“In The Midnight Hour” (W. Pickett, S. Cropper) – Wilson Pickett; Atlantic label, # 1 Billboard R&B, # 21 Billboard Hot 100 - 1965. Inducted in 2010.
After his first two Atlantic singles failed to chart, producer Jerry Wexler brought Wilson Pickett to Memphis in 1965 to record with the multi-racial soul music band, Booker T. & The MG’s. Pickett and the white guitarist from the MG’s, Steve Cropper, wrote and recorded “In The Midnight Hour” at the first session they worked together.
Cropper had listened to some of Pickett’s early recordings before the session began and he noticed that Wilson had sung the phrase, “In the midnight hour”, at the end of several of them. When the two sat down to write some new songs, Cropper suggested that Pickett use the phrase. Within an hour, the pair had written the soul music classic that would make Wilson Pickett a star.
“In The Midnight Hour” had a delayed backbeat that made it perfect for a brand new dance that was sweeping the country called ‘the jerk’. It would not only become Pickett’s first Top 40 hit, but also his first of five # 1 R&B hits during his illustrious career. “In The Midnight Hour” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
