Jackie Wilson

 

Listen/Download Jackie Wilson – Whispers (Gettin’ Louder)

Greetings all

How about something a little sweet for the middle of the week?

Jackie Wilson is high on the list of major soul figures that I took for granted for far too long.

He was a consistent hitmaker, placing dozens of records in the charts between 1958 and 1975.

Though a fair amount of those hits crossed over into the pop charts, Wilson was (at least to my ears) damned by the tight programming of oldies radio. Until I started collecting soul 45s, if you’d asked me about Jackie Wilson, I would have known ‘Higher and Higher’ and ‘Lonely Teardrops’, and little else.

Fortunately, over the years I have kept up the search for new sounds, and more and more Jackie Wilson records have found their way into my crates.

The tune I bring you today represented a “comeback’ of sorts for Wilson, making his first trip into the R&B Top 10 since ‘Baby Workout’ in 1963.

Written by Barbara Acklin (then a secretary at Brunswick Records) and David Scott, ‘Whispers (Getting’ Louder)’ is a prime example of the classy sounds that producer Carl Davis was the master of in the 1960s.

It is a particularly interesting record (aside from its obvious quality) because it features both the Funk Brothers and the Andantes, making it a perfect intersection of (moonlighting) Detroit and Chicago sounds.

The arrangement is perfection, with guitar and vibes pushed along by comparatively raw sounding drums, all juxtaposed with sweeping strings and horns.

It is one of Wilson’s finest sides, and went into the R&B Top 5 (grazing the Pop Top 10) in October of 1966.

‘Whispers (Getting’ Louder)’ was covered by Erma Franklin in 1970 (with another Jackie Wilson cover, ‘(I Get the) Sweetest Feeling’ on the flipside).

It is a groovy record indeed, and I hope you dig it.

See you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.

Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

 

 

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

2 Responses to “Jackie Wilson – Whispers (Gettin’ Louder)”

1. MingusAl says:

   March 1, 2014 at 2:57 pm

   It is interesting though that there were some regional differences in the programming of oldies radio at one time. Because I assure you, when I was growing up in the ’70s in Detroit Jackie Wilson was a major part of oldies station playlists, very much including this hit. So much so that I was surprised to see you posting such an “extremely well known” song here. So nice to hear it again though… thanks!!

2. Malcolm says:

   October 23, 2014 at 6:49 am

   Now I am going to do my breakfast, when having my breakfast coming yet again to read more news.