S.O.D. "Mustang Sally" by Wilson Pickett

3/14/2016     Although Pickett is famed for this song's popularity and deserves to be so, it was actually written and recorded by Mac Rice in 1965 who's version made it to #15 on the U.S. R&B charts.  A year later Pickett's version reached #6 on the same, #4 on the Canadian RPM charts and #28 on the UK Singles Chart.  When Rice wrote the song he first named it "Mustang Mama" due to singer Della Reese wanting a new Ford Mustang.  Music historian Tom Shannon writes that the song began as a joke "Mustang Mama" but changed the title after Aretha Franklin suggested "Mustang Sally."  

     Rolling Stone magazine ranked Pickett's version #434 on the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  The song's chorus  contains the lyrics "Ride Sally Ride" which became a famous phrase in 1983 when astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in space.  The "Wicked" Pickett as he was sometimes known, recorded more than 50 songs that hit the U.S. R&B charts and often crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100. Wilson Pickett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.