"After Midnight" is a rock song by

J. J. Cale John Weldon "J. J." Cale (December 5, 1938 – July 26, 2013) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Though he avoided the limelight, his influence as a musical artist has been acknowledged by figures such as Neil Young, Mark Knopf ...

, first released in 1966.

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

later covered it for his eponymous album, released in 1970. Clapton's rendition became a success, prompting Cale to re-record the song for his own 1971 album '' Naturally''. In 1987, Clapton later re-recorded the song for a

Michelob Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in othe ...

beer commercial and then released the re-recording as a single. "After Midnight" has been considered one of Clapton's

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

s throughout his career. Other artists covered the song in later years.

Background and releases

Cale recorded the song and then released it in 1966 as a single with its flipside track "Slow Motion". This source names "After Midnight" the A-side track of the 1966 single. When Eric Clapton was working with Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett, Delaney Bramlett introduced Clapton to the music of J.J. Cale. "After Midnight" was the first of several Cale cover songs released by Clapton and appeared on his self-titled debut album. The performers on this version were Clapton on vocals and guitar,

Bobby Whitlock Robert Stanley Whitlock (born March 18, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as a member of the blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos, with Eric Clapton, in 1970–71. Whitlock's musical career began with Memph ...

on organ and vocals, Jim Gordon on drums,

Delaney Bramlett Delaine Alvin "Delaney" Bramlett (July 1, 1939 – December 27, 2008) was an American singer and guitarist. He was best known for his musical partnership with his wife Bonnie Bramlett in the band Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, which included a ...

on rhythm guitar,

Carl Radle Carl Dean Radle (June 18, 1942 – May 30, 1980) was an American bassist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s. He was posthumously inducted to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame ...

on bass,

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock a ...

on piano, Jim Price on trumpet, and

Bobby Keys Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Nilsson, Delaney ...

on saxophone. It also appears on '' Just One Night'', a live album recorded in Japan in 1979. In 1987, Clapton re-recorded the song for a

beer commercial. The 1988 re-recording was released on the anthology box set

Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...

and as a single with different B-side tracks: "I Can't Stand It" for the seven-inch vinyl, "Whatcha Gonna Do" for the twelve-inch vinyl and the CD, and live recording "Sunshine of Your Love" as the CD's one of three tracks. Another live version was released on '' Live from Madison Square Garden'' with

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

on organ. Clapton said in his 2014 interview with ''

The San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'':

The construction of "After Midnight" was great and it had everything The thing that summed up J.J. for me is it had a little country, a little blues, it was rock and there was this guitar part that was baffling. That has always been the fascinating part; I still don’t think we got it right n my version I’ve always been in awe of J.J.’s technique... He was a rhythm guitar player and a great lead guitar player, too. But when he played rhythm, it was very difficult to get it and know what he was doing. When we ecordedit, me and Delaney both did he guitar partit at hesame time, and it was a really difficult claw-hammer
icking Icking is a municipality in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria in Germany. People * Anita Augspurg, lived in Icking from 1916 until she fled the Nazis * Dieter Borsche, actor, lived in Icking in the beginning of the '60s. * Be ...
thing. I thought: "This is too hard," so we made a meal out of it. What got me is that it appeared to be a very complex track and I was just intrigued, and thought: "I've got to try and get this ight" Cale was coming from this very soulful white music. It was at Delaney's insistence that I did After Midnight' and that was probably one of the first songs we decided to record. And that began my association with J.J., really.

Cale was unaware of Clapton's recording of the song until it became a radio hit in 1970. He recalled to ''

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'' magazine that when he heard Clapton's version playing on his radio, "I was dirt poor, not making enough to eat and I wasn’t a young man. I was in my thirties, so I was very happy. It was nice to make some money." Cale's friend and producer Audie Ashworth then encouraged him to capitalize on the song's success by recording a full album, '' Naturally'', released in 1971. Cale issued the re-recorded version as a single the following year with its B-side track, "Crying Eyes." The re-recorded version reached #42 on the Billboard Hot 100. Cale told ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' in his 1990 interview about Clapton's version:

I thought: 'Well, that won't go anywhere'. ..A year later, they started playing it on every radio station, including in my hometown. The first time I heard it on my car radio I just drove off to the side of the road. Because I'd never heard anything of my own on the radio before... All record companies want big-selling records, and my music is a little too raw for commercial success. People are familiar with my songs, especially through Eric Clapton. But I have a hard time drawing a crowd, because I have been a songwriter. I've never sold a lot of records; my music's gotten much more famous than me.

Cale released a live version on the album ''Live'' in 2001.

Chart performance

Critical reception

Thom Owens of ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'' said in his review about Cale's 1972 album ''Naturally'', including Cale's re-recorded version of the song, that "Cale effortlessly capture a lazy, rolling boogie" opposite to the early 1970s mainstream "styles of boogie, blues, and country rock." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said of Clapton's version that "driving dance rhythm and Clapton's guitar work unite to create sales force behind the effort." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that Eric Clapton sings 'After Midnight' in a soulful way and lays down some boss riffs."

Album title

There was also a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

accompanied by two audio CDs (released in 2006) from a

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

(featuring former

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frontman

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...

) filmed at the

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in Mountain View,

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, on 21 September 1988, which contains 14 tracks that span Clapton's entire career including classic hits from his stint with

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

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Derek & The Dominos Derek and the Dominos was an English–American blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by singer-guitarist Eric Clapton, keyboardist-singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. All four members had previously played ...

, as well as his successful solo work.

Other cover versions

In addition to Clapton, the song has been recorded by various artists, like

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...

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and

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, and Mark Gillespie.

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and his band Brasil '77 covered the song for their 1971 album ''País Tropical''. It was also recorded by the reggae band the Pioneers under the title "Let It All Hang Out" on the album ''Yeah'', from 1971, released by

Trojan Records Trojan Records is a British record label founded by Jamaican Duke Reid, Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. Th ...

. Both, Furthur and Yonder Mountain String Band, performed the song live at All Good Music Festival in 2010. The modern bluegrass band

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recorded the song as the title track of their 1981 album of the same name, and often featured an extended-jam version in their concerts. The

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performed a version of the song on ''

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire variety talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing w ...

'' on February 27, 2014.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1966 songs 1970 singles Eric Clapton songs J. J. Cale songs Liberty Records singles Polydor Records singles Shelter Records singles Songs written by J. J. Cale Song recordings produced by Delaney Bramlett Songs about nights