Jackie Wilson

Jackie Wilson - Higher & Higher (1967)
Some times a magical moment like this comes along when you just don't expect it!
Born Jack Leroy Wilson, 9 June 1934, Detroit, Michigan, USA, d. 21 January 1984, Mount Holly, New Jersey, USA. When parental pressure thwarted his boxing ambitions, Wilson took to singing in small local clubs. He sang with the Thrillers (a predecessor group to the Royals) and recorded some solo tracks for Dizzy Gillespie's Dee Gee label as Sonny Wilson, before replacing Clyde McPhatter in Billy Ward And The Dominoes.

Wilson joined this notable group in 1953, but embarked on a solo career four years later with Brunswick Records. His first single for that label was the exuberant "Reet Petite", a comparative failure in the USA where it crept to a lowly pop position and missed the R&B lists altogether.

In the UK, however, it soared to number 6, thereby establishing Wilson in the minds of the British pop-purchasing audience. "Reet Petite" had been written by Berry Gordy and Tyran Carlo (Roquel "Billy" Davis), who went on to compose several of Wilson's subsequent releases, including the hits "Lonely Teardrops" (1958), "That's Why (I Love You So)" (1959) and "I'll Be Satisfied" (1959) - more at Wikipedia