artist info----Jackie Wilson

  Biography On June 9 1934 the world received the gift of a great voice in the form of Jackie Wilson. As a teenager he did the unthinkable and joined Billy Ward and the Dominos in 1953 as the replacement for Clyde McPhatter on merit as he had been singing around the Michigan area for a while on the supper circuit. Bear in mind the group where one of the biggest acts at the time and McPhatter went on to a great solo career. Born in Detroit Jackie Wilson was the surprise omission from Berry Gordy’s stable of performers at Motown especially as Gordy wrote a few of his early releases. In 1956 Gordy co-wrote “Reet Petite” and followed that in quick succession with “To Be Loved”…”Lonely Teardrops” ….”That’s Why(I love you so)” and “I’ll Be Satisfied.”The first hit “Reet Petite” was particularly successful and has featured in many compilations and although a great track musically is so over familiar to everyone that you forget what a fabulous recording it is. Jackie gives a vocal performance that many artists would consider their finest hour effortlessly delivering an uptempo tour de force which transgressed all genres at the time. In truth his vocal power was phenomenal and when he reached for a high note he achieved it easily, his onstage performance had to be seen to be believed and he had no peers in that department. On every successful upbeat track the brilliant falsetto performance is evident and even on his slowies the quality of the voice and his fantastic range is there to be heard and admired. His act was appreciated so much by his female fans that one of them was so incensed by the reaction of other fans in 1961 that she shot and seriously wounded the charismatic star. However during the early 60’s he recorded a number of tracks that quite frankly missed the mark, I consider “Danny Boy” as one of the most dreadful things ever let out of a recording studio; who on earth advised the label to ever release such a thing! Unfortunately it wasn’t the only faux pas committed by Jackie although we can thank the Lord for such delights as “I’m The One To Do It” and “Higher & Higher.” His subsequent collaborations with Carl Davis ensured a steady output of quality recordings mainly for Brunswick where Davis was plying his trade in the mid60’s.From that period we have some of the northern classics that are so identifiable with the pair including “I get the sweetest feeling,” “The Who Who Song” “ Since you showed me how to be happy,” “Nothing but heartaches,”not all written by Davis but his input was certainly there whether arranging, producing or finding the material to record. Jackie’s fantastic stage act was only matched and occasionally bettered by James Brown. Later artists would copy his dance moves and lay claim to originality but there was no contest...... Brown and Wilson were far and away on their own. It would be true to say that after 1968 the game was up and the quality singles weren’t there to be recorded, although he persevered into the early 70’s it seems he needed to find another direction for his brilliant voice. Of course this didn’t stop him touring but without new input he was just another soul artist on the circuit and would have had to reinvent himself to cope with the up and coming disco scene. The thing about Jackie was his fantastic vocal range which may well have had to be sacrificed to accommodate a disco type of production. Alternatively he may have decided to stick to the standard fare of the crooners and become a ballad singer; at the time I’m sure the soul scene would have favoured a vocalist of his stature with some great writers/producers having a major go at establishing himself as the main black vocalist of his time. It was all in vain however as while performing live in New Jersey’s Latin Casino for a Dick Clark’s Oldie Show he suffered a heart attack and lapsed into a coma in September 1975. And so it all came to a sudden stop, there was no new direction for the man with the incredible voice and the battle was finally over when he died without regaining consciousness in early 1984........thanks for what you left us Jackie..R:I:P. Pete. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum. Typi non habent claritatem insitam; est usus legentis in iis qui facit eorum claritatem. Investigationes demonstraverunt lectores legere me lius quod ii legunt saepius. Claritas est etiam processus dynamicus, qui sequitur mutationem consuetudium lectorum. Mirum est notare quam littera gothica, quam nunc putamus parum claram, anteposuerit litterarum formas humanitatis per seacula quarta decima et quinta decima. Eodem modo typi, qui nunc nobis videntur parum clari, fiant sollemnes in futurum.