Uneven Survey of ‘Mr. Excitement!’ : Pop Music: Jackie Wilson’s talent and stature justify this comprehensive three-disc collection from Rhino.

Like Bobby Darin, Jackie Wilson is an underrated figure in pop history despite being voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Both artists’ credentials are frequently questioned because Darin and Wilson had traditional show-business aspirations that diverted their focus from a pure rock ‘n’ roll or soul music course.

In Rhino Records’ new three-disc box set “Mr. Excitement!,” for example, Wilson proves to be a decidedly uneven recording artist, especially in his early days with Brunswick Records.

The late-’50s selections in the set range from such zesty gems as “Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want to Meet)” and “Lonely Teardrops” to a pale, unbearable rendition of the old “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” and an oddly off-kilter, country-pop-backed “Right Now!”

Besides offering 72 selections from Wilson’s recording career, the box set includes a thoughtful analysis (and defense) of Wilson’s recording legacy by singer and R&B; historian Billy Vera.

Writing about Wilson’s use of what often seemed, from a rock-soul viewpoint, to be inappropriate arrangements and questionable material, Vera notes: “The thing to remember when listening to Jackie Wilson’s records (is) Jackie was an entertainer as opposed to a recording artist. His critics slam the arrangements on his early recordings, especially those background voices, for being ‘too pop.’

“This is unfair to Jackie . . . to judge him by the same criteria as one would an early Ray Charles or a late-period Sam Cooke. They are recording artists. Their art is to go into a studio with a vision of what they want the final product to sound like and, by way of their songwriting and arranging skills, create that sound.

“Jackie Wilson’s was a performer’s art--in the show-biz tradition. He sang, danced, wore great threads, and did so with sex appeal and charisma to spare. He was a vocal, as well as a physical, acrobat . . . a singing entertainer in the old tradition. His models were Al Jolson, Mario Lanza, Roy Hamilton and Roy Brown (whose own idol was Bing Crosby).”

To fully appreciate Wilson, Vera continues, you’d have to have seen him “twirling his mohair suit jacket above his head . . . jumping up, landing in a split, with still enough breath to hit a note so high only a dog can hear it. . . . Maybe there’s a reason for the tremendous variety in Jackie’s recording work: The choice of songs doesn’t really matter--it’s all about the performance.”

Yet it’s wrong to think Wilson’s greatness could only be observed live. Even though a single-disc “greatest hits” package would be enough to satisfy the casual pop fan, Wilson’s talent and stature in pop history justify the more comprehensive “Mr. Excitement!” collection. Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Roy Orbison are among the singers and performers who have cited Wilson’s influence.

If Wilson’s music sometimes lapsed into melodrama, he was capable of passionate, show-stopping vocals every time he stepped on stage or behind the microphone--as much of the box set documents.

Though the Michigan native spent several years as a member of Billy Ward & the Dominoes, he made his mark in pop as a solo artist.

Among his nearly two dozen R&B; hits: “Lonely Teardrops” in 1958, “Doggin’ Around” and “Night” in 1960, “Baby Workout” in 1963 and “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” in 1967.

Wilson was 41 in 1975 when he collapsed of a massive stroke on stage at the Latin Casino nightclub in New Jersey, and he spent the rest of his life in hospitals or nursing homes. He died in 1984, three years before he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Catching Up: The late ‘60s Top 10 Supremes-Temptations collaboration was “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me,” not “Someday We’ll Be Together” as cited in last week’s CD Corner report on “Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971,” Motown Records’ ambitious new four-disc box set. . . . Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., incidentally, co-wrote several of Jackie Wilson’s early recordings, including “Lonely Teardrops” and “That’s Why (I Love You So).”