Who recorded it first
After Midnight
Not an Eric Clapton original — a 1966 J.J. Cale single on Liberty
‘After Midnight’ is one of Eric Clapton’s signature songs, and most listeners take it for his. It was written and first recorded by J.J. Cale, who released it as a single on Liberty Records in November 1966; Clapton did not cut his version until January 1970. Cale’s 45 sold nothing, and by late 1967 he had given up on Los Angeles and gone home to Tulsa — he only learned the song had become a hit when he heard Clapton’s record on the radio. There is a second twist: after Clapton’s success Cale re-recorded the song, slower, for Naturally (1971), and that remake — not the 1966 Liberty original — is the ‘J.J. Cale version’ most people have actually heard.
The record
Who recorded it first
Released Issued as a 7-inch single on Liberty Records (US catalogue 55931) in November 1966, coupled with ‘Slow Motion’. Which side was the plug side is genuinely unsettled: the Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records lists ‘After Midnight’ as the A-side and MusicBrainz’s copy of the promo pressing agrees, while the Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music and uDiscover Music put ‘Slow Motion’ first. We could not settle it, and say so rather than pick one.
Charted Did not chart. The record sank without trace — Cale told Swampland.com in 2004 that he had “tried to give the thing away” before Clapton cut it (quoted by Guitar Player), and within a year he had abandoned Los Angeles for Tulsa, unable to make a living as a recording artist.
How we traced it
The song was written by J.J. Cale and first recorded by him, released as a single on Liberty Records in November 1966 with ‘Slow Motion’ on the other side Wikipedia ↗.
The pressing itself is catalogued — Liberty 55931, United States, 1966, a 7-inch carrying ‘After Midnight’ and ‘Slow Motion’ MusicBrainz ↗. We looked for an earlier recording of the song by anyone, and found none.
Eric Clapton cut his version in January 1970 at Island Studios, London, with Delaney Bramlett producing, and Polydor released it that October Wikipedia ↗. It reached No. 18 in America uDiscover Music ↗.
Cale then re-recorded his own song, deliberately slower, for Naturally (released 25 October 1971); the remake was issued as a Shelter single in 1972 backed with ‘Crying Eyes’ and reached No. 42 Wikipedia ↗. He described the 1966 Liberty 45 as the fast one Guitar Player ↗.
Wikipedia — the 1966 original, Clapton’s cover and every version sinceKnow more about the original — or think we’ve got it wrong? Add a source →
Fact-check
The attribution problem
Clapton has never claimed the song — he has spent decades telling interviewers how much he admired J.J. Cale, and Cale’s name is on the label. The misattribution is entirely the listener’s: the 1970 record is so much better known than the 1966 one that the original effectively disappeared behind it.
‘It’s an Eric Clapton song’
Clapton recorded it in January 1970 and Polydor released it that October. Cale’s own single had come out in November 1966 the history ↗.
J.J. Cale, November 1966
A 7-inch on Liberty Records, coupled with ‘Slow Motion’ and taken much faster than the version most people picture. It did not chart the pressing ↗.
J.J. Cale
Cale wrote it as well as recording it first, so authorship and first recording point at one person — and neither points at Clapton. That is unusual for a song this widely misattributed.
The Naturally re-recording, 1971
After Clapton’s hit, Cale re-cut the song at a slower tempo for his debut album; that version, issued as a Shelter single in 1972 and a No. 42 hit, is the ‘Cale original’ nearly everyone has actually heard. The trap is real enough that the ‘Official Audio’ upload attached to the 1966 single’s own encyclopedia entry is in fact the remake — its distributor line names Naturally and carries a 1972 copyright.
Written and first recorded by J.J. Cale and released on Liberty Records in November 1966; Eric Clapton’s January 1970 recording made it famous but did not make it first the record ↗.
Context
Why the cover ate the original
A cover swallows its original most easily when the original was never heard. Cale’s 1966 Liberty single did not chart and did not sell: he was an unknown studio hand in Los Angeles, the 45 vanished, and by late 1967 he had given up on making a living as a recording artist and gone back to Tulsa. So when Clapton’s version arrived in 1970 there was no famous first record sitting in the public memory to be displaced — and Cale himself did not know the cover existed until he heard it on the radio.
The second layer is stranger. Clapton’s hit is what produced a J.J. Cale album at all: his friend and producer Audie Ashworth told him to capitalise on it, and Naturally followed on 25 October 1971 with a new, deliberately slow ‘After Midnight’ on it — Cale’s reasoning being that if he was going to do it again he would do it differently. That remake became a No. 42 hit of its own in 1972 and is now the definitive Cale recording, which means even the listeners who know the song is a cover are usually picturing the wrong Cale record. The fast 1966 master barely circulates.
The three records, in order
- November 1966 — J.J. Cale releases ‘After Midnight’, which he wrote, as a single on Liberty Records (US 55931), coupled with ‘Slow Motion’. It does not chart.
- Late 1967 — unable to sustain an income as a recording artist in Los Angeles, Cale returns to Tulsa.
- January 1970 — Eric Clapton records the song at Island Studios, London, produced by Delaney Bramlett, with Leon Russell, Carl Radle, Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon, Jim Price and Bobby Keys on the session.
- 12 August 1970 — the recording appears on Clapton’s self-titled solo debut (Atco/Polydor).
- October 1970 — Polydor issues it as a single backed with ‘Easy Now’. It reaches No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 13 on the Cash Box Top 100. Cale learns of it only when he hears it on the radio.
- 25 October 1971 — urged on by producer Audie Ashworth, Cale releases his debut album Naturally, containing a slower re-recording of the song.
- 1972 — the re-recording is issued as a Shelter single backed with ‘Crying Eyes’ and reaches No. 42 on the Hot 100.
- 1987 — Clapton re-records the song again, for a Michelob commercial.
Even the ‘J.J. Cale original’ most people have heard is a remake.