Today’s classic song of the day is an R&B classic, Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour.” Released as a single in May of 1965, this single only reached #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 but peaked at #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart.
“In the Midnight Hour” was Wilson Pickett’s first mainstream hit. It was written by Mr. Pickett and famed Stax guitarist Steve Cropper, writing together in a room at Memphis’ Lorraine Motel. (That’s the same motel where, three years later, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be assassinated; the motel is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum.)
Here’s what Steve Cropper remembered about writing the song:
“[Atlantic Records president] Jerry Wexler said he was going to bring down this great singer Wilson Pickett to record at Stax Studio and I didn’t know what groups he’d been in or whatever. But I used to work in [a] record shop, and I found some gospel songs that Wilson Pickett had sung on. On a couple [at] the end, he goes: ‘I’ll see my Jesus in the midnight hour! Oh, in the midnight hour. I’ll see my Jesus in the midnight hour.'”
And that’s where Cropper got the idea of using the phrase, “in the midnight hour.”
Wilson Pickett recorded “In the Midnight Hour” at Memphis’ Stax Recording Studio on East McLemore, using three-quarters of Booker T. & the MG’s as backup: Cropper on guitar, Duck Dunn on bass, and Al Jackson Jr. on drums. Other musicians on the track included Joe Hall on piano, Wayne Jackson on trumpet, Andrew Love and Packy Axton on tenor saxes, and Floyd Newman on bari sax.
This may have been Wilson Pickett’s first big hit but it wasn’t his last. He went on to hit the charts with tracks like “634-5789” (1966), “Land of 1000 Dances” (1966), “Mustang Sally” (1966), “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” (1967), “Funky Broadway” (1967), “I’m In Love” (1968), “She’s Lookin’ Good” (1968), a cover of “Sugar, Sugar” (1970), “Engine No. 9” (1970), “Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You” (1971), and “Don’t Knock My Love Pt. 1” (1971). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and continued to perform and record through 2004, when he took a break due to health reasons.
Wilson Pickett passed away in 2006 due to a heart attack. He was just 64 years old.
And, for your viewing pleasure, here’s a taste of just how dynamic Wilson Pickett was a performer. Today’s daily bonus video of the day is Mr. Pickett performing an amped-up version of “The Midnight Hour” live on the June 22, 1973, episode of The Midnight Special. Wowzers.
