Grits and Gospel: The Sublime Mix Of Wilson Pickett

Which was "In the Midnight Hour," on which Pickett and Cropper shared the songwriting credit.

"He was dynamic -- you had to tap your feet when Wilson Pickett was singing," Cropper added. "And while there's a lot of soul singers that get that high screeching thing, when he did it, it was more like a note, an instrument, like a trumpet, not just a scream of excitement. . . . That was what separated Wilson from a lot of other singers and screamers."

The Stax sound was rougher, rawer, dirtier than Motown, or even Atlantic. ("They let us breathe, let us do what we wanted to do," marvels Sam Moore.) Unfortunately, Pickett's Stax connection was severed when Stewart got into a tiff with Atlantic and banned all outside production.

Fortunately, Pickett landed in Muscle Shoals, Ala., at the equally legendary Fame Studios, where he worked with an equally adept studio band and found further success with "Land of 1000 Dances," "Mustang Sally" and "Funky Broadway," among others. The mid-'60s was the golden era for Southern soul, thanks to Otis Redding, Solomon Burke, Joe Tex and others.

All -- except Redding, who died in 1967 -- suffered a similar fate in the '70s, fading as hitmakers, relegated to the oldies circuit or overseas tours. Pickett recorded for other labels -- even Motown in the late '80s -- but his most brilliant and most successful work, occurred in the seven years (1965-1972) that he was part of the Atlantic-Stax-Fame axis.

Pickett could be indifferent as a performer, ornery and difficult in his personal dealings, reckless in his behavior, as if he had a compulsion to live up to the "Wicked Pickett" moniker bestowed on him in the wake of "In the Midnight Hour."

"Anyone who knew Wilson had to deal with both sides," says Steve Cropper.

David Panzer, who leads the Washington-based Mustang Band and played guitar in Pickett's band for five years in the late '90s, says Pickett "was still doing all the songs in the [original] key, and he had the most incredible scream -- and he could summon it up any time without even trying. It would probably kill anyone else to do it, yet for him it was effortless."

"When I first heard 'I Found a Voice,' I went 'Oh, boy ,' " recalls Sam Moore. "There's no way you could not recognize Pickett's voice. It's not like today. You knew Sam Cooke's voice, you knew Otis Redding's voice, you knew Pickett's voice. You didn't have to go: 'Who's that singing?'

"You knew ."