Alan Jackson Paid Tribute to a Country Icon With This Early Hit in 1992

In 1992, Alan Jackson had a Top 5 hit with “Midnight In Montgomery“. Written by Jackson and Don Sampson, “Midnight In Montgomery” is the fourth single from Jackson’s sophomore Don’t Rock The Jukebox record.

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“Midnight In Montgomery” is a tribute to Hank Williams. A country music pioneer, Williams was just 29 years old when he passed away on January 1, 1953.

Throughout “Midnight In Montgomery”, Jackson borrows lines from one of Williams’s biggest hits, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. In the song, Jackson pays a visit to Williams’s grave on his way to a New Year’s Eve show in Mobile.

The song says, “‘Cause it’s midnight in Montgomery / Just hear that whip-poor-will / See the stars light up the purple sky / Feel that lonesome chill / ‘Cause when the wind is right you’ll hear his songs / Smell whiskey in the air / Midnight in Montgomery / He’s always singing there.”

What Inspired Alan Jackson To Write “Midnight In Montgomery”

Jackson drew a lot of inspiration from Williams for his own career, which is what inspired him to write and release “Midnight In Montgomery”.

“Hank Williams has always been just such a big part of what real country music is—and a poet,” Jackson explains. “He showed how simply you can write; people still need to learn that from him. And he’s a reason I moved to Nashville.”

In a separate interview, Jackson shared how much Williams impacted almost every aspect of his own career.

“I’m a huge admirer of his songwriting and his whole life,” Jackson tells The Spokesman Review. “It still affects a lot of people, even young artists coming along who are just like me (in that) he was dead before I was born, and I was older before I really knew that much about him or his music.”

“He was from Alabama, not far from where I was raised in Georgia, and it’s real similar,” he continues. “There’s just something different about growing up down in those parts, that rural, Southern, Georgia-Alabama-Mississippi kind of raising. I read things about him, and it kind of reminds me of the way I grew up, even though it was many years later.”

Although “Midnight In Montgomery” remains one of Jackson’s fan-favorite songs, it is the only single from Don’t Rock the Jukebox that didn’t hit No. 1. But after receiving 12 CMA Awards nominations, without winning a trophy, Jackson won his first CMA Award in 1992, for Music Video of the Year.

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