Pickett was born in
Pike County, Alabama. In 1949, he traveled to
Philadelphia, where he recorded fourteen songs, ten of which were released by
Gotham Records as five 78-rpm singles the same year. The other tracks, along with alternate takes of those issued, were unreleased for decades. Unusually for the time, the recordings were made on a master tape and were of better quality than most other recordings of that era. The songs Pickett recorded were mainly reworkings of songs issued in the 1930s, including versions of
Leroy Carr's "
How Long",
Buddy Moss's "Ride to a Funeral in a V-8",
Blind Boy Fuller's "Let Me Squeeze Your Lemon" (renamed "Lemon Man" by Pickett), and Pickett's only
gospel music recording, "99 1/2 Won't Do". ==Selected discography==