Jackie wilson vs sam cooke biography
Jackie Wilson
American singer (1934–1984)
For the British author, see Jacqueline Wilson. For the American boxer, see Jackie Wilson (boxer).
For other people named Jack Wilson, see Jack Wilson (disambiguation).
Musical artist
Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984), also known as Jackie Wilson, was an American singer who was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a master showman and one of the most dynamic singers and performers in soul, R&B, and rock and roll history.
Born in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park, Michigan, Wilson gained initial fame as a member of the R&B vocal group Billy Ward and His Dominoes. He went solo in 1957 and scored over 50 chart singles spanning the genres of R&B, rock 'n' roll, soul, doo-wop, and easy listening. This included 16 Top 10 R&B hits, six of which ranked as number ones. On the Billboard Hot 100, Wilson scored 14 top 20 pop hits, six of which reached the top 10. In 1975, Wilson suffered a heart attack during a performance, which left him in a minimally conscious state until his death in 1984.
Wilson was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He is also inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. Two of Wilson's recordings were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. He was honored with the Legacy Tribute Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 2003. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Wilson No. 69 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and placed him on their list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time (2023).NPR named him one of the 50 Great Voices.
Life and career
Early years
Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. was born on June 9, 1934 in Highland Park, Michigan, the third and only surviving child of Eliza Mae Wilson (1900-1975) and singer Jack Leroy W The following excerpt from Peter Grualnick’s biography of Sam Cooke (Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke, 2008) describes a concert that Jackie Wilson headlined in New Orleans on July 17, 1960. Jackie’s close friend Jesse Belvin had been killed just six months earlier after a concert that Jackie headlined in Little Rock (February 5). Guralnick is trying both to string together a narrative of the racial tension of the times and to connect Sam Cooke to the Civil Rights Movement. He has already written about Jackie’s good friend, Jesse Belvin, and the deaths of Belvin, his wife, and their driver. Because virtually everyone in the entertainment business was certain the crash was not an “accident,” Black entertainers performing in the South were on edge, concerned about the segregation of their audiences, their treatment at the hands of local civic leaders and law enforcement, and the developing national movement. Sam Cooke was in no way involved in the the Little Rock concert, and the only thing associating him with this New Orleans concert of Jackie’s was that he would play the same venue a few weeks later (August 3). At that point, Guralnick reports, Cooke would find “a security force of fifty policemen on hand.” I am taking up Guralnick’s account of the New Orleans show mid-paragraph: The Jackie Wilson Show, which continued to inflame audiences all across the South (it had already led to a direct ban on all rock ‘n’ roll revues in Birmingham), had hit New Orleans on July 17, with Larry Williams and Arthur Prysock (the co-headliner in Little Rock in February) on the bill. “The commotion started,” the Louisiana Weekly reported, “when Larry Williams attempted to sing from a sitting position on the edge of the stage.” A black policeman informed that it was against auditorium policy to sing from the floor, “and then a white officer allegedly pushed [him].” W You’ll find all the artists in this Rock ‘n’ Roll Storytime at Tupac’s ‘Thug Mansion.’ In the song describing the coolest version of heaven ever, Tupac consecutively mentions all three artists: “Seen a show with Marvin Gaye last night, Tupac drank peppermint schnapps?! That’s the same thing I was sippin’ while on our 7 grade youth group ski trip to Sugar Mountain. Man, it’s like we were the same person in 1992! But Tupac’s not the only one to memorialize Marvin, Jackie and Sam through song. Van Morrison gives his best interpretation in ‘Jackie Wilson Said,’ Sam Cooke’s final words are immortalized in Har Mar Superstar’s ‘Lady You Shot Me’ and The Commodores pay tribute to both Marvin and Jackie in ‘Nightshift.’ There’s another common thread among the trio – all three shot straight to the top….wait, no. All three were shot…with guns. Though only two died from their gunshot wounds, the third had one of the more bizarre rock ‘n’ roll deaths. So let’s examine the crazy lives and tragic deaths of these influential R&B and soul singers, starting with Mr. Excitement,Jackie Wilson. Jackie Wilson was known for his ridiculous operatic voice and dance moves which earned him the name “Mr. Excitement.” As inspiration for James Brown & Michael Jackson’s groove, Jackie was known as “The Black Elvis.” Jackie lived a hard life. Apparently he started drinking at the age of 9, was in correctional facilities before dropping out of high school, and became a father by the age of 17. Jackie realized the only way out was music, so Mr. Excitement made a name for himself. Album covers weren’t the only place to find little Jackies. As the eternal ladies’ man, Jackie was a father of 10 by the time of his death. Speaking of, in 1961 Jackie was shot twice by a jealous lover while stepping out on her with Sam Cooke’s ex-girlfriend. To keep Ja Blurry images of two impossibly handsome, incredibly talented young men . . . at the top of their game . . . just having a great time together. Possibly in 1960, maybe in 1964. If the latter, only a few months before Sam’s hideous death. Sam Cooke was the first Black recording artist to figure it all out. He saw where the money was. Sam Cooke was one of the few not in the grip of the Mob because he was with the cleanest available outfit, RCA, was West-Coast based, and looked after his own interests from the point he left the gospel circuit to explode onto the pop music scene. He wrote and published his own songs, so the Morris Levy types couldn’t take that huge chunk In 1964, Jackie Wilson was tortured (literally) into re-signing a contract with Brunswick/Tarnopol. And I think both the widely circulated story about Jackie’s torture (he was held outside an upper-story window) and the murder of Sam Cooke in December of that same year were acts meant to keep other entertainers in line. The “official” story of Cooke’s death was obviously bunk. Killing Sam Cooke was a no-brainer for the Mob: they weren’t making any money off Sam anyway, and they needed to stop him before others got ideas about walking off the “plantation.” Each time I watch the video of Jackie and Sam, I thank the Alm
It had me shook, sippin’ peppermint schnapps
With Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke.”
He understood why his fellow stars, such as his friend Jackie Wilson, made hit after hit without seeing the money they should be collecting.
of the profits from him. He began buying back his own masters from RCA, insuring he would eventually take in a healthy return on compilation albums. And in the early 1960s, he started his
own record company, SAR Records.
It’s a popular notion that Jackie wanted to go work at Motown, but I have never bought into that idea. I cannot see Jackie wanting to be under Berry Gordy’s thumb. My guess would be that he wanted to sign with his buddy Sam Cooke’s company.