What 1965 soul song by Wilson Pickett is often called his signature tune?

The 1965 soul song by Wilson Pickett often called his signature tune is “In the Midnight Hour.” It was Pickett’s breakthrough hit and his first major success for Atlantic Records.

Pickett recorded the song at Stax Studios in Memphis on May 12, 1965, with Stax musicians including guitarist and co-writer Steve Cropper, drummer Al Jackson Jr., and bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn. Cropper and Pickett wrote the song, while producer Jerry Wexler helped shape its distinctive delayed backbeat, influenced by the popular Jerk dance.

The single reached No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B chart and No. 21 on the Hot 100. Its Memphis recording also connected Pickett’s Atlantic career with the Stax studio sound, a defining partnership in Southern soul.

The distractors are associated with Pickett but are not the canonical answer: “634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)” and “Land of 1000 Dances” were later hits, while “Mustang Sally” became especially famous through later recordings by other artists.