“Knock On Wood” is a soul song written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper. Floyd said it was first written for Otis Redding, but Stax producer Jim Stewart turned the idea down. Cropper said it was written at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis during a lightning storm, and its chord progression is based on the Wilson Pickett version of “In the Midnight Hour” (1965), played in reverse.
Floyd recorded it on July 13, 1966 at Stax's house studio in Memphis, with Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Isaac Hayes on piano and Wayne Jackson on trumpet, produced by Jim Stewart. Stax released it as a single on July 25, 1966, with “Got to Make a Comeback” on the B-side, and it became the title track of Floyd's debut album, released January 26, 1967. The single peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent one week at No. 1 on the Soul Singles chart. It received RIAA Gold certification on July 17, 1995.
Later versions include Otis Redding and Carla Thomas's single from September 1967, which reached No. 30 on the Hot 100, David Bowie's live recording from 1974 (RCA single), and Amii Stewart's 1979 disco version, the most successful on weekly charts and No. 1 in the US.
