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This week’s Song of the Week is Wilson Pickett’s 1965 soul classic “In the Midnight Hour.” Pickett’s career had begun a decade before when he joined the gospel group the Violinaires, but he didn’t achieve commercial success until joining a secular group, the Falcons. They hit number six on the R&B charts with “I Found a Love” in 1962.

Pickett began making solo records shortly after this and scored a number seven hit on the R&B charts with “It’s Still Late” on the Double L. Records label. This brought him to the attention of Atlantic Records, who purchased his contract. “In the Midnight Hour” was Wilson Pickett’s third single for Atlantic Records and his first hit on the label.

Billboard gave “In the Midnight Hour” a positive review in its June 12, 1965 issue:

Recording date/location

“In the Midnight Hour” was recorded on May 12, 1965 at Stax Studios in Memphis.

Authorship

The song was composed by Wilson Pickett and Steve Cropper. The pair composed the song at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, which would later become infamous as the venue of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Musicians

The following musicians played on the session that produced “In the Midnight Hour.”

• Wilson Pickett – vocals
• Steve Cropper – guitar
• Donald “Duck” Dunn – bass
• Joe Hall – piano
• Al Jackson, Jr. – drums
• Wayne Jackson – trumpet
• Andrew Love – tenor sax
• Charles “Packy” Axton – tenor sax
• Gene Miller – trumpet
• Floyd Newman – baritone sax.

Chart performance

“In the Midnight Hour” hit number one on the US R&B charts on August 1, 1965.

The song peaked at number 21 on the pop charts. It also appeared on the album “The Exciting Wilson Pickett,” which hit number 21 on Billboard pop albums chart. “In the Midnight Hour” was one of four hits from that album.

Covers

The Jam – “In the Midnight Hour”

“In the Midnight Hour” was the last track on The Jam’s second album “This Is the Modern World,” which was released in November 1977.

BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Billy Ocean- “In the Midnight Hour”

BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Billy Ocean performed an energetic rendition of “In the Midnight Hour” during a live performance at the Ebony Showcase Theatre in Los Angeles on April 15, 1987.

Chaka Kan, Etta James and several others were also on hand to provide backing vocals.

The Silvertones – “In the Midnight Hour”

The Silvertones were a Jamaican reggae harmony group formed in 1964. They also performed as The Musketeers and The Muskyteers. The Silvertone’s 1968 cover of “In the Midnight Hour” was one of several singles the band released on the Treasure Isle label, before doing their best known work for Lee “Scratch” Perry in the early 1970s.

The Commitments – “in the Midnight Hour”

The Commitments is a 1991 film about young people from Dublin starting a soul band. It was directed by Alan Parker and adapted from the 1987 novel of the same name by Roddy Doyle. The idea of getting a bunch of young Irish actors to replicate Stax and Atlantic classics sounded like a tall order, but they did a surprisingly solid job, led by the powerhouse vocals of 16-year-old Andrew Strong.

The movie won the BAFTA Award for Best Film and soundtrack album and received both Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.

There will be a new Song of the Week on June 21.

“In the Midnight Hour” features on the great 2-CD compilation “Wilson Pickett – The Definitive Collection,” which you can pick up from the following online retailers:

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