B-side "Help!" (Live) Recorded 1986 Length 3:05 | Released 1989 Genre Pop, Soul, Rock, R&B | |
Format 7", 12" single, CD single | ||
"634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)" is a soul song written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper. It was first recorded by Wilson Pickett on his 1966 Atlantic Records album The Exciting Wilson Pickett. The single reached #1 on the "Black Singles" chart and #13 on the "Pop Singles" chart. The song has been covered by performers including Otis Redding, Ry Cooder, Johnny Van Zant, Tower of Power, and Country singer Trace Adkins. Bruce Springsteen has played the song live on many occasions; in his Wrecking Ball Tour it was usually included in the setlist as part of the "Apollo Medley".
Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, and Jonny Lang appeared in the 1998 movie Blues Brothers 2000 and performed "634-5789". Floyd and Pickett played the proprietors of "Ed's Love Exchange," which according to the storyline in the movie can be reached at 1-900-634-5789 (a reference to phone sex lines).
Tina Turner version
Tina Turner recorded a live version of the track in 1986 as part of a segment in her Break Every Rule TV-special, in which she interpreted classic soul songs with guitarist and singer Robert Cray, including "634-5789" Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and Wilson Pickett's "Land of a Thousand Dances" and "In the Midnight Hour". The four tracks were later included on her 1988 album Tina Live in Europe and "634-5789", sung as a duet with Cray, was also issued as a single in certain territories, reaching #14 on the Dutch singles chart. The B-sides were "Private Dancer" and "Help!", both taken from the Tina Live in Europe album.