The Very Best of Jackie Wilson (1994)

One of the most thrilling of R&B singers, Wilson rarely recorded material worthy of his raw-silk voice. Wildly, characteristically inconsistent, The Very Best of Jackie Wilson, a collection of 1957-67 hits, veers from Berry Gordy's hyper ''Reet Petite'' through schmaltz like ''Danny Boy'' to the turbo-charged gospel of ''Higher and Higher'' — that transcendent 2 minutes 58 seconds when, for once, ''Mr. Excitement'' found his match in a song. B