In the Midnight Hour
Encyclopedia
"In the Midnight Hour" is a song originally performed by Wilson Pickett
in 1965 and released on the 1966 album The Exciting Wilson Pickett
. It was composed by Pickett and Steve Cropper
at the historic Lorraine Motel in Memphis
where Martin Luther King, Jr.
would later be murdered in April 1968. Pickett's first hit on Atlantic Records
, it reached #1 on the R&B
charts and peaked at #21 on the pop
charts.
The song has become a 1960s soul standard, and placed at #134 on Rolling Stone
' s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time, Wilson Pickett's first of two entries on the list (the other being "Mustang Sally
" at #434). It is also one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, Pickett's only such entry. The song is currently ranked as the 89th greatest song of all time, as well as the seventh best song of 1965
, by Acclaimed Music.
The track has been covered by many artists, including Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, The Doors
and Van Morrison's Them
band at the Whisky a Go Go
(1966), Johnny Rivers
who also recorded it live at the Whisky a Go Go in 1966, the Grateful Dead
(who often played it as a closer to their sets in 1966 and 1967), Jefferson Airplane
used to play a hard rocking version featuring Marty Balin
on lead vocals, Chris Farlowe, The Rascals
, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, the Chocolate Watch Band, Razzy Bailey
, Roxy Music
, Jackie Wilson
, The Jam
, Johnny Thunders
, The Chambers Brothers
, Roger Troutman
, The Toasters
, Buddy Guy
, The Rock Bottom Remainders
, The Commitments
, Cross Country
, Echo & the Bunnymen
, Samantha Sang
, George Faith
, B. B. King
, Johnny Rivers
and The Silvertones
.
In early 1967, just a few months after Pickett's version was a hit, the song became a local #1 hit in the Detroit
area for local garage rock
band The Wanted (unrelated to pop band The Wanted
). The record was picked up for national release by A&M Records
but failed to dent the Billboard Hot 100
.
Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian
recorded a cover of "In the Midnight Hour" with Steve Cropper
, the original co-songwriter of this song. Cropper played guitar on and produced the Sebastian version on The Memphis Album
. Sebastian and Cropper toured together in Australia
in 2008 and there is a DVD/CD The Memphis Tour
on which "In the Midnight Hour" is tracklisted.
that the character Johnny Marinville (Tom Skerritt
) has in Stephen King
’s film Desperation.
The song is sampled in the Super NES game EarthBound
, as one of the songs played by the in-universe band Runaway Five, with the lyrics changed to 'Midnight Cosworth' due to the game's Midnight Blue Ford Sierra Cosworth.
The song is used in the sequel Fright Night Part II as well as its trailer.
The song is also played in the 2010 movie Megamind.
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
in 1965 and released on the 1966 album The Exciting Wilson Pickett
The Exciting Wilson Pickett
The Exciting Wilson Pickett, released in 1966, was the second album by R&B and soul singer Wilson Pickett. The album charted at #3 on the U.S. Billboard R&B albums chart and #21 on the popular albums chart. According to All Music, this second album firmly established Picket's "stature as a major...
. It was composed by Pickett and Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
at the historic Lorraine Motel in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
where Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
would later be murdered in April 1968. Pickett's first hit on Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, it reached #1 on the R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
charts and peaked at #21 on the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
charts.
The song has become a 1960s soul standard, and placed at #134 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
Mustang Sally (song)
"Mustang Sally" is an R&B/straightforward blues first recorded by Mack Rice in 1965. It gained greater popularity when it was covered by Wilson Pickett on a single the following year. Pickett's version was also included on his 1967 album The Wicked Pickett....
" at #434). It is also one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, Pickett's only such entry. The song is currently ranked as the 89th greatest song of all time, as well as the seventh best song of 1965
1965 in music
-Events:*January 4 – Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is sold to CBS for $13 million.*January 12 – Hullabaloo premieres on NBC. The first show included performances by The New Christy Minstrels, comedian Woody Allen, actress Joey Heatherton and a segment from London in which Brian Epstein...
, by Acclaimed Music.
The track has been covered by many artists, including Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
and Van Morrison's Them
Them (band)
Them were a Northern Irish band formed in Belfast in April 1964, most prominently known for the garage rock standard "Gloria" and launching singer Van Morrison's musical career...
band at the Whisky a Go Go
Whisky a Go Go
The Whisky a Go Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip.-History:...
(1966), Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
who also recorded it live at the Whisky a Go Go in 1966, the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
(who often played it as a closer to their sets in 1966 and 1967), Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
used to play a hard rocking version featuring Marty Balin
Marty Balin
Marty Balin is an American musician. He is best known as the founder and one of the lead singers of the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane.-Early life:Martyn Buchwald was born in Cincinnati, Ohio...
on lead vocals, Chris Farlowe, The Rascals
The Rascals
The Rascals were an American blue-eyed soul group initially active during the years 1965–72. The band released numerous top ten singles in North America during the mid- and late-1960s, including the U.S. #1 hits "Good Lovin'" , "Groovin'" , and "People Got to Be Free"...
, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, the Chocolate Watch Band, Razzy Bailey
Razzy Bailey
Razzy Bailey is an American country music artist.-Early life:Bailey was raised on a farm in La Fayette, Alabama. Bailey got his first experience of musical performance as a member of his high school's Future Farmers of America string band...
, Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
, Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
, The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
, Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an American protopunk guitarist, singer and songwriter.He came to prominence in the early '70s as a member of the New York Dolls...
, The Chambers Brothers
The Chambers Brothers
The Chambers Brothers is a soul-music group, best known for its 1968 hit record, the 11-minute long song "Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions with modern psychedelic and rock elements, spawning a heady mix...
, Roger Troutman
Roger Troutman
Roger Troutman was the lead singer of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the Funk movement and heavily influenced West Coast hip hop due to the scene's heavy sampling of his music over the years...
, The Toasters
The Toasters
The Toasters was one of the first American bands in the third wave of ska, and is one of the longest active third wave ska bands.They have released nine studio albums, most of them on Moon Ska Records. The Toasters experienced a small degree of commercial success in the late 1990s due to the...
, Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
, The Rock Bottom Remainders
Rock Bottom Remainders
The Rock Bottom Remainders is a rock and roll band consisting of published writers, most of them both amateur musicians and popular English-language book, magazine, and newspaper authors. The band took its self-mocking name from the publishing term remaindered book, a work of which the unsold...
, The Commitments
The Commitments
The Commitments is a novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle, and is the first episode in The Barrytown Trilogy. It is a tale about a group of unemployed young people in the north side of Dublin, Ireland, who start a soul band.-Plot summary:...
, Cross Country
Cross Country (band)
Cross Country is a band formed in 1973 by three fourths of the musical group The Tokens- Jay Siegel, Mitch Margo and Phil Margo.The group released one self-titled album.-Track listing:# Today - 2:52# Just A Thought - 3:22# Cross Country - 3:49...
, Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
, Samantha Sang
Samantha Sang
Samantha Sang is a stage name of Australian singer, Cheryl Lau Sang, from Melbourne, who had an earlier career as Cheryl Gray. She had a number eight hit in Australia with "You Made Me What I Am" in 1967. By 1969, she had relocated to United Kingdom and worked with Bee Gees but then returned...
, George Faith
George Faith
Earl George Lawrence , also known as George Faith, Earl George, and George Earl, was a Jamaican reggae singer best known for his work in the 1970s with producers such as Lee "Scratch" Perry and Bunny Lee....
, B. B. King
B. B. King
Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
, Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
and The Silvertones
The Silvertones
The Silvertones were a Jamaican reggae harmony group formed in 1964, best known for their recordings for Lee "Scratch" Perry in the early 1970s.-History:...
.
In early 1967, just a few months after Pickett's version was a hit, the song became a local #1 hit in the Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
area for local garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
band The Wanted (unrelated to pop band The Wanted
The Wanted
The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band based in London, England. The band consists of Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes. Their debut single, "All Time Low", was released in July 2010 and reached number one in the United Kingdom for one week...
). The record was picked up for national release by A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
but failed to dent the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian
Guy Sebastian
Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003. He is currently a judge on the Australian version of The X Factor. Sebastian has released six top ten platinum/multi platinum albums, including a number-one and...
recorded a cover of "In the Midnight Hour" with Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
, the original co-songwriter of this song. Cropper played guitar on and produced the Sebastian version on The Memphis Album
The Memphis Album
The Memphis Album is a cover album of Memphis soul songs by Australian singer Guy Sebastian released in Australia by Sony Music on 10 November 2007. The album was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis with Steve Cropper, Donald 'Duck' Dunn, Steve Potts , and Lester Snell...
. Sebastian and Cropper toured together in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 2008 and there is a DVD/CD The Memphis Tour
The Memphis Tour
-Personnel:DVD and CD* Guy Sebastian - vocals* Steve Cropper - guitar* Donald 'Duck' Dunn - bass* Steve Potts - drums* Lester Snell - piano, keys, organ* Carl Dimatago - guitar* Ben Gurton - trombone* Mat Ottignon - saxophone...
on which "In the Midnight Hour" is tracklisted.
In popular culture
The song plays during a mind-movie flashback (titled “Viet Cong Lookout”) of an experience at a bar during the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
that the character Johnny Marinville (Tom Skerritt
Tom Skerritt
Thomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962.-Early life:...
) has in Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
’s film Desperation.
The song is sampled in the Super NES game EarthBound
EarthBound
EarthBound, also known as EarthBound: The War Against Giygas! and released as in Japan, is a role-playing video game co-developed by Ape and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console...
, as one of the songs played by the in-universe band Runaway Five, with the lyrics changed to 'Midnight Cosworth' due to the game's Midnight Blue Ford Sierra Cosworth.
The song is used in the sequel Fright Night Part II as well as its trailer.
The song is also played in the 2010 movie Megamind.