On This Day In Alabama History: Singer Wilson Pickett Died

By Alabama NewsCenter Staff

Wilson Pickett was born in Prattville on March 18, 1941, and was one of 11 children who worked on the cotton farm of his sharecropper parents. In 1955, Pickett moved with his father to Detroit to escape his violent mother and soon began his music career with a gospel quartet called the Violinaires. In the 1960s, Pickett’s voice and style found a fan in Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler, who decided to record him at Stax Records studios in Memphis. In 1965, Pickett recorded a series of singles that defined his “hard soul” sound, including “In the Midnight Hour” and “634-5789.” In 1966, Wexler wanted Pickett to record in Muscle Shoals at FAME Studios, which produced hits for him such as “Land of a Thousand Dances” and “Mustang Sally.” Pickett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

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