Soul singer Al Wilson, whose voice was surely heard by every American of my generation, died Monday of kidney failure. He was 68.Wilson had a No. 1 smash in 1973 with “Show and Tell” – a song originally recorded by (and written for) Johnny Mathis.
Al Wilson’s version sold three million copies.
This was not Wilson’s first hit record. Five years earlier, he’d cracked the Top 40 with a peculiar song called “The Snake.”
I first heard “The Snake” a few years ago in Las Vegas; Tom Jones made it a part of his repertoire. Click here to hear Al Wilson’s original.
3 comments:
A song that is a reminder of my youth.
I was listening to Pandora and set up a Leon Ware station (Leon Ware wrote the majority of cuts on Marvin Gaye's I Want You as well as some other hip cuts for Quincy in the mid-70s), and this cut played a couple of times.
Sorry to hear the brother passed.
Yep. I remember this one. But, I don't know any of his other songs.
R.I.P. Al Wilson.
I own the 45 of Al Wilson's "Do What You Want To Do" and have it on my iPod. Great JIm Webb song. This is the cut for which I'll remember the brother. Sorry to know he has died, which makes me wonder where he has been these past 40 years. Thanks as always for staying on the case, UBM.
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