Died On This Date (January 19, 2006) Wilson Pickett / Soul Legend
themusicsover Wilson Pickett
March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006
The great Wilson Pickett was a soul performer and songwriter who would be responsible for some of the genre’s greatest recordings. He began his career in Gospel, but with a flair for showmanship akin to Little Richard and James Brown, it wasn’t long before he made the jump to secular R&B. In 1965, Pickett began recording a series of hits that included, “In the Midnight Hour,” “Land of 1000 Dances,” “Ninety Nine and a Half Won’t Do,” and “Mustang Sally.” His songs have been recorded by the greatest acts in rock music. That list includes Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Los Lobos, Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Grateful Dead, to name just a few. Pickett continued to make records well into the ’90s, though his hit-making days ended back in the mid ’70s. And he made concert performances up all the way up until 2004, only to step down due to health reasons. On January 19, 2006, 64 year-old Wilson Pickett died of a heart attack.
What You Should Own
Bill Graham was a world famous concert promoter who played a key part in the growth of ’60s American rock ‘n roll. As a Jewish child born in Berlin, Graham barely escaped the Nazis by being placed in an orphanage by his mother. Fortunately, that orphanage relocated him to France before the Halocaust. Graham moved to New York City where he received his schooling after which he served in the Korean War and eventually ended up in San Francisco. In 1965, he landed his first show businees job, managing the San Francisco Mime Troupe which lead to him booking and promoting shows at the Fillmore Auditorium. Graham had a knack for finding acts that appealed to the city’s growing counter-culture scene and in doing so helped the scene itself grow. Some of the acts he featured in those early years were 
