Jackie Wilson was known mainly for his great showmanship. He was one of the most dynamic performers throughout all of rock and R&B history. During his career, he was able to release over fifty singles that quickly became huge hits.

Jackie Wilson

"Elvis did me a nice favor once. I was in Hollywood, California playing a club called The Trip and we were having a little difficulty getting people to come out at that particular time. So he came out twice for me and, well, you couldn't get in. They said if Elvis goes, well...hey, let's go."

Jackie Wilson was known mainly for his great showmanship. He was one of the most dynamic performers throughout all of rock and R&B history. During his career, he was able to release over fifty singles that quickly became huge hits.

The 1960's

The Trip Club was a small club, seating only a few hundred people. And it was the 1960's, during the dangerous days of the civil rights movement, but that didn't stop Elvis. For quite some time he had wanted to meet the young man about whom he had heard so much. When he met him backstage, Elvis confided that he could see no reason why Jackie Wilson couldn't become the number one singer in the world. He and Elvis did become good friends. James Brown and the Rolling Stones followed Elvis to The Trip and Jackie Wilson's simmering career reached a full boil.

Step Back

His parent's marriage was in constant upheaval because of his father's alcoholism and constant unemployment. Jackie Wilson took the queue and became quite the bad boy himself. During his youth, he joined a gang. He often skipped school and it is said that he began drinking alcohol at age 9; he made it to high school but quit at age 16. He soon married his lifelong love, Frieda Hood, and they quickly starting having children.

Jackie sang with a number of groups. One of the most notable was the Drifters. They released such hits asYou Can't Keep a Good Man Down followed by Rags to Riches and the subsequent hit St Therese of the Roses.

Going Solo

Sharing the limelight wasn't enough for Jackie Wilson. In 1957, he decided to fly solo. Fly he did, but not without some turbulence with several managers and collaborators. Jackie had Nat Tampool as a manager and began collaborating with Berry Gordy and Billy Davis. Such songs as To Be Loved, Reet Petite, This is Whyand the much loved Lonely Teardrops led Wilson to believe that he could do no wrong. Wanting to expand in a different direction, Wilson formed a partnership with songwriter Alonzo Turner in 1961. This partnership led to the release of Baby Workout, a resounding hit.

Bad Boy

In 1961, he fell from grace by having a number of romantic affairs with women which later led to controversy. One of his mistresses, Juanita Jones, was infuriated by reports of a liaison between Wilson and one of his new girlfriends, Harlean Harris. She expressed her anger by shooting him twice in the stomach. He lost a kidney in that scuffle. As a constant reminder he carried a bullet in his body for the rest of his life. It was so close to his spine that it could not be removed. Wilson was as loose with his career as he was with his heart and he soon found himself taken advantage of by his manager, Nat Tampool. He gave Tampool power of attorney and was repaid with poverty. He even lost his family home to the IRS but was able to buy it back at auction.

Fame and Failure

Wilson's success, even with the endorsement of Elvis Presley had little staying power. He had a modest career until 1966, when the "British Invasion" eclipsed most musical genres. It was at this time that Jackie Wilson found himself on everyone's back burner. His last hit was Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher and Higher in 1968.

Disaster followed and in 1970, his son, Jackie, Jr. was murdered. His wife had filed for divorce many years earlier but Wilson continued to treat her as his wife.

Take a Final Bow

While performing on September 29, 1975, Wilson collapsed from a major heart attack, sustaining a severe head injury from hitting a piece of stage equipment. For the next nine years he existed on life support until he died at age 49 on January 21, 1984. He died destitute and was buried in a pauper's grave, but his body was later moved to a more respectable site by well-meaning fans.

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