who sings the song in the heat of the night
In the Heat of the Night (Ray Charles song) "In the Heat of the Night" is a 1967 song performed by Ray Charles, composed by Quincy Jones, and written by Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman for the film In the Heat of the Night. As Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic states, the song "opens the film and accompanying soundtrack with a slice of real, rural backwoods gospel. Lyrically, one of the key lines is 'In the heat of the night/I'm feeling motherless somehow,' which clearly illustrates the main character's dilemma of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The main melody is guided by Charles' funky piano work and is buttressed by then-session ace Billy Preston's powerful, soulful organ trills. The underlying sense of drama that is so much a part of the film is reflected perfectly in this song, and the Ray Charles Singers add to this with a stately grace. It's perfect listening for a midsummer night when the temperature is just a bit too hot for comfort."[1]
In the Heat of the Night (film) Although the film was set in the fictional Mississippi town of Sparta (with supposedly no connection to the real Sparta, Mississippi), most of the movie was filmed in Sparta, Illinois, where many of the film's landmarks can still be seen. The quote "They call me Mister Tibbs!" was listed as number 16 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes, a list of top film quotes. In 2002, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".