In the Midnight Hour : Rolling Stone

Written by: Pickett, Steve Cropper
Produced by: Jerry Wexler, Jim Stewart
Released: July '65 on Atlantic
Charts: 12 weeks
Top spot: No. 21

Pickett's first two singles for Atlantic were recorded in New York, and they flopped. "I told Jerry Wexler I didn't want to be recorded this way anymore," Pickett said. "I said I heard a song by Otis Redding out of Memphis, and that's the direction I wanted to take." Pickett was soon in Memphis with Booker T. and the MG's cutting "In the Midnight Hour" when an idea shot Wexler out of his seat. "I was shaking my booty to a groove made popular by the Larks' 'The Jerk,' a mid-Sixties hit," wrote Wexler. "The idea was to push the second beat while holding back the fourth." And a soul classic was born.

Appears on: The Very Best of Wilson Pickett (Rhino)

Next: While My Guitar Gently Weeps

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