This Friday, Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music continue the story of one of soul music’s leading lights.  The late Wilson Pickett (1941-2006) lived life – and made music – on strictly his own terms.  Everybody knows the story of The Wicked Pickett’s groundbreaking tenure at Atlantic Records during which time he largely defined the sound of sixties soul.  Hits such as “In the Midnight Hour,” “Land of 1,000 Dances,” “Mustang Sally” and “Funky Broadway” all still cornerstones of any classic R&B playlist.  But after leaving Atlantic Records in 1972, Wilson Pickett didn’t ride off into the sunset. Between 1973 and 1975, Pickett recorded for the RCA label, notching his final Hot 100 hits and scoring a string of R&B successes.  Yet none of the Funky Midnight Mover’s four studio albums for RCA have ever appeared on CD.  We’re thrilled to rectify that with Friday’s release of Mr. Magic Man: The Complete RCA Studio Recordings.

Across two CDs, 42 tracks and 148 minutes of Wickedness all freshly remastered by Vic Anesini, Mr. Magic Man definitively proves that Pickett didn’t lose his magic touch when he left Atlantic.  In fact, the very first recordings on Mr. Magic Man were actually recorded during Pickett’s fabled time there!  This first-of-its-kind anthology takes its name from the first of the four studio LPs included in full on our release: Mr. Magic Man, Miz Lena’s Boy, Pickett in the Pocket and Join Me and Let’s Be Free.

Pickett’s RCA debut, Mr. Magic Man, was drawn from sessions recorded in two locales familiar to any Pickett fan: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama.   Produced by Atlantic’s hitmaking team of Dave Crawford and Brad Shapiro, the album’s silky Philly soul tracks have Pickett supported by the extraordinary group of MFSB legends Bobby Eli, Norman Harris, Ronnie Baker, Earl Young and Larry Washington.  Atlantic tried to hold off Eli and Carl Fisher’s “Mr. Magic Man” with a reissue of the Philadelphia-recorded “International Playboy,” but the irresistible “Mr. Magic Man” went Top 20 R&B to kick off Pickett’s RCA tenure with a bang.  The torrid, rootsy tracks from Muscle Shoals showcase Pickett at his most impassioned and gritty.

Wilson Pickett continued to explore varied avenues throughout his time at RCA.  Miz Lena’s Boy found him at the label’s famed Nashville studios – and he took no prisoners on diverse tracks like the humorous “Two Women and a Wife,” the hard-driving “Take a Closer Look at the Woman You’re With” and the infectious “Soft Soul Boogie Woogie.”  With Pickett in the Pocket, the singer was back at Muscle Shoals with the Muscle Shoals Swampers, the Memphis Horns and the background vocal team of Rhodes-Chalmers-Rhodes to sing gutbucket soul penned by writers including Bobby Charles, Jesse Winchester, Johnny Otis and Doc Pomus.  Pickett’s final RCA album, Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It, paired him with producer Yusuf Rahman for a Los Angeles-recorded set of funk and soul with gospel flourishes.  (A concert album, Live in Japan, is not included in our set and has been released on CD before.)

Mr. Magic Man: The Complete RCA Studio Recordings adds four rare, never-before-on-CD promotional single mixes as well as a booklet with original album artwork and my liner notes detailing Pickett’s RCA journey.  If you’ve thought that Wilson Pickett stopped making great music when he left Atlantic, think again – Mr. Magic Man is two discs’ worth of scorching soul from a singular voice, and an ideal companion to (and continuation of) Rhino Handmade’s Funky Midnight Mover: The Atlantic Studio Recordings.  This storming 2-CD set is due out tomorrow – Friday, September 4 – on Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music!

Wilson Pickett, Mr. Magic Man: The Complete RCA Studio Recordings (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

CD 1

1. Mr. Magic Man (3:20)
2. Only I Can Sing This Song (3:08)
3. Love Is Beautiful (2:49)
4. I Sho’ Love You (4:14)
5. Baby Man (3:40)
6. Sin Was the Blame (3:58)
7. What It Is (3:33)
8. If You Need Me (3:44)
9. I Can’t Let My True Love Slip Away (3:25)
10. I Keep Walking Straight Ahead (3:08)
11. Take a Closer Look at the Woman You’re With (2:52)
12. Memphis, Tennessee (3:50)
13. Soft Soul Boogie Woogie (2:37)
14. Help Me Make It Through the Night (3:00)
15. Never My Love (4:26)
16. You Lay’d It On Me (3:16)
17. Is Your Love Life Better (3:15)
18. Two Women and a Wife (2:45)
19. Why Don’t You Make Up Your Mind (2:45)
20. Take The Pollution Out of Your Throat (2:45)
21. Take A Closer Look at the Woman You’re With (Promo Mono Version) (2:52)
22. Soft Soul Boogie Woogie (Promo Mono Version) (2:37)

CD 2

1. Iron It Out (3:00)
2. Isn’t That So (3:12)
3. Take A Look (3:25)
4. I Was Too Nice (3:45)
5. Don’t Pass Me By (2:55)
6. What Good Is a Lie (2:37)
7. Young Boy Blues (3:19)
8. Take Your Pleasure Where You Can Find It (2:34)
9. You’re the One (6:38)
10. Join Me & Let’s Be Free (4:17)
11. Let’s Make Love Right (2:56)
12. I’ve Got a Good Friend (4:41)
13. Smokin’ In the United Nations (3:40)
14. Gone (3:17)
15. Good Things (4:46)
16. Higher Consciousness (3:02)
17. Bailin’ Hay on a Rainy Day (3:26)
18. Mighty Mouth (3:25)
19. Isn’t That So (Promo Mono Version) (3:12)
20. Take Your Pleasure Where You Can Find It (Promo Mono Version) (2:34)

CD 1, Tracks 1-10 from Mr. Magic Man, RCA Victor LP LSP-4858, 1973
CD 1, Tracks 11-20 from Miz Lena’s Boy, RCA Victor LP APL1-0312, 1973
CD 1, Track 21 from RCA Victor single DJH0-0049 (APB0-0049), 1973
CD 1, Track 22 from RCA Victor single DJH0-0174 (APB0-0174), 1973
CD 2, Tracks 1-9 from Pickett in the Pocket, RCA Victor LP APL1-0495, 1974
CD 2, Tracks 10-18 from Join Me and Let’s Be Free, RCA Victor LP APL1-0856, 1975
CD 2, Track 19 from RCA Victor single JH-10067 (PB-10067), 1974
CD 2, Track 20 from RCA Victor single DJH0-0309 (APB0-0309), 1975