(seven-inch = a phonograph record seven inches in diameter, usually having one popular song on each side, it's probably the Everyday by Buddy Holy Azi is holding :))

(brain: don't laught you're an adult, the record is meant

Wilson Pickett: The Wicked Pickett (1967)

As the exuberant portrait on this 55-year-old album’s cover clearly illustrates, Wilson Pickett was on top of the world (well, New York City -- same thing) in 1967; flying high on the strength of multiple hits while transitioning from the Stax stable to the Atlantic Records roster.

Not that there was much difference between the two, except for the colors, logos, and words written on the labels, because both companies had already been working in almost total synchronicity, if not always the greatest harmony, throughout the late ‘60s.

Now, like most R&B full-lengths of the period, The Wicked Pickett was assembled from multiple 7-inch singles, anchored by the timeless “Mustang Sally” -- one of Wilson’s signature songs, along with “In the Midnight Hour,” which had anchored the previous year’s The Exciting Wilson Pickett LP, in turn. 

The rest of the album found the explosive stylist, musically educated in the streets and church choirs of Detroit, putting his inimitable power into many soul standards made famous by others, but let me ask you this: who’s the very next person you’d want to hear interpret those songs?

Wicked Pickett, that’s who.

I’m talking about timeless tracks like Otis Redding’s “You Left the Water Running,” Eddie Floyd’s “Knock On Wood,” Solomon Burke’s “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love,” and with all due respect to the Rev. Burke, in particular, Wilson really kicks these numbers into overdrive.

I also can’t say enough about Pickett’s relentless romp through “New Orleans” (later covered by Ian Gillan, of all people!), his emotional commitment to heart-breaking ballads like “Sunny” and “Up Tight Good Woman,” and I even like what he does with The Rolling Stones’ “Time is on My Side.” 

But my two other favorites here would be the overlooked classic, “Three Time Loser” (first issued as “Mustang Sally’s” B-side) and “She Ain't Gonna do Right,” where Pickett engages in some spirited call-and-response with his back-up singers amid throat-lacerating screams worthy of James Brown.

Much like the Godfather of Soul, Wilson Pickett wasn’t one to employ half-measures with his music, which takes the listener by the lapels and never lets go -- wicked stuff!

A few short essays and some great cover art, from the 50s through the 90s. Cool book.