A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts…
Pickett was born March 18, 1941 in Prattville, Alabama, he eventually left to live with his father in Detroit in 1955…
Pickett's forceful, passionate style of singing was developed in the church and, as a teenager and into his early twenties, on the streets of Detroit—Always under the influence of national recording stars such as Little Richard,
whom he later referred to as "the architect of rock and roll…
After singing for four years in a locally popular gospel-harmony group, Pickett, lured by the success of other gospel singers of the day, who left gospel music in the late 1950s for the more lucrative secular music market, joined the Falcons in 1959...
The Falcons were one of the first vocal groups to bring gospel into a popular context, thus paving the way for soul music. The Falcons also featured some notable members who went on to become major solo artists; when Pickett joined the group...
Pickett's biggest success with The Falcons came in 1962, when "I Found a Love," (co-authored by Pickett and featuring his lead vocals)
The tune peaked at #6 on the R&Bchart, and at #75 on the Hot 100
Soon afterthe success 0f I Found a Love,Pickett recorded a demo for a song he co-wrote, called "If You Need Me." A slow-burning soul ballad featuring a spoken sermon, Pickett sent the demo to Jerry Wexler, a producer at Atlantic Records. Wexler heard the demo and gave it to one of the label's own recording artists, Solomon Burke...
Burke's recording of "If You Need Me" became one of his biggest hits (#2 R&B, #37 Pop) and is now considered a soul standard, but Pickett was crushed when he discovered that Atlantic had given away his song...
However, when Pickett—holding a demo tape under his arm—returned to Wexler's personal studio, Wexler asked him whether he was angry about this loss, but Wilson denied any animousity, simply responding, "It's over"
Pickett's version of the song (with a bit more of a straight ahead, raw sound) was released on Double L Records, and was a moderate hit, peaking at #30 R&B, #64 pop.
In 1963, Pickett released his original composition, "It's Too Late," which entered the charts on July 27, 1963 and eventually peaked at #7 on the R&B chart (#49 Pop)
THEN, Wexler and Atlantic Records bought Pickett's recording contract from Double L Records…His first Atlantic releases were flops!!
Pickett's breakthrough came at the Atlantic subsidiary Stax Records' recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he recorded his third Atlantic single, "In the Midnight Hour" (1965)
"In the Midnight Hour" was recorded on May 12, 1965, produced by Jerry Wexler with a powerful rhythm track provided by studio musicians Steve Cropper and Al Jackson of the Stax Records house band, which also included bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn.
In The Midnight Hour 1965 at Stax Recording Studio
(Stax keyboard player Booker T. Jones, who usually played with Dunn, Cropper and Jackson as Booker T. & the M.G.'s, did not play on any of the Pickett studio sessions.)
This song became Pickett's first big hit, peaking at #1 R&B, #21 pop (US), and #12 (UK). It sold over one million copies, was awarded a gold disc and put the Wicked Wilson Pickett at the top of the charts for years to come...
Pickett's partnership with Steve Cropper and Atlantic Records produced a long series of hits that included, "Don't Fight It" (1965)
"634-5789"(#13 in 1966)
"Land Of 1,000 Dances"(#6 in 1966)
("Land Of 1,000 Dances" is a rare example of a hit song that never mentions the title in the song's lyrics)
"Mustang Sally" (#23 in 1966)
"Funky Broadway" (#8 in 1967)
Pickett didn't confine himself to Atlantic's Stax division for long. Soon he was also cutting tracks at Muscle Shoals, where he recorded several early songs by Bobby Womack, as well as using Duane Allman as a session guitarist on a hit cover of the Beatles' "Hey Jude"
He also cut some tunes in Philadelphia with Gamble-Huff productions in the early '70s and even did a version of the Archies' "Sugar, Sugar"
As the "peace and love" era crept in...
Soul Music faded from popularity in many places across the universe,
but Pickett didn't change, even though hits on the pop charts became harder to come by…
He did reach the top forty with "Engine Number 9" in 1970
Knock My Love proved to be his last Top 20 hit for Atlantic…
The impact of Pickett's songwriting and recording led to his 1991 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
In 1993, Wilson was convicted of drunk driving and sentenced to one year in jail after hitting an 86 year-old man with his car,
as well as being convicted of various drug offenses...
By 2005, Wilson Pickett was plagued by health problems and on January 19th, 2006, he suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 64. He was buried in Louisville, Kentucky
R.I.P. WILSON PICKETT
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What Happened!?!? The years have gone by and the building is gone and replaced by, well, you can see for yourself. But THE ODYSSEY lives on in the hearts and minds of all who survived it (and, I can only imagine, by those who didn't...) ROCK ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In June 2011 my good friend Yvette Beausoleil sent me some old ODYSSEY photos which I forwarded to Kim "Retro Kimmer" Maki.: Retro Kimmer's ODYSSEY link
!
ODYSSEY ALUMNI (The Bands):
MICHAEL ERLEWINE
CARNAL KITCHEN
Steve Mackay (Sax) The Stooges, The Mojo Boogie
Band, The Moonlighters
*Steve Mackay (Sax) Billy C. & The Sunshine
*Robert Sheff (K) The Prime Movers
FLOATING OPERA Gary Munce (Bass), Artie Campbell (Drums)... \
WOLFGANG
Larry Mandeville (guitar, vox)
BLACK ENSEMBLE
I-94
Loughlan (Louck) Campbell Drums, Bob Webb bass, Pete Stanger guitar, and Bill Schostak keys. This was essentially the same touring band that backed up "Chairmen of the Board"--NOTE: Louck did not play drums in the touring band of Chairmen of the Board, that was KC Black (Thanks Dennis Allen for background info)
GEYDA
A fine rock+roll unit (my first rock band gig) Lead by FRANK LOWENBERG drums,ROBIN MILLER guitar, JOEL SHANKAR guitar, THAD JONES bass or JOHN something bass, MARCUS lead vocal, MARTIN SIMMONS on keys (Thanks to Martin Simmons for the background info and R.I.P. Brother)
MANCHILD
John "Ozzie" Nelson on keys,
THE RABBITS Martin Simmons and Company
SRC
Top Row: Glenn Quackenbush (Organ) & Scott Richardson (Vox)
Bottom Row: Richard Michael (bass),
E.G. Clawson (drums) and Gary Quackenbush (lead guitar)
Jim Tate on vox/guitar/harp, Bill Lynn on rhythm/lead guitar, Steve MacKay sax, Dough Stoughton on bass, Donnie Backus on keyboards, Jerry Myers, drums (J.C. Crawford was also a drummer with Mojo)
NEW HEAVENLY BLUE
Dave Mason, Steve Dudash, Peter Bonnisteel
Madcat Ruth, Chris Brubeck, Chris Brown
In the early 70's Peter Madcat Ruth moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he was a key presence in two of Ann Arbor's finest progressive rock bands: New Heavenly Blue and Sky King (http://www.madcatmusic.net/about.html)
Chris Brubeck, bass, trombone, piano, guitar and sings, composer; b. Los Angeles, CA, 19 March 1952. Chris attended High School at the Interlochen Arts Academy where he was in orchestra 2 hours a day,
Big Band Jazz rehearsals three times a week, Concert Band, Small Brass Ensembles and led various student rock-n-roll groups. During his days as a bass trombone performance major at The University of Michigan, Chris led, toured and recorded with his innovative "rock" bands, New Heavenly Blue (with releases on R.C.A. and Atlantic Records) and in 1975 Sky King on Columbia. (Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians)
SKY KING Madcat Ruth (vox/HARP!), Rick Jacobi, Chris Brubeck
TNT
Flood's, Free Concerts and the ODYSSEY showcased a lot of the same bands...
WALRUS
Bill Etten (singer), Mike Mckelvey (guitar), and Jim Bowers (keys guy with the beard), Randy Tessier (bass) and Donnie Kuhli on drums...
LIGHTNIN' I
Mark Gougeon - bass, lead vocals, Jeff Jones - lead guitar,
Tim McCoy - keyboards, vocals, Dave Morgan - drums
Lightnin', as well as playing at THE ODYSSEY, toured extensively in the south and opened for Wet Willie, Guess Who, Black Oak Arkansas and so many others. BTW: Their 4 song EP sold for $60 recently! (Thanks for this info goesto Al Jaquez)
GUARDIAN ANGEL
Jeff Jones- lead guitar
AL Jacquez - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Dave Morgan - drums
Scott Morgan - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Terry Trabandt - bass, vocalls
BOB ROSENTHAL BLUES BAND
Bob Rosenthal (harp & vox), George Bedard (lead)
BAD LUCK & TROUBLE
LUTHER ALLISON
WILLIE DIXON
CHIP STEVENS GROUP
The final lineup for THE Chip Stevens Group was Frank Leto vocals & percussion, Dave Leonhard guitars, Tom Berd piano, Clark Pardee drums and either Andy Brucker or Peter Persechino on bass.(Thanks Clark Pardee for info)
STONEFRONT
This was THE Detroit jam band of the 1970s. Heavily influenced by the California scene, they were fairly unique in the Motor City. Their home was the GAR WOOD MANSION (a whole story in itself!). With their nutty "road manager Stanley," they brought a lot of great music and musicians to play at THE ODYSSEY...
Stonefront at home at the GAR WOOD MANSION
(Early Stonefront 1970)
Vocals : Rick Stockwell, Larry Merryman (and an extraordinary "cast of characters")
(1974-75)
Guitar: Larry Merryman
Guitar: Harry Bourlier
Drums & Conga Drums: Eddie Saenz
Bass Guitar: Mark Swanberg
Vocals: Larry Merryman, Natalie Morgan,
Guitar : Harry Bourlier
Guitar : Larry Merryman
Guitar : Gary Markley
Saxophone : Robin Welch
Conga Drums : Darryl Bradley
Drums : John Bredeau
Bass Guitar : Mark Swanberg
Vocals : Gary Markley, Mark Swanberg, Larry Merryman.
Guitar : Chuck Mahoian
Guitar : Larry Merryman
Bass Guitar : Mark Swanberg
Drums : Eddie Saenz
Vocals : Larry Merryman, Mark Swanberg
Gary Rasmussen on bass, Bob Rasmussen on lead guitar, Scott Bailey on drums and Frank Bach on vox--Hiawatha Bailey on equipment! NOTE: Although originally managed by David Sinclair (R.I.P.), by the time these shows were happening Sister Anne LaVasseur, one time MC for the UP, was actually managing the band--The FIRST female manager in R'n;R history (or so I've been told). Anne still ROCKS as a gemologist in Hawaii!!!
UPRISING
(Poster by Gary Grimshaw)
Uprising 1972-1973
"Little" Leon Mills (V) Brat
*Bob Rasmussen (G) The Up
*Don Benson (G) Brat
*Gary Rasmussen (B) The Up
*Wilson Owens (D) Brat
…we (The UP) had been playing gigs with this band Brat from Mount Clemens. Really, we called up Leon [Mills], he was the singer, and we told him, “This is what we want to do. We want to have a band. We’ve got me and my brother, and what we need is you and your drummer and your guitar player. Let’s do it.” We moved ‘em up to Ann Arbor and put ‘em in the carriage house between the two houses and started the band from there. It turned right from Up to Uprising, and that band was managed by John Sinclair and Peter Andrews. John was out of jail by then and he was managing Mitch Ryder and the Rockets--Gary Rasmussen
Uprising 1973
*"Little" Leon Mills (V)
*Bob Rasmussen (G)
*Don Benson (G)
*Nate Peterson (V, B)
*Wilson Owens (D)
...a lot of stuff pissed off Leon (Mills) and what they decided they'd do is get Nate Peterson, who's a good singer and bass player. So basically, they fired me and got Nate Peterson--Gary Rasmussen
NOTE: Leon passed away in 2013. R.I.P. Little Leon. You never really got your props, but those who know REALLY know...
MARCUS Marcus on vocals (just Marcus, one name), Jeff? on guitar and K.C. Black on drums (K.C. also was the drummer for Chairman of the Board) (Thanks to Wayne Dabney for jogging my memory on this one!)
DETROIT (WITH RUSTY DAY)
Rusty Day on vox, Wilson Owens on drums. Nate Petersen on bass
RADIO KING & HIS COURT OF RHYTHM
Richard Dishman on drums, Lowell? on congas, Crispin Cioe on Sax, BuzzThrelkeld on trumpet, Richard Lehfeldt on keys, ?? Guitar, Steve Chall on Bass, Rita, Pat & Jodie on vocals and others. ALSO Wayne Dabney and David G on equipment.
(Thanks Wayne Dabney for some input)
Left to Right: Buzz Threlkeld, Richard Lehfeldt, Crispin Cio, Richard Dishman
The four members of Radio King shown above were more or less the "core group" but this act was a true R&B Revue. As many as a dozen performers would be on that ODYSSEY stage putting on a real SHOW!!! (I need some help on this one y'all--There were a LOT of performers in this revue! I apologize to those whose names I can't pull up right now, but I KNOW we'll get all of this act on this page sooner or later--Jon Campbell, ODYSSEY)
The Rockets as they appeared at THE ODYSSEY, Red Carpet, Rainbow Room, etc...
The Rockets a few years later...
THE THE ROCKETS came to THE ODYSSEY when they were associated with Peter Andrews and The Rainbow People (Rainbow Productions). The ODYSSEY was the hottest venue and THE ROCKETS--with Bee, McCarty, Marc Marcano and Fraga the only four in the line-up--were the hottest act in town at the time They split their time between THE ODYSSEY, Red Carpet and the Rock & Roll Farm, but they were Ann Arbor cats for awhile. Fraga (R.I.P.) spent a lot of time at our (ODYSSEY staff) houses on Miner Street and Brooks Street on the westside of A2. Later on, Donnie Backus of THE MOJO BOOGIE BAND (pretty much the house band at the ODYSSEY for awhile) replaced Marc while they were still playing the ODYSSEY on a regular basis. One of the COOLEST shows the ROCKETS did at THE ODYSSEY was the night that Jerry LeCroix sat in with the band--But EVERY night (usually weekly) that THE ROCKETS played this club was INCREDIBLE!!! Unfortunately Dave Gilbert (R.I.P.) never played the ODYSSEY with the ROCKETS, he came on after the ODYSSEY's demise... THE LEOPARDS
BROOKLYN BLUES BUSTERS
Johnny Ace on bass and vox, John (Nuzzo) Leslie harp & vox, Howard Levine, guitar and Frannie Kristina on drums--Tino Gross (Howling Diablos) was also off and on with the band)
One of my first Odyssey memories - Cheryl Kaiser & me standing at the bar in front of a freshly made Tequila Sunrise; Cheryl - "Grab a straw!" and we'd race to the bottom ...Joanne Shumeyko Johnson 6-15-11
That's where I met Mike Gould one night in 1973 leading to the formation of the Martian Entropy Band .--Hugh Hitchcock 6-19-11 (Check 'em out by following the link below, JC/ODYSSEY) http://martianentropyband.com/YouTubeMovie.aspx?movieurl=http://youtube.com/v/WQ_pq7WlZyc&title=Pandemonium%20Ballet%20Pt.%201
We called it 208 Odyssey because of the neon # in the window. I remember seeing the Rockets there before they hired Dave Gilbert. Johnny B was doing the lead singing. -- T. Kinks Heiss 1-12-11
THE ODYSSEY!!!!!...YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! --Johnny Ace 1-12-11 (Check out 2011 Johnny Ace in San Francisco JC/ODYSSEY) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBJ8woBVKq4)
I remember dancing my ass off during and in between sets.Then everynight i would order 3 double vodka collins sour. No wonder i'm a recovering alcoholic! Alot of good and crazy memeories there! --Robin Scott 1-18-11
Actually, during that period I was so busy & broke trying to cobble together my own bands, I didn't make it to the Odyssey as much as I wanted
--Jeff Alder 6-18-11
It's so complicated to put together in writing, how one thing led to another, landing me on Bowie's Ziggy Stardust Tour and back to the Odyssey - and all because of the Odyssey... --Billy Goodson 6-18-11 (NOTE: Check out more about Billy Goodson) --Jon Campbell/ODYSSEY
THE ODYSSEY!!! OH GOD....I'M HAVIN' A FLASHBACK!!!..... ......we came,we played,we left.....--Martin Simmons 6-19-11
Hi Jon, Thank you so much for the picture from 1972. That was the year I graduated from high school and moved to A2. I turned 18 at The Odyssey and Angie Bowie was there. What a trip. Those were definitely the days!!!!! Good to see you are healthy and happy. Take care and thanks again!! Cordi. --Cordi Cole Frei 6-19-11
Hi Jon--I was the drummer in the last incarnation of the Chip Stevens Group and we played a few times at the Odyssey back in the day... I write this as I'm getting ready for a gig this evening @ The Grove in Anaheim with one of the two bands I'm currently in - still at it after all these years .--Clark Pardee 6-25-11
I was pretty young. Between the Fourth Ave people in the day to the fabulous bookings at night, I took it all for granted. Now they are all some of my best memories. --Patty O'Rorke 8-31-11 (Patty was on the staff at THE ODYSSEY pretty much at the beginning. She remembers those "Fourth Avenue People"--Cool...)
