 1984, when Jackson collected seven Grammy Awards for his album Thriller, he stopped the applause to pay tribute to Wilson. "Some people are entertainers and some people are great entertainers," Jackson said from the stage. "Some people are followers and some people make the path and are pioneers. I'd like to say that Jackie Wilson was a wonderful entertainer." Wilson had died just five weeks earlier — on January 21 — after almost nine years in a coma. In 1975, as he was singing "Lonely Teardrops" in an oldies revue, he'd had a heart attack onstage.
A lot of Wilson's records may not have aged all that well, but something like "I Just Can't Help It" from 1962? Listening to that one, you can just see Jackie Wilson. He's down at the edge of the stage, reaching out, his vocals locked in with the rhythm section. Maybe he'll roll off into the audience, so the women can run to help him.
https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/jackie-wilson
https://www.michiganrockandrolllegends.com/mrrl-hall-of-fame/76-jackie-wilson
Michigan Rock and Roll Legends
moves, his versatile singing voice allowed him to perform in a wide variety of musical styles.
Jackie was born on the tough north side of Detroit in 1934. Because his father was an alcoholic who was rarely at home, his mother Eliza raised Wilson. She was a major influence on the life on her only child. Jackie started singing both gospel and the blues on Detroit streets at a young age.
Blessed with a natural ability to sing in perfect key, Jackie formed a gospel quartet called the Ever Ready Gospel Singers in his early teens that performed at churches in his neighborhood. Wilson didn’t sing gospel because of any religious fervor. He just loved to sing and it also provided him with money for early experiments with alcohol.
During this time, Wilson was involved in a Detroit gang called the Shakers. Jackie’s singing talent provided prestige for the gang, and they provided Wilson with protection when he performed in neighborhoods controlled by rival gangs. This gang involvement, along with Jackie’s disinterest in school, resulted in Wilson constantly being truant and getting in enough trouble to be sent to the Lansing Correctional Facility on two different occasions. It was there that Jackie learned how to box. He put his skills to work in the Golden Gloves program and became a Detroit boxing champion.
By 1951, Jackie had turned sixteen and dropped out of school. That same year
he married his sweetheart, Freda Hood, who gave birth to their daughter
the following month. Jackie had been performing in a local black
nightclub using false identification for over a year and now became a
full-time entertainer.
Family life was a struggle, however, and Jackie briefly worked in a Ford plant to help make ends meet. Wilson also started singing in a group that featured Levi Stubbs, who would soon join the Four Tops, and Sonny Woods who would go on to form the Royals, who eventually turned into Hank Ballard and The Midnighters.
Jackie’s big break came when he auditioned for Billy Ward and His Dominoes in Detroit. Just months after joining the popular black group, Jackie replaced Clyde McPhatter as the quintet's lead singer when McPhatter left to form the Drifters. Jackie sang the lead vocal on “St. Therese Of The Roses” which became Billy Ward and His Dominoes’ first hit on the pop charts in 1956.
In 1957, Wilson went solo and signed with Brunswick Records. Fellow Detroiters Berry Gordy Jr. and Roquel “Billy” Davis were aspiring songwriters who had met Jackie at a popular Detroit night spot called the Flame Show Bar. The pair wrote Jackie’s first record for Brunswick, “Reet Petite”, and it became Wilson’s first solo hit. Gordy and Davis also wrote Jackie’s next four Top 40 singles: “To Be Loved”, “That’s Why”, “I’ll Be Satisfied”, and his first Top Ten hit, “Lonely Teardrops”.
Unfortunately, Berry Gordy Jr. had a disagreement at this time with Jackie’s manager over money Gordy felt was owed him, and the successful partnership was ended. Gordy put his experiences with Wilson and the music business to good use when he established Motown Records in 1959. Davis went onto success at Chess Records.
Despite losing his most successful songwriting team, Wilson had become a major star through both television appearances and almost non-stop touring. Jackie made his film debut in the Alan Freed rock and roll movie, Go Johnny Go, with Chuck Berry and Jimmy Clanton in 1959. Jackie’s next hit single, “You Better Know It”, was performed in the film.
1960 was a very big year for Jackie. He charted no less than seven consecutive Top 40 hits that year including three double-sided hit singles. Although he produced some classic songs such as the incredible “Doggin’ Around”, many of Jackie Wilson’s biggest-selling recordings during this time including “Night”, “Alone At Last”, and “My Empty Arms”, were classical music adaptations that didn’t really take advantage of his great natural talent.
Jackie also released his first greatest hits collection, “My
Golden Favorites”, that contained seven songs co-written by Berry Gordy Jr. among his outstanding early singles. The follow-up album, “A Woman, A Lover, A Friend”, from
this period pales in comparison to his earlier hits with song
arrangements drenched in strings and soulless female choruses.
Jackie charted ten more songs in 1961, but only the uptempo “I’m Coming Back To You” matched Wilson’s powerful performing style. It was also the year that Jackie had a close brush with death.
Although still married, Wilson was involved with both a model named Harleen Harris and another young woman named Juanita Jones. Jackie was shot twice by Jones who was waiting to ambush him with a revolver when he returned to his apartment with Harris. Despite being seriously wounded, Wilson managed to take the gun away from Jones and get downstairs into the street where a police officer raced him to a nearby hospital. Jackie’s life was saved through surgery, but he lost a kidney as a result of the shooting.
In order to protect Jackie’s image, his management concocted a story that a crazed fan had attempted suicide and Jackie had been accidentally shot while trying to save her. After many weeks of recovery, Jackie was back in the studio and on the road. His recordings, however, were suffering from a general lack of quality material and his only Top 40 hit of 1962 was “The Greatest Hurt”.
Jackie also discovered that despite all his success, he was broke. Apparently Wilson’s management, booking company, and his accountants all had ties to the Mob. Not only was his money missing, but he was also in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid taxes. The I.R.S. went as far as to seize Jackie’s family home in Detroit. This, along with Jackie’s continued womanizing, resulted in his wife Freda filing for divorce.
Despite his financial and family woes, Jackie enjoyed his biggest hit single in years with the 1963 release of “Baby Workout”. On the strength of the single Wilson was able to reach the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts for the first and only time in his career with his “Baby Workout” L.P.
These hits enabled him to secure arrangements to make restitution to the I.R.S. on his unpaid taxes and repurchase his Detroit home at auction. “Baby Workout”, however, would be Jackie's last big single for three and a half years. Wilson was like many popular artists of the 50’s and early 60’s who saw their record sales decline in the wake of the musical revolution brought about by the Beatles.
Although he kept up a steady stream of road tours and was a popular guest on televised music shows like Shindig, Jackie did not score another hit single until he changed music producers and started to record in Chicago with Carl Davis. The new team produced its first big hit with “Whispers (Gettin’ Louder)” in 1966.
Eight months later in1967, Jackie continued his impressive comeback with his first Top Ten hit in four years, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher”. The song was probably Wilson’s all-time greatest recording, and its irresistible dance groove was provided by Motown’s fabulous house band, the Funk Brothers.
Unfortunately, Jackie’s success coincided with an increase in his drinking as well as his use of cocaine and amphetamines. He was unhappy with his record company and his management, and as a result the next four years were a very dark period for him. The titles of his last two Top 40 hits, “Since You Showed Me How To Be Happy” and "I Get The Sweetest Feeling", couldn’t have been further from the truth. It took a family tragedy, the shooting death of his 16 year-old son, to jolt Wilson into successfully entering a drug abuse program. Despite being a popular live act, the hits had dried up at this point in his career. Jackie’s last charting single was 1972’s “You Got Me Walking”.
By 1975, Jackie Wilson was performing on the “oldies” circuit. While singing his big hit “Lonely Teardrops” with the Dick Clark revue in New Jersey, Jackie suffered a massive heart attack. One of the first to reach him was Cornell Gunter of the Coasters who noticed Jackie wasn’t breathing. Gunter applied resuscitation and probably saved his life, but Wilson was in a coma in the hospital for the next three months.
Jackie had also suffered severe brain damage as a result of his head hitting the stage when he collapsed. Although he partially recovered, his great career was over. Jackie could not speak, and his communication for the next eight years, until his death at age forty-nine, was limited to the blinking of his eyes.
After years of litigation that had tied up his assets and negatively affected the care he was given, Jackie Wilson died in one of the nursing homes where he had lived since the heart attack and head injury. Jackie suffered one more indignity as a result of the battle over his estate when he was buried in an unmarked grave in Detroit.
In recent years, a fund that was developed by music industry friends and Jackie’s fans helped purchase a fitting memorial marker for him at the West Lawn Cemetery in Detroit. He is buried next to his mother, Eliza Mae Wilson, who died in 1975 after she had traveled from Detroit to New Jersey to see him in the hospital.
Jackie Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He was voted into Michigan Rock and Roll Legends in 2005. In 2008, Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher" was voted in as one of Michigan's Legendary Songs. In 2011, "Lonely Teardrops" was also voted a Legendary Michigan song.
“The Very Best Of Jackie Wilson”.Brunswick/Ace CD. This is the collection you want if you’re looking for the hits. It contains 24 of Jackie’s best and most popular singles.
Jackie Wilson had wanted to be a boxer, and when his parents said "No," he turned to singing in Detroit clubs. Wilson was a teenager when he replaced Clyde McPhatter (who went on to form the Drifters) singing lead for Billy Ward & the Dominoes. Elvis Presley remembered seeing the R&B group in 1956. "Billy Ward and his Dominoes. There was a guy out there, doing a takeoff on me: 'Don't Be Cruel,' " Presley recalled on the recording The Million Dollar Session — a legendary jam that brought together Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. "I went back four nights straight and heard that guy do that," Presley recalled. "He'd shake his head and [sing], 'I don't-uh want no other love. Baby it's-uh just you I'm-uh thinkin' of.' He'd [sing] 'Mmmmm! Well then-uh don't stop-uh think-ih-in' of meh!' Shhh Man he sung the hell outta the song. Man I was on the table lookin' at him. Git him off! Git him off!" In January of '57, Presley took Wilson's treatment of "Don't Be Cruel" onto The Ed Sullivan Show.
A Rough Life
Away from the bandstand, Wilson's life wasn't so good — alcohol, drugs, a broken marriage, a teenage son killed in a neighborhood shooting and a brush with death from a jealous woman with a gun. All of this is in The Jackie Wilson Story (My Heart Is Crying, Crying) — a play that was written by Jackie Taylor, the director of the Black Ensemble Theater in Chicago.
"[The play] told about the womanizing, and the drugs, and the difficulties that he had," Taylor says. "But it also talked about the heights that Jackie Wilson was able to achieve. What he did in changing the sound and feel of music." And he may have changed it more than his fans wanted. Wilson cut a great, bluesy rendition of "Danny Boy" in 1965. It didn't sell. Ditto for a tribute album to vaudeville singer Al Jolson.
And there's this: "He loved opera," says playwright Taylor. "But it was hard enough just being a black singer, let alone being a black opera singer." That love came through in "The Night," a 1960 hit that reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wilson cracked the pop Top 10 just six times. But on the R&B charts, 15 of Wilson's records were Top 10 hits.
The late Michael Jackson was a fan. In 1984, when Jackson collected seven Grammy Awards for his album Thriller, he stopped the applause to pay tribute to Wilson. "Some people are entertainers and some people are great entertainers," Jackson said from the stage. "Some people are followers and some people make the path and are pioneers. I'd like to say that Jackie Wilson was a wonderful entertainer." Wilson had died just five weeks earlier — on January 21 — after almost nine years in a coma. In 1975, as he was singing "Lonely Teardrops" in an oldies revue, he'd had a heart attack onstage.
A lot of Wilson's records may not have aged all that well, but something like "I Just Can't Help It" from 1962? Listening to that one, you can just see Jackie Wilson. He's down at the edge of the stage, reaching out, his vocals locked in with the rhythm section. Maybe he'll roll off into the audience, so the women can run to help him.
https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/jackie-wilson
ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME
Jackie Wilson
1987
Category: Performers
Call him what you will—Mr. Excitement, the black Elvis—Jackie Wilson can’t be put into words.
Jackie Wilson’s athleticism, energy and raw sexual magnetism whipped audiences into a frenzy. He could deliver a pitch-perfect performance all while spinning, jumping and dropping to a split.
Jackie Wilson’s athleticism, energy and raw sexual magnetism whipped audiences into a frenzy. He could deliver a pitch-perfect performance all while spinning, jumping and dropping to a split.
Biography
They called him “Mr. Excitement,” and indeed
Jackie Wilson was a gifted singer of considerable range and a
charismatic showman who commanded a stage like few before or since.
Wilson possessed a natural tenor. He sang with the graceful control of Sam Cooke and moved with the frenzied dynamism of James Brown. With all this flair and finesse at his disposal, Wilson routinely drove audiences to the brink of hysteria. A mainstay of the R&B and pop charts from 1958 to 1968, Wilson amassed two dozen Top Forty singles, all released on the Brunswick label.
On record, he was often saddled with grandiose arrangements and dated material, but he transcended even the most bathetic settings with the tremulous excitement of his vocals. Although he was over-recorded, averaging two albums a year from 1959 to 1974, there are some genuinely noteworthy albums in his catalog, including Lonely Teardrops (1959), Jackie Sings the Blues (1960), Soul Time (1965) and Higher and Higher (1967).
The Detroit-born Wilson turned to R&B after stints as a gospel singer and amateur boxer. (He won the American Amateur Golden Gloves Welterweight boxing title.) Wilson joined Billy Ward and His Dominoes as lead singer in 1953, replacing Clyde McPhatter when the latter left to join the Drifters. Wilson remained with the Dominoes until 1957, singing on such high-charting numbers as “St. Therese of the Roses.”
Wilson launched his solo career in November 1957 with the single “Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want To Meet)." The song was written by Berry Gordy, Jr., a struggling songwriter who had yet to found his Motown empire. Another Gordy composition, “Lonely Teardrops,” was Wilson’s breakthrough, topping the R&B chart and becoming a Top Ten hit on the pop side. More R&B chart-toppers followed in quick succession: “You Better Know It,” “Doggin’ Around,” “A Woman, a Lover, a Friend.” He was now being managed by Nat Tarnapol, who aimed him more at the middle-of-the-road white market. A 1962 album, for instance, was recorded live at the Copacabana. (Berry Gordy Jr. similarly groomed the Supremes and the Temptations for upscale rooms and Vegas venues.) Wilson would alternate harder-grooving R&B songs like “Doggin’ Around” (Number One R&B, Number Fifteen pop) with almost operatic balladry such as “Night” (Number Four pop) in an attempt to cover all the bases.
Wilson’s unabated success and output were astonishing, impacting the R&B charts in every year from 1958 through 1973. Scattered among a surfeit of schmaltzy ballads were such R&B gems as “Baby Workout,” “Think Twice” (a duet with LaVern Baker) and “Chain Gang” (with Count Basie). The exquisitely soulful “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” reached Number Six in 1967.
In total, he amassed forty-seven R&B hits, twenty-four of which crossed over to the pop Top Forty. He was unfailingly versatile, too, handling up-tempo R&B and pop balladry with style and charisma. Jackie Wilson not only was “Mr. Excitement” but also, as some dubbed him, “the black Elvis.”
Wilson tore it up onstage with an act that radiated excitement and sex appeal. His popularity extended overseas, where in 1963 he headlined a British show that had the Beatles as one of his opening acts. As musical tastes shifted in the late Sixties and the hits slowed down, Wilson remained active on the performing front. He was, in fact, performing “Lonely Teardrops” onstage in New Jersey when he suffered a heart attack that plunged him into a four-month coma that left him permanently incapacitated. His was one of the most tragic denouements in rock and roll history. Wilson remained in nursing homes for more than eight years until his death in 1984.
Inductee: Jackie Wilson (vocals; born June 9, 1934, died January 21, 1984)
https://www.waybackattack.com/wilsonjackie.html
When "Mr. Excitement" performed, the audience was his to command...at least the women who made up the majority of it were. Jackie Wilson had full confidence in his ability to stimulate his female fans past the point of logical control. Always dressed in the sharpest suits, with his coat over one shoulder, tie loosened, sweat popping, he would float across the stage, make a well-timed 360 degree spin and then drop to his knees, often doing a split right down to the floor, with a fluid movement that would promptly have him standing again. Then he'd repeat the moves, often leaning into the front row to kiss the girls, giving them hope for an encounter that was not necessarily out of the question. You could say Jackie rolled up the most appealing attributes of the era's top singers into one: he was more of a "pretty boy" than James Brown, had more sex appeal than Little Richard and more impressive stage moves than Sam Cooke. Whether or not these statements were the unexaggerated truth didn't matter; he was all this and more to millions of fans and his continuous success for more than a decade justified the high-and-mighty nickname. If only, along the way, he'd made the money he deserved!
Wilson grew up in Highland Park, Michigan and sang in a local quartet, The Ever Ready Gospel Singers, as a teenager. He began boxing in 1950, at age 16; competing in Golden Gloves tournaments, he quickly realized it was not his calling (he won two bouts and lost eight). Shifting his focus to music at his mother's insistence, he joined The 4 Falcons (which briefly featured eventual Four Tops leader Levi Stubbs) before catching the eye of Johnny Otis, who set him up in a short-lived R&B group called The Thrillers. His first shot at making a record came with Dizzy Gillespie's Dee Gee Records in 1952. Headquartered in Detroit, the label released "The Rainy Day Blues" with Jackie billing himself as Sonny Wilson (a nickname from childhood) and featuring Billy Mitchell, a saxophonist and member of Gillespie's band at the time. "Danny Boy," his second and final Dee Gee single, showed a dramatic flair the young singer had for emotional ballads, though he sorely need to refine his style.
There were at least three significant people in Jackie's career...some good, at least one bad. Billy Ward was one of the good ones. When Clyde McPhatter announced he was leaving Ward's group The Dominoes to start his own group, The Drifters, Ward held auditions and immediately hired Wilson, changing his name from Sonny back to Jackie. The young singer's vocal ability and stage moves were similar to those of McPhatter; Ward groomed him for stardom during the singer's three years with the group. Wilson was boldly overconfident, which made it all the more difficult for Billy to bust through that ego and actually get him to the next level, but gradually Jackie's technique improved.
Some 20 Dominoes sides on the Cincinnati-based Federal label featured Wilson's vocals. Most were unsuccessful, though the rough-edged "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down" and ballad "Rags to Riches" (the latter a cover of Tony Bennett's number one pop smash) were R&B hits in 1953. Later, Ward moved to Decca and scored a top 20 pop hit in the fall of '56 with "St. Therese of the Roses," featuring Jackie's lead vocal against an arrangement by Jack Pleis sounding more pop-oriented than any previous Dominoes recordings. The following year Wilson left the group, appearing live at the Flame Show Bar in Detroit while pursuing a solo recording deal. Flame Show manager Al Green helped him obtain a contract with Decca; the company placed him on subsidiary label Brunswick. Whether it was the best thing for him by today's perspective is a tricky judgment call.
Another of the good people in Wilson's life was Berry Gordy, Jr. In 1957 Gordy, also a former Golden Glover, was working every angle in attempts to wedge himself into the music business. He approached Green, who ran the Pearl Music Company in addition to the nightclub Jackie appeared at, and on a visit to the company's office one day he met Roquel "Billy" Davis (who composed songs under the pen name Tyran Carlo). Together they wrote "Reet Petite," which Gordy considered a "so-so song"...that is, until Jackie made it come alive. He let 'er rip on the uptempo, brass-injected track (''ooh, ah, ooh, ah, ooooh-wee!...R-r-r-r-Reet Petite, the finest girl you ever want to meet!'), a bolder production than usual for pop arranger Dick Jacobs. It was the first of many solo hits for Wilson...and, as a songwriter, for future Motown founder Gordy.
Al Green unexpectedly passed away at about this time. His assistant, Nat Tarnopol, took charge of Wilson's affairs, an unfortunate turn of events, as Tarnopol utimately proved to be working both for and against him. The Gordy-Davis team came up with "To Be Loved," an even bigger hit (featuring an understated arrangement by Milton DeLugg that highlighted Jackie's passionate vocals). "I'm Wanderin'" and "We Have Love" stumbled prior to the recording that launched him into the mainstream: "Lonely Teardrops," with Jacobs back as permanent arranger, had been conceived by Gordy and Davis as a blues ballad ('My heart is crying, crying...'), but the finished work was an upbeat, emotionally energetic, and danceable, track (making clever use of a 'Shoo-be-do-bop, bop, bop...' backing chorus). Reaching number one on the R&B charts in early 1959 (making it Gordy's, Davis's and Wilson's first time atop a national chart), the song was also the first top ten pop hit for each.
Two big hits followed in the early months of '59. "That's Why (I Love You So)" utilized the flute for a unique sound (an instrument Gordy continued using to notable effect on hit singles by Marv Johnson and many early Motown productions). The pop chorus background singers on many of Jackie's singles have been criticized over the years, yet the label's producers were clearly doing something right...the songs were hits! Gordy, in fact, liked the pop backgrounds, later producing Johnson's records with his own group, the similar-sounding Rayber Voices. Experimenting further, Jacobs (at Gordy's suggestion) had a uniquely catchy organ riff running throughout "I'll Be Satisfied," another huge hit. His ramped-up routines during onstage performances and on TV guest spots made the "Mr. Excitement" nickname an obvious one. With the higher profile came increased attention from adoring female fans, presenting temptation he didn't bother to resist that, as a result, put a strain on his marriage.
Gordy and Davis severed their association with Wilson in early '59, not because of any problems with the singer, but as a conscious decision following a dispute over royalties with Tarnopol (who, it turns out, was withholding the lion's share of monies earned); by this time Gordy felt he was ready to take control of his fate and get his own Tamla label going. Jackie appeared onscreen that summer singing "You Better Know It," which he'd written with Norm Henry, in the rock and roll film Go, Johnny, Go! (packed with performances by Chuck Berry, Jimmy Clanton, Ritchie Valens, The Cadillacs, The Flamingos, Eddie Cochran and other greats). In October, the song became his second number one R&B seller; Sid Wyche's "Talk That Talk" was a hit at the end of the year, the success of these post-Berry Gordy releases suggesting Wilson had the goods to sell records regardless of who wrote the songs.
In the early 1960s Jackie revealed a preference for an operatic style of pop singing, a difficult undertaking and one he proved he could pull off. "Night" was based on an excerpt of Camille Saint-Saens' "My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice" from the 1877 opera "Samson and Delilah," adapted by pop songwriters Johnny Lehmann and Herb Miller; the show-stopping aria became his all-time biggest hit in the spring of '60. The flip side, "Doggin' Around," a blues-infused number written by the mysterious Lena Agree, was a stronger hit in the rhythm and blues market, Jackie's third to reach number one. Then came "(You Were Made For) All My Love," a mock-operatic production composed by Jackie and Billy Myles that fooled everyone, backed with an ultra-soulful rendition of Wyche's "A Woman, a Lover, a Friend" that, like the previous B side, topped the R&B charts.
The pattern (classically-inspired song on one side, trendy R&B song on the flip) was used for the next two releases and, somewhat unexpectedly, worked like a charm. "Alone At Last" originated in 1875; Peter Tchaikovsky's "Piano Concerto in B Flat" had already been adapted as a pop instrumental by bandleader Freddy Martin and pianist Jack Fina (a number one hit in 1941), then several months later by Martin with vocalist Clyde Rogers as "Tonight We Love" featuring added lyrics by Bobby Worth. Wilson's top ten 1960 version retained Tchaikovsky's melody but had a completely different set of lyrics by Lehmann. B side "Am I the Man" bore no similarity; the Bob Hamilton-Tom King song, in Jackie's hands, was no less than a rhythmic scorcher.
Jackie challenged himself greatly with "My Empty Arms," which adapted the melody of "Vesti La Giubba" from the 1892 opera "I Pagliacci," famously recorded by Enrico Caruso in 1902 (a number one hit and early million seller for the master in '07). Lyrics in English were added by Al Kasha and Hank Hunter and the record was yet another top ten hit for Wilson in early 1961. Talk about a major departure from earlier R&B and pop recordings under the creative guidance of Billy Ward or Berry Gordy!
Later '61 hits were done in a more contemporary style: Joyce Lee's bluesy "Please Tell Me Why" and the bouncy "I'm Comin' on Back to You," a Kasha-Horace Ott song, each reached the top 20. A setback came in February when Jackie was shot by a "crazy chick" (as he called her), possibly a deranged fan, but more likely one of the many women he ran around with behind his wife's back. The bullet lodged very near his spine; he lost a kidney as a result and was sidelined for a time. From mid-'61 through the end of '62, single releases hit the charts with marginal results while Jackie recuperated. He then altered his course, performing in more upscale clubs than before including New York City's Copacabana, while releasing albums of pop standards and recording his first of two singles with recent discovery Linda Hopkins.
He had been composing songs for a couple of years with Alonzo Tucker, a close friend and former member of Hank Ballard's group The Midnighters. Their partnership reached a high note in the spring of '63 when "Baby Workout" returned him to top ten pop and number one R&B positions. The song combined a big band arrangement with a screamin', shoutin' vocal performance that was irresistible. Similarly energetic 45s followed, including "(Hey Hey Hey Hey) Dance Back to Me," credited to Dick Jacobs and his Orchestra with Friend (the entire vocal made up of Jackie's shouts, "heys" and hiccups), Bobby Adams and Bobby Stevenson's "Shake! Shake! Shake!" and other collaborations with Tucker: "Baby Get It (And Don't Quit It)," "Big Boss Line" and a fan-favorite ballad, "No Pity (In the Naked City)." In '66 he and LaVern Baker gave it a whirl with "Think Twice," but the duet went largely unnoticed. Nothing rose particulary high on the charts for a period of three years.
In 1966, Chicago soul mogul Carl Davis (producer of many hits for Gene Chandler, Major Lance and others) began working with Jackie; right off the bat, "Whispers" scored big, breaking the three year slump. Written by Barbara Acklin and David Scott,
it was a departure from anything the singer had done to that point.
Jackie recorded often at Davis's Windy City studio after that. Seasoned
songwriters Gary Jackson and Carl Smith penned "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher,"
giving Jackie another R&B chart-topper (his sixth) in fall '67 and
nabbing him a second Grammy Award nomination in the category Best Rhythm
and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Male (his first, for "Lonely Teardrops,"
had come in 1960, an odd consolation of sorts considering the
recording's eligibility period was technically the previous year). "Since You Showed Me How to Be Happy" and "I Get the Sweetest Feeling"
also sold well into 1968. These hits brought renewed vigor to Wilson's
career, assuring his place in the music world for years to come.
To those of us on the outside, he was a major star with a strong catalog of music. No one unacquainted with Wilson could have guessed at his poor state of finances; such a thing just didn't make sense. Yet Tarnopol, from the day he gained control, had taken advantage of the singer, doling out money to him while wantonly mismanaging his affairs. It didn't help that Jackie recklessly spent what he did receive, indulging in material possessions, giving little thought to the amount of alcohol and drugs he consumed or the women he yielded to in assembly-line fashion. The level of trust he had in his manager was unfounded, but it was the way business was done under Tarnopol during the many years he ran Brunswick Records. Other artists at the label were subjected to the same kinds of restrictions. Wilson, by far the company's biggest star, was most taken advantage of, as untold millions in revenue somehow never found its way into his personal bank account.
Though he made a number of interesting recordings after 1968, there were no more major hits. After an album of soul music remakes with legendary jazz bandleader Count Basie met with indifference, Wilson began working with Eugene Record, lead singer of The Chi-Lites, a hot late-'60s addition to the Brunswick roster. The two wrote songs together for the next few years, the lower-charting "Helpless" and "Let This Be a Letter (To My Baby)" among the better efforts. In early '71 "This Love is Real," by another set of Chicago-based songwriters, Johnny Moore and Jack Daniels, made some noise, landing him in the R&B top ten one final time.
In the early 1970s life became increasingly difficult for Wilson; his first marriage had long since ended due primarily to his infidelities. In 1970, after separating from his second wife, a tragic incident occurred when his son, Jackie Jr., was shot and killed near their Detroit home. Wilson had a hard time dealing with the incident, turning to a steady diet of drugs and booze in an attempt to ease the pain. As he sank deeper into depression, performance dates became rarer and were held in far less prestigious locations than before. He continued recording, often working with Carl Davis or Eugene Record (who, with the Chi-Lites, became a major soul star with chart-topping hits like "Have You Seen Her" and "Oh Girl"). During a September 1975 performance at the Latin Casino near Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Wilson collapsed onstage. Dick Clark, promoter of the tour, stopped the show and had him rushed to the nearest hospital, where he fell into a coma.
Nat Tarnopol and other Brunswick label executives were indicted on several charges of fraud at about that time; the court determined that a great deal of money was owed Wilson, though just how much was difficult to pin down, estimates running from one million to several times that. Everyone involved was convicted, but the ruling was later overturned on appeal. As incredible as it sounds, Tarnopol beat the rap. Meanwhile, Wilson spent several years in different hospitals, undergoing physical therapy and remaining in a partially-comatose state for much of the time. In 1977, his daughter Sandra died, but reasons why are unclear; one account claims it was a heart attack, yet she was only in her mid-twenties.
Jackie finally passed away in January 1984. Just 49 years old, his quality of life in those last eight-plus years was nil. Deeply in debt at the time of his passing, he was buried at Westlawn Cemetery in Detroit in an unmarked grave (an unthinkable wrong that has since been righted). Could there possibly be anything to worsen the tragedy of such an excruciatingly long, slow final phase of life? Unhappily, yes. Four years later, his daughter Jacqueline died in a drug-related incident. For Jackie and his family, nothing seemed to work out right.
What remains is his wonderful backlog of recordings. But does anyone care? Fortunately one very high-profile star (who, sadly, also died far too young) was a huge fan and told the world of his admiration for one of his idols. At the February 1984 Grammy Awards held several weeks after Wilson's death, Michael Jackson, upon accepting one of the eight awards received that evening for Thriller (the album's title rumored to be a tribute to Jackie, referencing his early group), made this comment: "Some people are great entertainers, some people are followers and some people make the path and are pioneers. I'd like to say Jackie Wilson was a wonderful entertainer. He's not with us anymore, but Jackie, where you are, I'd like to say I love you and thank you so much." The impact of these words greatly increased demand for Wilson's records, all but a few of which had been out of print for several years. Then in 1986, "Reet Petite" was reissued in England, reaching number one there at the end of the year and breaking big soon after in several other countries. In one instance, a concert promoter unaware the singer had passed away even tried to book him for some shows. He was a hot property once again. What goes around had, spectacularly, come around. And the greatness of Jackie Wilson was embraced by a new generation of music fans.
Wilson possessed a natural tenor. He sang with the graceful control of Sam Cooke and moved with the frenzied dynamism of James Brown. With all this flair and finesse at his disposal, Wilson routinely drove audiences to the brink of hysteria. A mainstay of the R&B and pop charts from 1958 to 1968, Wilson amassed two dozen Top Forty singles, all released on the Brunswick label.
On record, he was often saddled with grandiose arrangements and dated material, but he transcended even the most bathetic settings with the tremulous excitement of his vocals. Although he was over-recorded, averaging two albums a year from 1959 to 1974, there are some genuinely noteworthy albums in his catalog, including Lonely Teardrops (1959), Jackie Sings the Blues (1960), Soul Time (1965) and Higher and Higher (1967).
The Detroit-born Wilson turned to R&B after stints as a gospel singer and amateur boxer. (He won the American Amateur Golden Gloves Welterweight boxing title.) Wilson joined Billy Ward and His Dominoes as lead singer in 1953, replacing Clyde McPhatter when the latter left to join the Drifters. Wilson remained with the Dominoes until 1957, singing on such high-charting numbers as “St. Therese of the Roses.”
Wilson launched his solo career in November 1957 with the single “Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want To Meet)." The song was written by Berry Gordy, Jr., a struggling songwriter who had yet to found his Motown empire. Another Gordy composition, “Lonely Teardrops,” was Wilson’s breakthrough, topping the R&B chart and becoming a Top Ten hit on the pop side. More R&B chart-toppers followed in quick succession: “You Better Know It,” “Doggin’ Around,” “A Woman, a Lover, a Friend.” He was now being managed by Nat Tarnapol, who aimed him more at the middle-of-the-road white market. A 1962 album, for instance, was recorded live at the Copacabana. (Berry Gordy Jr. similarly groomed the Supremes and the Temptations for upscale rooms and Vegas venues.) Wilson would alternate harder-grooving R&B songs like “Doggin’ Around” (Number One R&B, Number Fifteen pop) with almost operatic balladry such as “Night” (Number Four pop) in an attempt to cover all the bases.
Wilson’s unabated success and output were astonishing, impacting the R&B charts in every year from 1958 through 1973. Scattered among a surfeit of schmaltzy ballads were such R&B gems as “Baby Workout,” “Think Twice” (a duet with LaVern Baker) and “Chain Gang” (with Count Basie). The exquisitely soulful “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” reached Number Six in 1967.
In total, he amassed forty-seven R&B hits, twenty-four of which crossed over to the pop Top Forty. He was unfailingly versatile, too, handling up-tempo R&B and pop balladry with style and charisma. Jackie Wilson not only was “Mr. Excitement” but also, as some dubbed him, “the black Elvis.”
Wilson tore it up onstage with an act that radiated excitement and sex appeal. His popularity extended overseas, where in 1963 he headlined a British show that had the Beatles as one of his opening acts. As musical tastes shifted in the late Sixties and the hits slowed down, Wilson remained active on the performing front. He was, in fact, performing “Lonely Teardrops” onstage in New Jersey when he suffered a heart attack that plunged him into a four-month coma that left him permanently incapacitated. His was one of the most tragic denouements in rock and roll history. Wilson remained in nursing homes for more than eight years until his death in 1984.
Inductee: Jackie Wilson (vocals; born June 9, 1934, died January 21, 1984)
https://www.waybackattack.com/wilsonjackie.html
JACKIE WILSON
When "Mr. Excitement" performed, the audience was his to command...at least the women who made up the majority of it were. Jackie Wilson had full confidence in his ability to stimulate his female fans past the point of logical control. Always dressed in the sharpest suits, with his coat over one shoulder, tie loosened, sweat popping, he would float across the stage, make a well-timed 360 degree spin and then drop to his knees, often doing a split right down to the floor, with a fluid movement that would promptly have him standing again. Then he'd repeat the moves, often leaning into the front row to kiss the girls, giving them hope for an encounter that was not necessarily out of the question. You could say Jackie rolled up the most appealing attributes of the era's top singers into one: he was more of a "pretty boy" than James Brown, had more sex appeal than Little Richard and more impressive stage moves than Sam Cooke. Whether or not these statements were the unexaggerated truth didn't matter; he was all this and more to millions of fans and his continuous success for more than a decade justified the high-and-mighty nickname. If only, along the way, he'd made the money he deserved!
Wilson grew up in Highland Park, Michigan and sang in a local quartet, The Ever Ready Gospel Singers, as a teenager. He began boxing in 1950, at age 16; competing in Golden Gloves tournaments, he quickly realized it was not his calling (he won two bouts and lost eight). Shifting his focus to music at his mother's insistence, he joined The 4 Falcons (which briefly featured eventual Four Tops leader Levi Stubbs) before catching the eye of Johnny Otis, who set him up in a short-lived R&B group called The Thrillers. His first shot at making a record came with Dizzy Gillespie's Dee Gee Records in 1952. Headquartered in Detroit, the label released "The Rainy Day Blues" with Jackie billing himself as Sonny Wilson (a nickname from childhood) and featuring Billy Mitchell, a saxophonist and member of Gillespie's band at the time. "Danny Boy," his second and final Dee Gee single, showed a dramatic flair the young singer had for emotional ballads, though he sorely need to refine his style.
There were at least three significant people in Jackie's career...some good, at least one bad. Billy Ward was one of the good ones. When Clyde McPhatter announced he was leaving Ward's group The Dominoes to start his own group, The Drifters, Ward held auditions and immediately hired Wilson, changing his name from Sonny back to Jackie. The young singer's vocal ability and stage moves were similar to those of McPhatter; Ward groomed him for stardom during the singer's three years with the group. Wilson was boldly overconfident, which made it all the more difficult for Billy to bust through that ego and actually get him to the next level, but gradually Jackie's technique improved.
Some 20 Dominoes sides on the Cincinnati-based Federal label featured Wilson's vocals. Most were unsuccessful, though the rough-edged "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down" and ballad "Rags to Riches" (the latter a cover of Tony Bennett's number one pop smash) were R&B hits in 1953. Later, Ward moved to Decca and scored a top 20 pop hit in the fall of '56 with "St. Therese of the Roses," featuring Jackie's lead vocal against an arrangement by Jack Pleis sounding more pop-oriented than any previous Dominoes recordings. The following year Wilson left the group, appearing live at the Flame Show Bar in Detroit while pursuing a solo recording deal. Flame Show manager Al Green helped him obtain a contract with Decca; the company placed him on subsidiary label Brunswick. Whether it was the best thing for him by today's perspective is a tricky judgment call.
Another of the good people in Wilson's life was Berry Gordy, Jr. In 1957 Gordy, also a former Golden Glover, was working every angle in attempts to wedge himself into the music business. He approached Green, who ran the Pearl Music Company in addition to the nightclub Jackie appeared at, and on a visit to the company's office one day he met Roquel "Billy" Davis (who composed songs under the pen name Tyran Carlo). Together they wrote "Reet Petite," which Gordy considered a "so-so song"...that is, until Jackie made it come alive. He let 'er rip on the uptempo, brass-injected track (''ooh, ah, ooh, ah, ooooh-wee!...R-r-r-r-Reet Petite, the finest girl you ever want to meet!'), a bolder production than usual for pop arranger Dick Jacobs. It was the first of many solo hits for Wilson...and, as a songwriter, for future Motown founder Gordy.
Al Green unexpectedly passed away at about this time. His assistant, Nat Tarnopol, took charge of Wilson's affairs, an unfortunate turn of events, as Tarnopol utimately proved to be working both for and against him. The Gordy-Davis team came up with "To Be Loved," an even bigger hit (featuring an understated arrangement by Milton DeLugg that highlighted Jackie's passionate vocals). "I'm Wanderin'" and "We Have Love" stumbled prior to the recording that launched him into the mainstream: "Lonely Teardrops," with Jacobs back as permanent arranger, had been conceived by Gordy and Davis as a blues ballad ('My heart is crying, crying...'), but the finished work was an upbeat, emotionally energetic, and danceable, track (making clever use of a 'Shoo-be-do-bop, bop, bop...' backing chorus). Reaching number one on the R&B charts in early 1959 (making it Gordy's, Davis's and Wilson's first time atop a national chart), the song was also the first top ten pop hit for each.
Two big hits followed in the early months of '59. "That's Why (I Love You So)" utilized the flute for a unique sound (an instrument Gordy continued using to notable effect on hit singles by Marv Johnson and many early Motown productions). The pop chorus background singers on many of Jackie's singles have been criticized over the years, yet the label's producers were clearly doing something right...the songs were hits! Gordy, in fact, liked the pop backgrounds, later producing Johnson's records with his own group, the similar-sounding Rayber Voices. Experimenting further, Jacobs (at Gordy's suggestion) had a uniquely catchy organ riff running throughout "I'll Be Satisfied," another huge hit. His ramped-up routines during onstage performances and on TV guest spots made the "Mr. Excitement" nickname an obvious one. With the higher profile came increased attention from adoring female fans, presenting temptation he didn't bother to resist that, as a result, put a strain on his marriage.
Gordy and Davis severed their association with Wilson in early '59, not because of any problems with the singer, but as a conscious decision following a dispute over royalties with Tarnopol (who, it turns out, was withholding the lion's share of monies earned); by this time Gordy felt he was ready to take control of his fate and get his own Tamla label going. Jackie appeared onscreen that summer singing "You Better Know It," which he'd written with Norm Henry, in the rock and roll film Go, Johnny, Go! (packed with performances by Chuck Berry, Jimmy Clanton, Ritchie Valens, The Cadillacs, The Flamingos, Eddie Cochran and other greats). In October, the song became his second number one R&B seller; Sid Wyche's "Talk That Talk" was a hit at the end of the year, the success of these post-Berry Gordy releases suggesting Wilson had the goods to sell records regardless of who wrote the songs.
In the early 1960s Jackie revealed a preference for an operatic style of pop singing, a difficult undertaking and one he proved he could pull off. "Night" was based on an excerpt of Camille Saint-Saens' "My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice" from the 1877 opera "Samson and Delilah," adapted by pop songwriters Johnny Lehmann and Herb Miller; the show-stopping aria became his all-time biggest hit in the spring of '60. The flip side, "Doggin' Around," a blues-infused number written by the mysterious Lena Agree, was a stronger hit in the rhythm and blues market, Jackie's third to reach number one. Then came "(You Were Made For) All My Love," a mock-operatic production composed by Jackie and Billy Myles that fooled everyone, backed with an ultra-soulful rendition of Wyche's "A Woman, a Lover, a Friend" that, like the previous B side, topped the R&B charts.
The pattern (classically-inspired song on one side, trendy R&B song on the flip) was used for the next two releases and, somewhat unexpectedly, worked like a charm. "Alone At Last" originated in 1875; Peter Tchaikovsky's "Piano Concerto in B Flat" had already been adapted as a pop instrumental by bandleader Freddy Martin and pianist Jack Fina (a number one hit in 1941), then several months later by Martin with vocalist Clyde Rogers as "Tonight We Love" featuring added lyrics by Bobby Worth. Wilson's top ten 1960 version retained Tchaikovsky's melody but had a completely different set of lyrics by Lehmann. B side "Am I the Man" bore no similarity; the Bob Hamilton-Tom King song, in Jackie's hands, was no less than a rhythmic scorcher.
Jackie challenged himself greatly with "My Empty Arms," which adapted the melody of "Vesti La Giubba" from the 1892 opera "I Pagliacci," famously recorded by Enrico Caruso in 1902 (a number one hit and early million seller for the master in '07). Lyrics in English were added by Al Kasha and Hank Hunter and the record was yet another top ten hit for Wilson in early 1961. Talk about a major departure from earlier R&B and pop recordings under the creative guidance of Billy Ward or Berry Gordy!
Later '61 hits were done in a more contemporary style: Joyce Lee's bluesy "Please Tell Me Why" and the bouncy "I'm Comin' on Back to You," a Kasha-Horace Ott song, each reached the top 20. A setback came in February when Jackie was shot by a "crazy chick" (as he called her), possibly a deranged fan, but more likely one of the many women he ran around with behind his wife's back. The bullet lodged very near his spine; he lost a kidney as a result and was sidelined for a time. From mid-'61 through the end of '62, single releases hit the charts with marginal results while Jackie recuperated. He then altered his course, performing in more upscale clubs than before including New York City's Copacabana, while releasing albums of pop standards and recording his first of two singles with recent discovery Linda Hopkins.
He had been composing songs for a couple of years with Alonzo Tucker, a close friend and former member of Hank Ballard's group The Midnighters. Their partnership reached a high note in the spring of '63 when "Baby Workout" returned him to top ten pop and number one R&B positions. The song combined a big band arrangement with a screamin', shoutin' vocal performance that was irresistible. Similarly energetic 45s followed, including "(Hey Hey Hey Hey) Dance Back to Me," credited to Dick Jacobs and his Orchestra with Friend (the entire vocal made up of Jackie's shouts, "heys" and hiccups), Bobby Adams and Bobby Stevenson's "Shake! Shake! Shake!" and other collaborations with Tucker: "Baby Get It (And Don't Quit It)," "Big Boss Line" and a fan-favorite ballad, "No Pity (In the Naked City)." In '66 he and LaVern Baker gave it a whirl with "Think Twice," but the duet went largely unnoticed. Nothing rose particulary high on the charts for a period of three years.
To those of us on the outside, he was a major star with a strong catalog of music. No one unacquainted with Wilson could have guessed at his poor state of finances; such a thing just didn't make sense. Yet Tarnopol, from the day he gained control, had taken advantage of the singer, doling out money to him while wantonly mismanaging his affairs. It didn't help that Jackie recklessly spent what he did receive, indulging in material possessions, giving little thought to the amount of alcohol and drugs he consumed or the women he yielded to in assembly-line fashion. The level of trust he had in his manager was unfounded, but it was the way business was done under Tarnopol during the many years he ran Brunswick Records. Other artists at the label were subjected to the same kinds of restrictions. Wilson, by far the company's biggest star, was most taken advantage of, as untold millions in revenue somehow never found its way into his personal bank account.
Though he made a number of interesting recordings after 1968, there were no more major hits. After an album of soul music remakes with legendary jazz bandleader Count Basie met with indifference, Wilson began working with Eugene Record, lead singer of The Chi-Lites, a hot late-'60s addition to the Brunswick roster. The two wrote songs together for the next few years, the lower-charting "Helpless" and "Let This Be a Letter (To My Baby)" among the better efforts. In early '71 "This Love is Real," by another set of Chicago-based songwriters, Johnny Moore and Jack Daniels, made some noise, landing him in the R&B top ten one final time.
In the early 1970s life became increasingly difficult for Wilson; his first marriage had long since ended due primarily to his infidelities. In 1970, after separating from his second wife, a tragic incident occurred when his son, Jackie Jr., was shot and killed near their Detroit home. Wilson had a hard time dealing with the incident, turning to a steady diet of drugs and booze in an attempt to ease the pain. As he sank deeper into depression, performance dates became rarer and were held in far less prestigious locations than before. He continued recording, often working with Carl Davis or Eugene Record (who, with the Chi-Lites, became a major soul star with chart-topping hits like "Have You Seen Her" and "Oh Girl"). During a September 1975 performance at the Latin Casino near Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Wilson collapsed onstage. Dick Clark, promoter of the tour, stopped the show and had him rushed to the nearest hospital, where he fell into a coma.
Nat Tarnopol and other Brunswick label executives were indicted on several charges of fraud at about that time; the court determined that a great deal of money was owed Wilson, though just how much was difficult to pin down, estimates running from one million to several times that. Everyone involved was convicted, but the ruling was later overturned on appeal. As incredible as it sounds, Tarnopol beat the rap. Meanwhile, Wilson spent several years in different hospitals, undergoing physical therapy and remaining in a partially-comatose state for much of the time. In 1977, his daughter Sandra died, but reasons why are unclear; one account claims it was a heart attack, yet she was only in her mid-twenties.
Jackie finally passed away in January 1984. Just 49 years old, his quality of life in those last eight-plus years was nil. Deeply in debt at the time of his passing, he was buried at Westlawn Cemetery in Detroit in an unmarked grave (an unthinkable wrong that has since been righted). Could there possibly be anything to worsen the tragedy of such an excruciatingly long, slow final phase of life? Unhappily, yes. Four years later, his daughter Jacqueline died in a drug-related incident. For Jackie and his family, nothing seemed to work out right.
What remains is his wonderful backlog of recordings. But does anyone care? Fortunately one very high-profile star (who, sadly, also died far too young) was a huge fan and told the world of his admiration for one of his idols. At the February 1984 Grammy Awards held several weeks after Wilson's death, Michael Jackson, upon accepting one of the eight awards received that evening for Thriller (the album's title rumored to be a tribute to Jackie, referencing his early group), made this comment: "Some people are great entertainers, some people are followers and some people make the path and are pioneers. I'd like to say Jackie Wilson was a wonderful entertainer. He's not with us anymore, but Jackie, where you are, I'd like to say I love you and thank you so much." The impact of these words greatly increased demand for Wilson's records, all but a few of which had been out of print for several years. Then in 1986, "Reet Petite" was reissued in England, reaching number one there at the end of the year and breaking big soon after in several other countries. In one instance, a concert promoter unaware the singer had passed away even tried to book him for some shows. He was a hot property once again. What goes around had, spectacularly, come around. And the greatness of Jackie Wilson was embraced by a new generation of music fans.
- Michael Jack Kirby
NOTABLE SINGLES:
- The Rainy Day Blues - 1952
as Sonny Wilson - Danny Boy - 1952
as Sonny Wilson - You Can't Keep a Good Man Down - 1953
by Billy Ward and his Dominoes - Rags to Riches - 1953
by Billy Ward and his Dominoes - St. Therese of the Roses - 1956
by Billy Ward and his Dominoes - Reet Petite - 1957
- To Be Loved - 1958
- We Have Love - 1958
- Lonely Teardrops - 1959
- That's Why (I Love You So) - 1959
- I'll Be Satisfied - 1959
- You Better Know It - 1959
- Talk That Talk - 1959
- Night /
Doggin' Around - 1960 - A Woman, a Lover, a Friend /
(You Were Made For) All My Love - 1960 - Alone At Last /
Am I the Man - 1960 - My Empty Arms /
The Tear of the Year - 1961 - Please Tell Me Why /
Your One and Only Love - 1961 - I'm Comin' on Back to You /
Lonely Life - 1961 - Years From Now /
You Don't Know What it Means - 1961 - The Way I Am /
My Heart Belongs to Only You - 1961 - The Greatest Hurt /
There'll Be No Next Time - 1962 - I Found Love - 1962
by Jackie Wilson and Linda Hopkins - Hearts - 1962
- I Just Can't Help It - 1962
- Forever and a Day - 1962
- Baby Workout - 1963
- (Hey Hey Hey Hey) Dance Back to Me - 1963
by Dick Jacobs and his Orchestra with Friend - Shake a Hand - 1963
by Jackie Wilson and Linda Hopkins - Shake! Shake! Shake! - 1963
- Baby Get It (And Don't Quit It) - 1963
- Big Boss Line - 1964
- Squeeze Her - Tease Her (But Love Her) - 1964
- Danny Boy - 1965
- No Pity (In the Naked City) - 1965
- Think Twice - 1966
by Jackie Wilson and LaVern Baker - Whispers (Gettin' Louder) - 1966
- (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher - 1967
- Since You Showed Me How to Be Happy - 1967
- For Your Precious Love - 1968
by Jackie Wilson and Count Basie - Chain Gang - 1968
by Jackie Wilson and Count Basie - I Get the Sweetest Feeling - 1968
- For Once in My Life - 1968
- Helpless - 1969
- Let This Be a Letter (To My Baby) - 1970
- This Love is Real - 1971
https://www.michiganrockandrolllegends.com/mrrl-hall-of-fame/76-jackie-wilson
Michigan Rock and Roll Legends
MRRL Hall of Fame
JACKIE WILSON
- Category: Inductees
Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson was one of the top black singers and entertainers of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Called “Mr. Excitement”, his stage presence was similar to that of Elvis Presley in that his high energy performances often worked audiences into a frenzy. Although Jackie Wilson was at his best with up-tempo songs that displayed his athletic dance moves, his versatile singing voice allowed him to perform in a wide variety of musical styles.Jackie was born on the tough north side of Detroit in 1934. Because his father was an alcoholic who was rarely at home, his mother Eliza raised Wilson. She was a major influence on the life on her only child. Jackie started singing both gospel and the blues on Detroit streets at a young age.
Blessed with a natural ability to sing in perfect key, Jackie formed a gospel quartet called the Ever Ready Gospel Singers in his early teens that performed at churches in his neighborhood. Wilson didn’t sing gospel because of any religious fervor. He just loved to sing and it also provided him with money for early experiments with alcohol.
During this time, Wilson was involved in a Detroit gang called the Shakers. Jackie’s singing talent provided prestige for the gang, and they provided Wilson with protection when he performed in neighborhoods controlled by rival gangs. This gang involvement, along with Jackie’s disinterest in school, resulted in Wilson constantly being truant and getting in enough trouble to be sent to the Lansing Correctional Facility on two different occasions. It was there that Jackie learned how to box. He put his skills to work in the Golden Gloves program and became a Detroit boxing champion.
By 1951, Jackie had turned sixteen and dropped out of school. That same year
he married his sweetheart, Freda Hood, who gave birth to their daughter
the following month. Jackie had been performing in a local black
nightclub using false identification for over a year and now became a
full-time entertainer.Family life was a struggle, however, and Jackie briefly worked in a Ford plant to help make ends meet. Wilson also started singing in a group that featured Levi Stubbs, who would soon join the Four Tops, and Sonny Woods who would go on to form the Royals, who eventually turned into Hank Ballard and The Midnighters.
Jackie’s big break came when he auditioned for Billy Ward and His Dominoes in Detroit. Just months after joining the popular black group, Jackie replaced Clyde McPhatter as the quintet's lead singer when McPhatter left to form the Drifters. Jackie sang the lead vocal on “St. Therese Of The Roses” which became Billy Ward and His Dominoes’ first hit on the pop charts in 1956.
In 1957, Wilson went solo and signed with Brunswick Records. Fellow Detroiters Berry Gordy Jr. and Roquel “Billy” Davis were aspiring songwriters who had met Jackie at a popular Detroit night spot called the Flame Show Bar. The pair wrote Jackie’s first record for Brunswick, “Reet Petite”, and it became Wilson’s first solo hit. Gordy and Davis also wrote Jackie’s next four Top 40 singles: “To Be Loved”, “That’s Why”, “I’ll Be Satisfied”, and his first Top Ten hit, “Lonely Teardrops”.
Unfortunately, Berry Gordy Jr. had a disagreement at this time with Jackie’s manager over money Gordy felt was owed him, and the successful partnership was ended. Gordy put his experiences with Wilson and the music business to good use when he established Motown Records in 1959. Davis went onto success at Chess Records.
Despite losing his most successful songwriting team, Wilson had become a major star through both television appearances and almost non-stop touring. Jackie made his film debut in the Alan Freed rock and roll movie, Go Johnny Go, with Chuck Berry and Jimmy Clanton in 1959. Jackie’s next hit single, “You Better Know It”, was performed in the film.
1960 was a very big year for Jackie. He charted no less than seven consecutive Top 40 hits that year including three double-sided hit singles. Although he produced some classic songs such as the incredible “Doggin’ Around”, many of Jackie Wilson’s biggest-selling recordings during this time including “Night”, “Alone At Last”, and “My Empty Arms”, were classical music adaptations that didn’t really take advantage of his great natural talent.
Jackie also released his first greatest hits collection, “My
Golden Favorites”, that contained seven songs co-written by Berry Gordy Jr. among his outstanding early singles. The follow-up album, “A Woman, A Lover, A Friend”, from
this period pales in comparison to his earlier hits with song
arrangements drenched in strings and soulless female choruses.Jackie charted ten more songs in 1961, but only the uptempo “I’m Coming Back To You” matched Wilson’s powerful performing style. It was also the year that Jackie had a close brush with death.
Although still married, Wilson was involved with both a model named Harleen Harris and another young woman named Juanita Jones. Jackie was shot twice by Jones who was waiting to ambush him with a revolver when he returned to his apartment with Harris. Despite being seriously wounded, Wilson managed to take the gun away from Jones and get downstairs into the street where a police officer raced him to a nearby hospital. Jackie’s life was saved through surgery, but he lost a kidney as a result of the shooting.
In order to protect Jackie’s image, his management concocted a story that a crazed fan had attempted suicide and Jackie had been accidentally shot while trying to save her. After many weeks of recovery, Jackie was back in the studio and on the road. His recordings, however, were suffering from a general lack of quality material and his only Top 40 hit of 1962 was “The Greatest Hurt”.
Jackie also discovered that despite all his success, he was broke. Apparently Wilson’s management, booking company, and his accountants all had ties to the Mob. Not only was his money missing, but he was also in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid taxes. The I.R.S. went as far as to seize Jackie’s family home in Detroit. This, along with Jackie’s continued womanizing, resulted in his wife Freda filing for divorce.
Despite his financial and family woes, Jackie enjoyed his biggest hit single in years with the 1963 release of “Baby Workout”. On the strength of the single Wilson was able to reach the Top 40 on the Billboard album charts for the first and only time in his career with his “Baby Workout” L.P.
These hits enabled him to secure arrangements to make restitution to the I.R.S. on his unpaid taxes and repurchase his Detroit home at auction. “Baby Workout”, however, would be Jackie's last big single for three and a half years. Wilson was like many popular artists of the 50’s and early 60’s who saw their record sales decline in the wake of the musical revolution brought about by the Beatles.
Although he kept up a steady stream of road tours and was a popular guest on televised music shows like Shindig, Jackie did not score another hit single until he changed music producers and started to record in Chicago with Carl Davis. The new team produced its first big hit with “Whispers (Gettin’ Louder)” in 1966.
Eight months later in1967, Jackie continued his impressive comeback with his first Top Ten hit in four years, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher”. The song was probably Wilson’s all-time greatest recording, and its irresistible dance groove was provided by Motown’s fabulous house band, the Funk Brothers.
Unfortunately, Jackie’s success coincided with an increase in his drinking as well as his use of cocaine and amphetamines. He was unhappy with his record company and his management, and as a result the next four years were a very dark period for him. The titles of his last two Top 40 hits, “Since You Showed Me How To Be Happy” and "I Get The Sweetest Feeling", couldn’t have been further from the truth. It took a family tragedy, the shooting death of his 16 year-old son, to jolt Wilson into successfully entering a drug abuse program. Despite being a popular live act, the hits had dried up at this point in his career. Jackie’s last charting single was 1972’s “You Got Me Walking”.
By 1975, Jackie Wilson was performing on the “oldies” circuit. While singing his big hit “Lonely Teardrops” with the Dick Clark revue in New Jersey, Jackie suffered a massive heart attack. One of the first to reach him was Cornell Gunter of the Coasters who noticed Jackie wasn’t breathing. Gunter applied resuscitation and probably saved his life, but Wilson was in a coma in the hospital for the next three months.
Jackie had also suffered severe brain damage as a result of his head hitting the stage when he collapsed. Although he partially recovered, his great career was over. Jackie could not speak, and his communication for the next eight years, until his death at age forty-nine, was limited to the blinking of his eyes.
After years of litigation that had tied up his assets and negatively affected the care he was given, Jackie Wilson died in one of the nursing homes where he had lived since the heart attack and head injury. Jackie suffered one more indignity as a result of the battle over his estate when he was buried in an unmarked grave in Detroit.
In recent years, a fund that was developed by music industry friends and Jackie’s fans helped purchase a fitting memorial marker for him at the West Lawn Cemetery in Detroit. He is buried next to his mother, Eliza Mae Wilson, who died in 1975 after she had traveled from Detroit to New Jersey to see him in the hospital.
Jackie Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He was voted into Michigan Rock and Roll Legends in 2005. In 2008, Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher" was voted in as one of Michigan's Legendary Songs. In 2011, "Lonely Teardrops" was also voted a Legendary Michigan song.
Video: Watch Jackie Wilson with all his moves performing "Lonely Teardrops" on American Bandstand at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nEfuE8Pw4
Dr. J. Recommends
“Jackie Wilson: Mr. Excitement”. 3 CD Box Set, Rhino/Wea. This excellent collection contains 72 songs that cover Jackie’s recording career.“The Very Best Of Jackie Wilson”.Brunswick/Ace CD. This is the collection you want if you’re looking for the hits. It contains 24 of Jackie’s best and most popular singles.
From The Bookshelf
Jackie Wilson: The Man, The Music, The Mob by Tony Douglas, Mainstream. A very detailed biography that is based on interviews with Jackie’s remaining relatives and associates in the music business.
The Jackie Wilson Story - The House That Jack Built by Anthony "Tony" Wilson and Brenda Wilson, www.jackiewilsonfoundation.org. This is a collection of heart-felt memories and stories written from the personal experiences of Anthony "Tony" Wilson and Brenda Wilson during the precious time they had with their father, Jackie Wilson. This is a very personal and detailed look at the father, good man, friend and famous singer that still makes them proud today. This book includes photos that have never been seen by the public.
Internet and Video Links:
www.jackiewilson.net/ This site has a detailed discography and a selection of Jackie's songs to listen to. The site is skimpy on pictures and biographical data.
You can watch some great video of Jackie by clicking on www.youtube.com/. Just type in Jackie Wilson at the top of the YouTube page and then click on the video that you
want to watch.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6820782/jackie-wilson-r-b-singer-hologram-usa-tour-2017
R&B Icon Jackie Wilson Hologram Tour Coming in 2017
Jackie Wilson on "American Bandstand" on March 8, 1958. Getty Images
The singer behind ‘Higher and Higher’ and other hits joins the growing Hologram USA roster.
Add another name to the growing list of artist recreations by Hologram USA: Jackie Wilson. The R&B legend will star in a full stage show with a tour launching in 2017, co-produced by FilmOn TV Networks and distributed online by FilmOn.com.Nicknamed Mr. Excitement, Wilson was a dynamic entertainer whose mesmerizing dance moves and pioneering crossover success influenced a host of future stars including Michael Jackson. In fact, after Thriller won the Grammy for album of the year in 1984, Jackson dedicated his award to Wilson.
Between 1958 and 1970, Wilson charted 16 top 10 R&B hits and six top 10 pop hits. He topped the R&B singles chart six times, starting with 1958’s “Lonely Teardrops” (No. 7 on pop). The Detroit native’s additional No. 1’s included “You Better Know It,” “Doggin’ Around,” “A Woman, a Lover, a Friend,” “Baby Workout” and radio perennial “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.” Wilson, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, slipped into a coma after collapsing onstage in 1975. He died in 1984.
In a statement announcing Hologram USA’s latest artist recreation, CEO Alki David said, “Everything you expect from an exciting ‘rock star’ stage show was invented by Jackie Wilson: the leaps, spins and back-flips, not to mention his amazing four-octave range.” David’s partners in mounting the new show are Plateau Music Nashville CEO Tony Mantor and the Wilson family.
In addition to Wilson, Hologram USA and FilmOn TV are creating hologram shows in association with the estates of Whitney Houston, Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, Billie Holiday and Dean Martin.
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/23/obituaries/jackie-wilson-rock-singer-records-included-teardrops.html
Archives | 1984
JACKIE WILSON, ROCK SINGER; RECORDS INCLUDED 'TEARDROPS'
Jackie
Wilson, a successful rock-and- roll singer until a coma incapacitated
him, died Saturday in Burlington County Memorial Hospital in Mount
Holly, N. J. He was 49 years old.
The
hospital admitted Mr. Wilson on Jan. 8, and Molly Timlin, an official
there, said the Wilson family asked that no information be released on
the singer's illness or his death. Mr. Wilson had resided in the Medford
(N.J.) Leas Retirement Community since May 1977.
On
Sept. 29, 1975, while peforming with Dick Clark's rock-and-roll revival
tour, Mr. Wilson collapsed on stage at the now-defunct Latin Casino
Dinner Theater in Cherry Hill, N.J. Some time after this apparent heart
attack, he went into a coma. He emerged from the coma a year later, but
treatment in medical facilities failed to restore his health.
Joined the Dominoes
John
P. Mulkerin, an attorney who was appointed one of Mr. Wilson's legal
guardians, saw the singer about six weeks ago. ''He was in a
semi-comatose state,'' Mr. Mulkerin said. ''He was 100 percent dependent
on care.''
Mr.
Wilson was a native of Detroit. In the early 1950's, when Berry Gordy
Jr., founder of the Motown record company, was an amateur boxer, Mr.
Wilson was in his corner during fights. Mr. Wilson, a Golden Gloves
boxer himself, was dissuaded from fighting by his mother and turned to
singing. In 1953, he joined the Dominoes, a rhythm and blues group, as
lead singer. By 1957, Mr. Wilson left the group to perform as a soloist.
Mr.
Wilson, in need of new songs, asked Mr. Gordy to write some. And Mr.
Gordy and his sister, Gwendolyn, turned out several including ''Reet
Petite,'' ''To Be Loved'' ''I'll be Satisfied,'' ''That's Why'' and
''Lonely Teardrops.'' ''Lonely Teardrops'' became Mr. Wilson's first
gold record, topping the rhythm and blues popularity charts in 1959 and
selling more than one million records in the United States and Europe.
The song's acceptance put both Mr. Wilson and Mr. Gordy on the road to
success. Mr. Gordy, realizing that he could turn out hit tunes,
continued writing and, failing to profit from his song hits, founded
Motown to produce his songs.
Mr.
Wilson produced more hits: ''Talk That Talk'' and ''You Better Know
It,'' two more 1959 songs that helped him move from rhythm and blues
venues to nightclub stages in Miami, New York and Los Angeles. In 1960,
he made ''Doggin' Around'' and ''A Woman, a Lover, a Friend.'' Later
Wilson standouts were ''Try a Little Tenderness,'' ''Higher and Higher''
and ''Baby Workout,'' and in the 1970's, ''Helpless'' and ''Send a
Little Song.''
During
his illness, Mr. Wilson was the center of a guardianship court battle.
On April 14, 1978, a Camden County Court judge awarded guardianship to
the singer's estranged wife, Harlean Wilson of Queens, ruling against
Tony Wilson, a son by a previous marriage, and Joyce McRae, who was
described as a fan who moved to New Jersey to be near Mr. Wilson at the
retirement community. Mr. Mulkerin, the attorney, said Mrs. Wilson
married the singer in 1967.
jackie
wilson
b.
Jack Leroy Wilson Jr., 9th June 1934, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.
d.
21st January 1984, Mount Holly, New Jersey, U.S.A.
These
texts are reproduced by the very kind permission of Jackie's biographer
Tony Douglas in Australia. Thanks Tony, not only for the texts but the amazing
imagery. Very much appreciated. You can pick up Tony's book via the link
at the end of the resume.
Jackie
Wilson whose honey-rich falsetto-tenor voice had thrilled millions throughout
the world died in January, 1984, aged just 49.
For
the preceding eight years and four months he had been in a vegetable-like
state.
He
never uttered a word since suffering a heart attack while performing at
the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in September, 1975.
Yet
another indignity awaited Jackie.
After
a well-publicized funeral attended by around 1,500 relatives, friends and
fans he was buried in an unmarked grave in his home city of Detroit.
Effectively
his burial was that of a pauper.
Jackie
was born in June, 1934.
Using
the name Jackie Wilson, he would reach the top of his chosen vocation -
as a singer and performer.
From
humble origins he would grow up to become known around the world for his
soaring and impassioned singing style and unequalled stage routine.
His
U.S.A. chart successes amounted to 55 Top 100 and 24 Top 40 hits.
He
was admired and emulated by many entertainers
including Michael
Jackson and Elvis Presley.
jackie
(right) with billy ward and the dominoes
clyde
mcphatter and the everly brothers (right)
jackie
with nat tarnopol
jackie
with billy johnson (ex moonglow's), al abraham, jackie's friend j.j., berry
gordy, jackie, a friend, little willie john (front) and with count basie
on the right
jackie
with judy garland and count basie / reet petite b/w by the light of the
silvery moon
he's
so fine - 1958 / lonely teardrops - 1959 / doggin' around / night - 1959
/ so much - 1960 / sings the blues - 1960 / a woman, a lover, a friend -
1961
jackie
on stage, with an unknown backing singer, and with roy hamilton
you
ain't heard nothin' yet - 1961 / by special request - 1961 / body and soul
- 1962 / jackie wilson at the copa - 1962 / sings the worlds greatest melodies
- 1962 / baby workout - 1963
merry
christmas from jackie wilson - 1963 / shake a hand - 1963 / somethin' else!!
- 1964 / soul time - 1965 / spotlight on jackie wilson - 1965 / soul galore
- 1966
whispers
- 1967 / higher & higher - 1967 / manufacturers of soul - 1968 / two
much - 1968 / i get the sweetest feeling - 1968 / do your thing - 1970
this
love is real - 1970 / it's all a part of love - 1971 / you got me walking
- 1971 / beautiful day - 1973 / nowstaglia - 1974 / nobody but you - 1976
Albums:
Solo:
He's
So Fine (Brunswick Records 1958)
Lonely
Teardrops (Brunswick Records 1959)
Doggin'
Around (Brunswick Records 1959)
So
Much (Brunswick Records 1960)
Night
(Brunswick Records 1960)
Jackie
Wilson Sings The Blues (Brunswick Records 1960)
A
Woman, A Lover, A Friend (Brunswick Records 1961)
Try
A Little Tenderness (Brunswick Records 1961)
You
Ain't Heard Nothing Yet (Brunswick Records 1961)
By
Special Request (Brunswick Records 1961)
Body
And Soul (Brunswick Records 1962)
Jackie
Wilson At The Copa (Brunswick Records 1962)
Jackie
Wilson Sings The World's Greatest Melodies (Brunswick Records 1962)
Baby
Workout (Brunswick Records 1963)
Merry
Christmas (Brunswick Records 1963)
with
Linda Hopkins:
Shake
A Hand (Brunswick Records 1963)
Solo:
Somethin'
Else (Brunswick Records 1964)
Soul
Time (Brunswick Records 1965)
Spotlight
On Jackie Wilson (Brunswick Records 1965)
Soul
Galore (Brunswick Records 1966)
Whispers
(Brunswick Records 1967)
Higher
And Higher (Brunswick Records 1967)
with
Count Basie:
Manufacturers
Of Soul (Brunswick Records 1968)
Too
Much (Brunswick Records 1968)
Solo:
I
Get The Sweetest Feeling (Brunswick Records 1968)
Do
Your Thing (Brunswick Records 1970)
This
Love Is Real (Brunswick Records 1970)
It's
All A Part Of Love (Brunswick Records 1971)
You
Got Me Walking (Brunswick Records 1971)
Beautiful
Day (Brunswick Records 1973)
Nowstalgia
(Brunswick Records 1974)
Nobody
But You (Brunswick Records 1976)
THE MUSIC OF JACKIE WILSON: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH JACKIE WILSON
Jackie Wilson Baby Workout - Live 1965
Jackie Wilson - Lonely teardrops - YouTube
Jackie Wilson - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Wilson
Jackie Wilson
References
- Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 606. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jackie Wilson. |
- Jackie Wilson interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
