Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesMack Rice, the songwriter behind Wilson Pickett‘s “Mustang Sally” and the Staple Singers‘ “Respect Yourself,” died Monday at 82.
The cause was complications from Alzheimer’s disease, reports the Detroit Free Press.
Rice had been a member of the vocal group The Falcons with Pickett in the early 1960s. He originally recorded “Mustang Sally” himself in 1965 — after changing the name of the song from “Mustang Mama” at the urging of Aretha Franklin, according to the Free Press. Rice’s version made #15 on the R&B chart, but the next year Pickett took his cover of the tune to #6 on the R&B chart and #23 pop, making it an R&B standard.
Rice co-wrote “Respect Yourself” for the Staples in 1971.
Born Bonny Rice in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1933, Rice was briefly mentored by Ike Turner, the Free Press reports.
A memorial service for Rice will be held July 7 at Detroit’s New Bethel Baptist Church, where Franklin’s late father, C.L. Franklin, was the longtime pastor.
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