Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It

ilson Pickett will always be remembered for his 1960s stay at Atlantic Records, where, working with the Stax producers and musicians, he issued such deep soul classics as "In the Midnight Hour," "Mustang Sally," "Funky Broadway," and "Land of 1000 Dances." With his amazingly rough, raw, and primal vocals, Pickett was every bit as explosive a performer as Sam & Dave, and if he lacked the smoother, more refined side of an Otis Redding, well, Pickett wasn't about refining things, he was about breaking through the wall to the other side. Pickett left Atlantic for RCA in 1972, eventually releasing four albums for them through the mid-'70s, and the best tracks on those albums are compiled here. It's difficult to say why Pickett didn't manage to repeat the success of his Atlantic years, since his approach was the same, with fiery, impassioned and wonderfully rough-hewn soul vocals growling over solid horn charts and powerful, funky rhythms, and songs like "Mr. Magic Man," "I Was Too Nice," "I Keep Walking Straight Ahead," "Higher Consciousness," "Smokin' in the United Nations," and "Baby Man" pack the same level of soulful dynamite as his earlier sides. This compilation boils the period down to twenty tracks, and makes a powerful declaration for Pickett's continued excellence. ~ Steve Leggett|