Jackie Wilson

[Guest Craig the Manc]

Next tuesday night at 9:30 GMT a history of the famed man.

A must listen for all true decerning soul fans.

Craig

[Guest Awake 502]

Next tuesday night at 9:30 GMT a history of the famed man.

A must listen for all true decerning soul fans.

Craig

More info on tonights show...

21:30 Higher and Higher Paul Gambaccini presents a series chronicling the life of singer Jackie Wilson.

1/4. Reet Petite

The story of the Detroit entertainer who started singing blues and gospel on street corners. Jackie Wilson talks about his early boxing career from an archive interview shortly before his heart attack in 1975, before moving full time into music. He quickly progressed to singing with Billy Ward and the Dominoes in 1954. A solo career soon beckoned and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy penned Jackie's first string of hits including the classic Reet Petite and To Be Loved, which reached no 22 in the UK charts in 1958.

Legendary soul A&R man Johnny Otis talks about spotting the young Sonny Wilson, as he was known, and Otis Williams of the Temptations describes Jackie Wilson's dynamic stage persona. Biographers Tony Douglas and Doug Saint Carter talk about these early years, and friend Simon Rutberg describes a meeting between 'The Black Elvis Presley and The White Jackie Wilson' as the two men joked when Elvis met Jackie in the mid-fifties.

US soul historian Robert Pruter relates stories of Wilson's drug addiction and womanizing which led to a jealous ex-lover shooting Jackie in 1961.

Edited December 12, 2006 by Awake 502