The making of the album saw Pickett end his relationship with Stax Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had cut his early singles, and move to Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where he would record for the next two years.

According to AllMusic, this album firmly established Picket's "stature as a major '60s soul man".

[4] Originally released on the Atlantic label, the album has been re-issued on CD by Rhino, Collectables and Warner Bros. Records.

The Exciting Wilson Pickett launched four crossover hit singles.

[5] Pickett later redid the song "Land of a Thousand Dances", originally a hit in 1963 for New Orleans–based composer Chris Kenner, for the soundtrack of The Great Outdoors, a 1988 film starring Dan Aykroyd and John Candy.