AL WILSON
Al Wilson is best remembered for the 1968 Northern Soul anthem, "The Snake," and for his 1974 Number One hit, "Show and Tell."
Allen LaMar Wilson was born in Meridian, Mississippi, on June 19, 1939. By age twelve, he was singing in his church choir and leading his own spiritual quartet. He could also perform Country & Western songs if circumstances called for it.
When Al was in his teens, the Wilson family relocated to San Bernardino, California. After high school, he worked odd jobs as a janitor, mailman, and office clerk. He also taught himself to play the drums and toured with a group called Johnny Harris & The Statesmen. He later joined the U.S. Navy and sang with an enlisted men’s chorus. Upon his return to civilian life, Wilson settled in Los Angeles. He made the local nightclub scene and joined a Rhythm & Blues group called the Jewels, who changed their name to the Rollers. Their 1961 single, “The Continental Walk,” reached #80 on the Billboard Hot 100. After the Rollers, Wilson had a stint with an instrumental combo called the Souls.
In 1966, Wilson signed a management contract with Marc Gordon, whose clients included the 5th Dimension. Gordon landed Wilson an a cappella audition with pop star Johnny Rivers, who had started his own label, Soul City (whose artist roster included the 5th Dimension). Rivers signed Wilson and produced the session that spawned his first two charted singles. Wilson’s second release, “The Snake,” would become an anthem of the UK’s Northern Soul scene. It even made the British charts in 1975, seven years after its initial release. The song also achieved a certain notoriety in 2016, when then-candidate Donald Trump quoted it in his presidential campaign.
Al Wilson would not have another hit until the end of 1973, by which time he was recording for Marc Gordon’s Rocky Road label. He also worked with songwriter/producer Jerry Fuller, who had just produced a Johnny Mathis session that included Fuller’s song, “Show and Tell.” Wilson liked the ballad, so Fuller recorded it on him as well, intending it as the B-side of the single. However, “Show and Tell” became the hit. It got to #10 on the Billboard Soul chart and spent a week at #1 on the Hot 100 in January 1974.
The following year, Rocky Road went out of business. Wilson signed with Playboy Records, where he did well with 1976’s “I’ve Got a Feeling (We’ll Be Seeing Each Other Again).” When Playboy folded in 1979, Wilson moved on to the Philadelphia-based Roadshow label. There, he made his final chart appearance with “Count the Days.”
Wilson spent the next twenty or so years touring clubs and lounges. He did not record again until the Spice of Life album in 2001. In March 2007, many of Wilson’s original master tapes were destroyed in a fire that swept through his garage, which he had converted into a recording studio.
Al Wilson, 68, died of kidney failure in Fontana, California, on April 21, 2008.
Charted singles:
“Do What You Gotta Do” (1968) R&B #39, Pop #102
“The Snake” (1968) R&B #32, Pop #27
“Poor Side of Town” (1969) Pop #75
“Lodi” (1969) Pop #67
“Show and Tell” (1973-74) R&B #10, Pop #1 (1 week)
“Touch and Go” (1974) R&B #23, Pop 57
“La La Peace Song” (1974) R&B #19, Pop #30
“I Won’t Last a Day Without You/Let Me Be the One (Medley)” (1974) R&B #18, Pop #70
“I’ve Got a Feeling (We’ll Be Seeing Each Other Again)” (1976) R&B #3, Pop 29
“Baby I Want Your Body” (1976) R&B #28
“Count the Days” (1979) R&B #84
