| Blue Night | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1994, France 1995, United States | |||
| Recorded | March 1994 | |||
| Studio | Cherokee (Hollywood) | |||
| Genre | Soul, R&B | |||
| Label | Sky Ranch [1] Pointblank/Virgin [2] | |||
| Producer | Barry Goldberg, Saul Davis | |||
| Percy Sledge chronology | ||||
| ||||
Blue Night is an album by the American musician singer Percy Sledge, released in 1994. [3] [4] Sledge considered it his first album since the early 1970s. [5]
The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary Blues Album". [6]
Recorded in Los Angeles in March 1994, the album was produced by Barry Goldberg and Saul Davis. [1] [2] Steve Cropper, Bobby Womack, and Mick Taylor contributed guitar parts to the album. [7]
Blue Night's liner notes were penned by Jerry Wexler. [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [9] |
| The Indianapolis Star | [10] |
| MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide | [11] |
| USA Today |  [12] |
The Ottawa Citizen thought that Sledge's "story songs are told from an adult perspective, unflinching and real as rain." [13] USA Today wrote that Sledge breathes "emotional fire into the Temptations' 'I Wish It Would Rain', Otis Redding's 'I've Got Dreams to Remember' and James Carr's 'These Ain't Raindrops'." [12] Marc D. Allan, of The Indianapolis Star , considered the album "easily the best record I've heard this year," writing that "the music is live and passionate, with a minimum of strings and clutter in the arrangements but enough horns and female backing vocals to punctuate the lyrics." [10]
The Guardian noted that "Steve Cropper leads the simpatico, understated accompaniment to complete a polished update of steamy, old-style southern soul." [14] The Vancouver Sun determined that Blue Night "might be better considered as urban blues than soul/R&B." [15] The Irish Times wrote: "Gravelled by age and experience, this guy just breathes in the direction of lyrics and potential sap turns to music poetry of the most potent kind." [16]
In a retrospective article, Rolling Stone praised Sledge's cover of Fats Domino's "Goin' Home", writing that, "goosed along by slide guitar from former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor, [it] shows that if Sledge wanted to, he could've rocked as hard as any other Louisiana R&B singer." [17] MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide called Sledge "emotionally centered and nothing less than inspiring." [11]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You Got Away with Love" | Pat Robinson, Rocky Burnette | 4:15 |
| 2. | "Love Comes Knockin'" | David Malloy, Gregg Sutton | 3:42 |
| 3. | "Why Did You Stop" | Carla Olson | 4:40 |
| 4. | "I Wish It Would Rain" | Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield, Roger Penzabene | 3:12 |
| 5. | "Blue Night" | Hasse Huss, Mikael Rickfors | 4:48 |
| 6. | "These Ain't Raindrops" | Quinton Claunch | 2:48 |
| 7. | "Your Love Will Save the World" | Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb | 3:47 |
| 8. | "First You Cry" | Buddy Flett, David Egan | 3:56 |
| 9. | "Going Home Tomorrow" | Alvin E. Young, Antoine Domino | |
| 10. | "The Grand Blvd." | Carla Olson, George Green | 5:40 |
| 11. | "I've Got Dreams to Remember" | Joe Rock, Otis Redding, Zelma Redding | 4:09 |
