JACKIE WILSON

It's Been A Long Time by JACKIE WILSON

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Jackie Wilson (vocals; born June 9, 1934, died January 21, 1984)

They called him “Mr. Entertainment,” 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 the 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. And while 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 1958 with the singles “Reet Petite” and “To Be Loved.” Both were penned 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 groom the Supremes and the Temptations for upscale rooms and Vegas venues.) Wilson would alternate harder-grooving R&B songs like “Doggin’ Around” (#1 R&B, #15 pop) with almost operatic balladry such as “Night” (#4 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). Wilson’s biggest hit, the exquisitely soulful “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher,” came in 1967.

All totaled, he amassed 46 R&B hits, 24 of which crossed over to the pop Top Forty. He was unfailingly versatile, too, handling uptempo 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. When the hits slowed down as musical tastes shifted in the late Sixties, 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 and 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.

TIMELINE

June 9, 1934: Jackie Wilson is born in Detroit, Michigan.

1951: Bandleader/producer Johnny Otis discovers Jackie Wilson at a Detroit talent show and brings him to the attention of Billy Ward, with whose Dominoes Wilson will be invited to tour.

1953: Singer Jackie Wilson becomes an official member of Billy Ward and His Dominoes, replacing Clyde McPhatter.

June 1956: “St. Therese of the Roses,” by Billy Ward and His Dominoes - featuring Jackie Wilson on lead vocals - reaches #13 on the pop charts.

September 8, 1957: “Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You’d Ever Want to Meet),” Jackie Wilson’s debut single, is released on Brunswick Records.

April 21, 1958: “To Be Loved,” by Jackie Wilson, enters the R&B charts, becoming the first of 46 hits for the singer.

February 14, 1959: “Lonely Teardrops,” by Jackie Wilson becomes Wilson’s first Top Ten pop and tops the R&B chart for seven weeks.

July 11, 1960: “A Woman, a Lover, a Friend,” by Jackie Wilson, enters the R&B charts, will it will cap an amazing run of four #1 singles in less than two years.

December 1960: Jackie Wilson is voted Entertainer of the Year by Cash Box magazine.

February 15, 1961: Jackie Wilson is shot by a deranged female fan who has broken into his apartment. He is rushed to the hospital, where he recovers for six weeks (and leaves with the bullet still lodged in his abdomen).

May 4, 1963: “Baby Workout,” one of Jackie Wilson’s stronger R&B showings, tops the U.S. R&B chart for the first of three weeks. It also reaches #5 on the pop chart.

August 26, 1967: “(You’re Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher,” by Jackie Wilson, enters the singles charts, where it will peak at #1 R&B and #6 pop. It is Wilson’s fifth (and final) R&B chart-topper.

September 7, 1968: “I Get the Sweetest Feeling,” by Jackie Wilson, peaks at #34 on the pop chart. It’s his last Top Forty single, though he’ll continue to impact the R&B chart.

November 29, 1969: The rock and roll revival is in full swing, as Richard Nadar’s second oldies concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden presents Bill Haley and His Comets, Jackie Wilson, Gary U.S. Bonds, and others.

September 29, 1975: Jackie Wilson suffers a heart attack while performing at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, as part of Dick Clark’s “Good Ol’ Rock ‘n’ Roll” tour.

January 21, 1984: Jackie Wilson dies in Mount Holley, New Jersey, after lingering in a brain-damaged state for eight years as a result of his 1975 heart attack.

January 21, 1987: Jackie Wilson is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 2nd annual induction dinner. Peter Wolf is his presenter.

June 1994: Rhino Records releases the three-disc box set Mr. Excitement, which chronicles the prolific, hit-filled career of R&B star Jackie Wilson.