Wilson Pickett - In The Midnight Hour

The 1965 hit version was mono (it was never mixed to stereo), ran 2:31 on the 45 and LP, and started with a drum roll.

Fake stereo

The first appearances on CD were in fake stereo. All of these really aren't so great. I couldn't extract a coherent mastering history from these, so I'll just list them:

• Atlantic's Atlantic Rhythm And Blues 1947-1974 Vol. 5 (1985 original release)
• Warner Special Products' Atlantic Soul Classics (1985)
• Time-Life's Classic Rock Vol. 1 1965 (1987)
• JCI's Dance Sixties (1988) - digitally exactly 2.2 dB louder than Atlantic Soul Classics
• Time-Life's 2-CD Rock Party (1990)
• JCI's Only Rock And Roll 1965-1969 (1994)

Avoid all of the above.

Mono

All of the mono versions listed below sound better than all of the fake stereo versions listed above.

I found three different analog transfers for the song.

1991: The first is on Atlantic's Atlantic Rhythm And Blues 1947-1974 Vol. 6 (1991 rerelease). The fade starts around 2:14 (around the words "hold you") and ends around 2:37. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Atlantic's Wilson Pickett's Greatest Hits (1987; I don't know how or why this came out four years before the 1991 set. I didn't overthink it.) - missing the opening drum roll, but is otherwise a differently EQ'd digital clone
• Time-Life's Rhythm And Blues Vol. 7 1965 (1991) - missing the opening drum roll, and fade is shortened by about 12 beats compared to the above two CDs
• Time-Life's Solid Gold Soul Vol. 12 1965 (1991) - digitally identical to Rhythm And Blues Vol. 7 1965, so also missing the opening drum roll, and fade is shortened by about 12 beats compared to the top two CDs
• Time-Life's 2-CD Classic R&B Collection Vol. 3 1964-1967 (2000) - digital clone (same EQ and level but added dithering noise) of Rhythm And Blues Vol. 7 1965, so also missing the opening drum roll, and fade is shortened by about 12 beats compared to the top two CDs

1992: The second analog transfer is on Atlantic's multi-disc Wilson Pickett box A Man And A Half (1992), mastered by Stephen Innocenzi. The fade starts about 16 beats later than the earlier mastering, at about 2:23 (after the words "midnight hour"), and ends at 2:32. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Rhino's promo Rhino Atlantic Remasters Collection CD Sampler (1992, PRO2 90127) - digitally identical
• Rhino's Wilson Pickett Very Best Of (1993) - digitally identical
• Rhino's budget multi-artist compilation Soul Hits Vol. 1 (1993)

1994: Finally, there's a third analog transfer on Rhino's Let There Be Drums Vol. 2 The '60s (1994), mastered by Bill Inglot, Dan Hersch, and Ken Perry. Compared to the earlier analog transfers, this one has a slight treble boost that brings out the tape hiss (typical mid-'90s Rhino sound). The fade starts around 2:19 (around the end of the words "just you and I") and ends at 2:32. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Rhino's promo Rock The Dome (1994; PRCD 7101) - differently EQ'd digital clone
• Rhino's Atlantic Ultimate '60s Soul Sensation (1998) - differently EQ'd digital clone
• Rhino's New Millennium Soul Party (2000) - differently EQ'd digital clone

All three of the above mono masterings are true mono. (The 1991 mastering out-of-phase sums to dithering noise. The 1992 mastering out-of-phase sums to zero. The 1994 mastering has a tiny difference in level/EQ between the channels.) All have great dynamic range and no evidence of noise reduction on the fade. The EQ is a little different among them (the 1991 is a little flat-sounding, the 1994 is a little treble-boosted).

Finally, there's one outlier that doesn't match any of the above and doesn't sound very good: Atco's Classic Recordings (1991)

My recommendation

I'm going to go with Rhino's Let There Be Drums Vol. 2 The '60s (1994).

Apparently, I have a bias toward the Bill Inglot work!

Edited by crapfromthepast

Great detective work, as always! Sounds like I may be playing one the versions without the roll; I need to correct that.

It also sounds like all of them go longer than the original single. I wonder how much vamping there is at the end of the original tape? It would be interesting to hear it all the way out.

Are all the masterings the same tempo? I ask because that could affect the lengths. I initially am drawn to the one that runs 2:37 but if the difference is speed rather than actual measures of music, there's no benefit.

Can the '94 mastering be summed to mono, or can you use just one channel and get a flat or reasonably flat mono recording?

I have the 1984 CD of Atlantic's "The Best of Wilson
Pickett" which is where I assume the fake stereo version
might have originated, but I can send you the track to
compare if you like?

Do the 1994 transfers have the opening drum roll?

Just learned that Real Gone Music's Land Of 1000 Dances (The Complete Atlantic Singles Vol. 1) (2016) has a great-sounding version that fades from 2:33 to 2:38, which runs longer than any of the versions I listed above and includes the opening drum roll.

And just like that, I have a new recommendation!

I've been really impressed with the (relatively) recent releases of "Complete Atlantic Singles Collection"-type packages. Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, now Wilson Pickett. Finally, these artists are getting some great-sounding releases of the hit mono mixes.