Meanspeed® Music Review

Dave wrote us:

“How can I embody the androgyny, mellowness and meaninglfulitude of the ‘late 1970’s and the Ronn Moss & ‘Player’ sound?”

We Recommend getting a grip on your speed!  Let us take a look at Wilson Pickett.

Sarah Jane did not hesitate. “Mustang Sally – the original – the real one, by Wilson Pickett. To me, that is a very sexual song. I think you need to move the site along – that song is hot. Look at the mean speed – it is almost in the middle of the range of song for lust, 106-113 beats per minute, isn’t that so? A great lust song.” Sarah was so ’spot on’ with the choice, on conference call we all said – Yes, definitely go with Mustang! After all, as they say: “Mustang Sally” is to the blues as “Stairway to Heaven” is to rock and roll – can’t go wrong.

After we purchased and downloaded the song, we easily found these digital essential facts about the song according to Apple by highlighting the song:

Through simple instructions on iTunes.com, you can add the beats per minute to the song like this:

With the addition of BPM, your playlist choice gets increasingly organized at the same time as you are increasing the number of songs on your digital music player:

meanspeed summary by Hunter Newman supervised by James C.C. Manning
title=”Mustang Sally“
performer=Wilson Pickett
beats calibrated=2,970
average number of beats per trial=330 beats
time elapsed=27 minutes, 5.7 seconds
average time per trial=3 minutes, 6.3 seconds
meanspeed=109.6
average beat=0.547 seconds
mean emotion according to meanspeed music theory=lust
mean slow phase=1.827 cycles per second
corresponding pitch=467.6 hertz

These are the numerical co-ordinates measured and used to synthesize each chart on this page:

John St. Paul Newman
James C.C. Manning
Sarah Jane Bristol
Meanspeed Music
June 24, 2008

from the people’s fee encyclopedia, approved by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency, wikipedia.org -

“Mustang Sally” is an R&B / straight-forward Blues song written and first recorded by Mack Rice in 1965. It gained greater popularity when it was covered by Wilson Pickett the following year.

According to music historian Tom Shannon, the song started as a joke when Della Reese’s band leader wanted a new Ford Mustang. Rice called the early version “Mustang Mama,” but changed the title after Aretha Franklin suggested “Mustang Sally.”

Rice’s version made it to #15 on the U.S. R&B charts. Pickett’s version made it to #23 in 1966.

The song has become a staple of blues bands all over the world and is played quite often, becoming to blues what “Stairway to Heaven” is to rock. During the 80s, many guitar store employees put up humorous “No Stairway to Heaven” signs to discourage the daily onslaught of noodlers playing the song. In that vein, John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom Room has had a sign on the stage for more than a decade that says, “No Mustang Sally.”

In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the song #434 on a list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

[edit] Cover versions

The following is a list of notable artists who have recorded cover versions of the song:

• The Chambers Brothers (1965; released 1997)
• Wilson Pickett (1966)
• The Kingsmen (1966)
• The (Young) Rascals (1966)
• Ken Boothe (1968)
• The Mar-Keys (1969)
• Silver Apples (1969; released 1998)
• Willie Mitchell (1977)
• Magic Slim (1980)
• Rufus Thomas (1980)
• The Commitments (1991)
• Buddy Guy (1991)
• Sam & Dave (1995)
• Fiona Day (1999)
• Albert Collins (2000)
• Los Lobos (2000), for the film Miss Congeniality
• Solomon Burke (2004)

[edit] References

• Shannon, Tom. “Mustang Sally” by Wilson Pickett.