♫ In The Midnight Hour ♫

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The year was 1965.  The artist was Wilson Pickett, and In the Midnight Hour would become his breakout hit, hitting #21 in the U.S. and #12 in the UK.  He went on to become a soul music legend and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

Pickett and guitarist Steve Cropper wrote this, interestingly, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where Martin Luther King would later be assassinated in 1968.  Said Cropper …

“I say in my shows that playing the guitar is real simple, you just follow the dots – the dots on neck on every guitar are in the same place. That’s how I came up with the intro for this. They go, It couldn’t be that simple,’ then all of them go home and get their guitars out and go, ‘Wow, it is!'”

In the Midnight Hour
Wilson Pickett

I’m gonna wait ’till the midnight hour
That’s when my love come tumbling down
I’m gonna wait ’till the midnight hour
When there’ no one else around
I’m gonna take you, girl, and hold you
And do all things I told you, in the midnight hour

Yes I am, oh yes I am
One thing I just wanna say, right here

I’m gonna wait till the stars come out
And see that twinkle in your eyes
I’m gonna wait ’till the midnight hour
That’s when my love begins to shine

You’re the only girl I know
Can really love me so, in the midnight hour

Oh yeah, in the midnight hour
Yeah, all right, play it for me one time, now

I’m gonna wait ’till the midnight hour
That’s when my love come tumbling down
I’m gonna wait, way in the midnight hour
That’s when my love begin to shine, just you and I
Oh, baby, just you and I
Nobody around, baby, just you and I
Oh, right, you know what?
I’m gonna hold you in my arms, just you and I
Oh yeah, in the midnight hour
Oh, baby, in the midnight hour

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Wilson Pickett / Steve Cropper
In the Midnight Hour lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group, Spirit Music Group, BMG Rights Management, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music Inc

14 thoughts on “♫ In The Midnight Hour ♫”

      • Oh, Jill, if you only knew everything I liked. I had 8 older siblings growing up, and they gave me a love of everything from KA-LI-GA to North to Alaska, and all the way into Ronnie Dove (Can you imagine me singing “When Liking Turns to Loving”? I tried!) Roy Orbison is one of my 50’s favourites, but I ‘m not sure how well you know him, except maybe from the Travelling Wilburys. But I’m thinking I’m needing some early Doors soon, it’s been awhile since I let Jim mumble at me.

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  5. Jill, the Staxx Records sound that emanated from the Memphis area with folks like Wilson Pickett and Steve Cropper was profound. This soulful song rendered by one of greatest voices is worth the listen. The band which was the basis for Booker T and the MGs (think “Green Onions” and later the Blues Brothers) backed many a great artist like Pickett, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, etc. Great tune. Keith

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