#168: Reet Petite by Jackie Wilson

City: Windsor, ON
Radio Station: CKLW
Peak Month: October 1957
Peak Position in Windsor ~ #6
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #22
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #62
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #6 (1957) & #1 (1986)
Peak Position on Irish Singles chart (1986) ~ #1
Peak Position on Dutch Singles chart (1987) ~ #1
Peak Position on Swiss Singles chart (1987) ~ #3
Peak Position on Austrian Singles chart (1987) ~ #3
Peak Position on West German Singles chart (1987) #4
Peak Position on New Zealand Singles chart (1987) ~ #4
Peak Position on Norwegian Singles chart (1987) ~ #5
YouTube: “Reet Petite”
Lyrics: “Reet Petite”

Jackie Wilson was born in suburban Detroit in 1934. Wilson began singing as a youth, accompanying his mother, an experienced church-choir singer. In his early teens, Wilson joined the Ever Ready Gospel Singers. Wilson dropped out of high school at age 15, having been sentenced twice to detention in the Lansing Corrections system for juveniles. During his second stint in detention, Wilson learned to box and began competing in the Detroit amateur circuit at age 16. His record in the Golden Gloves was 2–8. After his mother forced him to quit boxing, Wilson got his girlfriend, Freda Hood, pregnant, and her father forced him to marry her. Wilson became a father at age 17.

Wilson began working at Lee’s Sensation Club as a solo singer, then formed a group called the Falcons (not to be confused with the Detroit-based group that recorded the 1959 hit, “You’re So Fine”). Wilson recorded his first version of “Danny Boy” and a few other tracks on Dizzy Gillespie’s record label under his nickname, Sonny Wilson. He was eventually hired by Billy Ward in 1953 to join a group Ward formed in 1950 called the Dominoes after Wilson’s successful audition to replace the immensely popular Clyde McPhatter, who left the Dominoes and formed the Drifters. Wilson almost blew his chance that day, showing up calling himself “The shit” Wilson and bragging about being a better singer than McPhatter.

Billy Ward felt a stage name would better fit the Dominoes’ image, hence Jackie Wilson. Before leaving the Dominoes, McPhatter coached Wilson on the sound Billy Ward wanted for his group, influencing Wilson’s singing style and stage presence. Wilson said, “I learned a lot from Clyde, that high-pitched choke he used and other things … Clyde McPhatter was my man. Clyde and Billy Ward.”

Wilson was the group’s lead singer for three years, but the Dominoes lost some of their stride with the departure of McPhatter. They made appearances riding on the strength of the group’s earlier hits, until 1956 when the Dominoes recorded Wilson with an interpretation of the pop hit “St. Therese of the Roses”, giving the Dominoes another brief moment in the spotlight.

In 1957, Wilson began a solo career, left the Dominoes, collaborated with his cousin Levi, and secured performances at Detroit’s Flame Show Bar. That year, he signed with Brunswick Records. His debut release was “Reet Petite”.

“Reet Petite” was cowritten by Berry Gordy Jr. and “Carlo.”

Berry Gordy III was born in 1929 in Detroit. His father Barry Gordy II had moved to Detroit from Georgia, prompted by stories of the KKK lynching black men. Young Barry dropped out of school in grade eleven to be a boxer. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1951 and was assigned to the 58th Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, in the Korean War. After the war ended in 1953, Gordy opened a record store. But it was not successful. However, he kept his hand in the music business. In 1956 he met Jackie Wilson and the following year co-wrote “Reet Petite”, a #6 hit in 1957 in the UK. Next Gordy cowrote (with Carlo) “To Be Loved”, “Lonely Teardrops”, a #1 R&B hit in the USA, which climbed to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Gordy also co-wrote “That’s Why (I Love You So)”, a #2 R&B hit for Wilson in ’59. Late that year Gordy cowrote with Carlo a couple of Top Ten hits for Marv Johnson titled “You Got What It Takes” and “I Love the Way You Love”.

In the 1960s, Barry Gordy penned many hit songs. These include “Shop Around” for the Miracles; “Do You Love Me” by the Contours; “I’m Livin’ In Shame” for Diana Ross & The Supremes; and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” for Blood, Sweat & Tears. Gordy also penned four number-one hits for the Jackson Five in the early 1970s: “I Want You Back”, “ABC”, “The Love You Save”, and “I’ll Be There”. Barry Gordy is known also as a talent scout. Gordy signed many recording acts to Motown. These include Mary Wells, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Jimmy Ruffin, the Contours, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Little Stevie Wonder, the Martha & the Vandellas, and the Jackson Five. At the time of publishing this song review, Berry Gordy III is 96 years of age.

Carlo was the pseudonym for Roquel “Billy” Davis, born in 1932 in Detroit. He was with the Four Aims before they were renamed the Four Tops. In 1956, he cowrote the Top Ten R&B hits “See Saw” for the Moonglows, and in 1957 “Jim Dandy Got Married” for LaVern Baker. Among the songs he cowr0te with Berry Gordy Jr. was “All I Could Do Was Cry”, a #2 R&B hit for Etta James in 1960. In 1963, Davis co-wrote “Pushover” (credited to Roquel Davis) for Etta James which climbed to #7 on the R&B chart. Next, in 1964, Davis penned both the Top Ten R&B hits “Slip-In Mules” for Sugar Pie DeSanto, and “I Had a Talk with My Man” by Mitty Collier. In 1965, Davis cowrote “We’re Gonna Make It”, a number-one R&B hit for Little Milton, as well as Little Milton’s followup #4 hit “Who’s Cheating Who?” In 1971, Billy Davis had his bigger hit when he co-wrote “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing”. It became a number-one hit for the New Seekers in the UK, and a Top Ten hit in Canada and the USA. And in 1973, “Country Sunshine” climbed to #2 on the country and western chart for Dottie West. Billy Davis died at the age of 72 in 2004. In 2007, Davis was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame, given his long career in writing jingles for Coca-Cola and other companies.

“Reet Petite” is a gal who “really fills her clothes from head to toes.” She’s “like honey from a bee, like peaches from a tree.” Not only that, she “really rates.” To be someone who rates in 1957 was to be someone you were in favor of, to be thought highly of. Now that the guy is going steady with Reet Petite, he declares “now she’s my cutie, my tutti frutti, my heart, my love, my bathing beauty.” All in all, she’s “the finest girl you ever want to meet.”

“Reet Petite” reached #3 in Baltimore, #4 in New Orleans, #5 in Nashville, #6 in Washington DC, #7 in Detroit, Phoenix, Albany (NY), Pittsburgh, La Crosse (WI), and #8 in Toronto, and Bethesda (MD). Internationally, the single peaked at #6 in the UK, and #10 in Australia. In 1987, the song had a revival and it topped the pop charts in Belgium, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK. It also reached #3 in Spain and Switzerland in 1987, #4 in New Zealand and West Germany, #5 in Norway, #10 in Sweden m#13 in Italty, #15 in Austria, #20 in Australia, and #24 in France. “Reet Petite” was the first of many songs recorded by Jackie Wilson and cowritten by Berry Gordy Jr., the future head of Motown Records.

In 1958, Wilson’s debut album He’s So Fine contained these liner notes effusing about Jackie Wilson:
An entertainer can be one of many things, or, in some cases, all of them combined. Jackie Wilson is a many-sided performer…a “Jack of all trades” so to speak, but a master of many. A highly talented bundle of versatility, he is an accomplished singer, conductor, composer, arranger, and dancer. And if this wasn’t enough, a formidable threat in the boxing ring – enough to have become a Golden Gloves champion….

Brunswick Records, realizing his seemingly limitless potential as a singer, signed him and a hit record, “Reet Petite”, was born…. Listen now, as Jackie Wilson raises his vibrant voice in song…an unforgettable treat in High Fidelity.  

In 1958, Wilson had a #7 R&B hit with “To Be Loved” which also cracked the Top 30 in both the UK and USA. Late that year “Lonely Teardrops” topped the R&B chart and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Belatedly, in 1961, “Lonely Teardrops” earned Jackie Wilson a Grammy Award nomination for “Best R&B Performance. He lost out to Ray Charles recording of “Let the Good Times Roll” from his 1959 album The Genius of Ray Charles. The song would later be ranked at #308 in Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

In 1959, Jackie Wilson’s “That’s Why (I Love You So)” peaked at #2 on the R&B chart and #13 on the Hot 100. And “I’ll Be Satisfied” was a Top 20 pop hit which peaked at #6 on the R&B charts. With his next release, Jackie Wilson gave Berry Gordy Jr. a break and wrote the lyrics himself to “You Better Know It”. The single topped the R&B chart. His followup, “Talk That Talk” was a #3 R&B hit at the end of ’59.

In 1959, Jackie Wilson appeared in the Alan Freed rock n’ roll flick Go Johnny Go, co-starring Jimmy Clanton, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Ritchie Valens, The Cadillacs, The Flamingos, Harvey Fuqua (of The Moonglows) and Sandy Stewart.

In 1960, Jackie Wilson recorded a song whose melody was written by French composer Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns. It was based on the classical composer’s aria “my heart at thy sweet voice.” It was given English lyrics that were adapted by Johnny Lehman, and “Night” reached #3 on the R&B chart and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next release, “Doggin’ Around”, reached number-one on the R&B chart.

His next release in 1960 was “(You Were Made For) All My Love”.

Wilson’s followup hit, “A Woman, A Lover, A Friend”, topped the Billboard Hot R&B Sides chart for four weeks in August ’60. Later in 1960, Johnny Lehman adapted Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto in b flat to write “Alone at Last”. The single reached #8 in the USA and #11 in Australia. Wilson ended the year with his fifth Top Ten hit on the R&B charts – “Am I the Man”. On December 4, 1960, Jackie Wilson made his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. 

1961 was another productive year for Jackie Wilson as he released another ten singles. He scored Top Ten hits on the pop charts with “My Empty Arms”, and on the Hot R&B Sides chart with “The Tear of the Year” and “I’m Comin’ On Back to You”. That year he appeared in the comedy film Teenage Millionaire, alongside Dion DiMucci, Jimmy Clanton, Chubby Checker, Marv Johnson, and Bill Black’s Combo.

September 11, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Peter Overby, “Jackie Wilson: The Singer And The Showman,” NPR, March 22, 2010.
“William Myles Nobles,” Selbonn Music Inc., April 4, 2011.
“200 Greatest Singers of All Time: Jackie Wilson – #121,” Rolling Stone, January 1, 2023.
“Singer-songwriter Jackie Wilson, whose 1958 best-seller ‘Lonely Teardrops’ made…,” UPI, January 22, 1984.
“Jackie Wilson – The Man Behind the Music…,” YouTube, December 22, 2010.
“Jackie Wilson Mourned by 1,500 During Funeral At Baptist Church in Detroit,” Jet, February 13, 1984.
“Rock N’ Roll Idol Jackie Wilson Felled By Fan’s Gun,” Jet, March 2, 1961.
Carol Ozemhoya, “Jackie Wilson gets star on Walk of Fame,” Our Weekly, Los Angeles, August 29, 2019.
“Jackie Wilson Interview,” 20/20, 1984.
“American Bandstand 23rd Anniversary Special,” ABC, May 9, 1975. (Jackie Wilson appears at minute 49 in the episode).
Jem Aswad, “Motown Founder Berry Gordy to Retire,” Variety, September 24, 2019.
Harvey Kubernik, “Berry Gordy Interview: The Man Who Made Motown,” Classic Bands.com, November 28, 2023.
Geoff Boucher, “Billy Davis, 76, Songwriter was Part of Ad Team Behind Hit Coca-Cola Jingle,” Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2004.

CKLW 800-AM Windsor (ON) | October 4, 1957