| 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 |
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening, where U.S. record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa. It also had a resurgence in the mid-to late 1990s with the subgenre neo-soul, which added modern production elements and influence from hip-hop.
What's the 411? is the debut album by American R&B singer Mary J. Blige. It was released on July 28, 1992, by Uptown Records and MCA Records. After signing a record contract with Uptown, Blige began working on the album with producer Sean "Puffy" Combs. Other producers and songwriters included DeVante Swing, Tony Dofat, Dave Hall, Mark Morales and Mark "Cory" Rooney. The resulting music covered hip hop soul, contemporary R&B, and new jack swing styles.
Michael Kevin Taylor is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on Let It Bleed (1969), Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert (1970), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goats Head Soup (1973) and It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974).
Percy Tyrone Sledge was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, Gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
Weezer is the debut studio album by the American rock band Weezer, released on May 10, 1994, by DGC Records. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars.
Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul is the third studio album by American soul singer and songwriter Otis Redding. It was first released on September 15, 1965, as an LP record through the Stax Records subsidiary label Volt.
Barry Joseph Goldberg is an American blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Goldberg has co-produced albums by Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, and the Textones, plus Bob Dylan's version of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".
Donald James Randolph, better known by the stage name Don Covay, was an American R&B, rock and roll, and soul singer-songwriter most active from the 1950s to the 1970s.
A Quiet Storm is the 1975 third solo album by American soul singer, songwriter, and producer Smokey Robinson. The album received generally positive reviews, and spawned the hit single "Baby That's Backatcha", which spent one week at the top of the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.
"When a Man Loves a Woman" is a song written by Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright and first recorded by Percy Sledge in 1966 at Norala Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. It made number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts. Country singer John Wesley Ryles had a minor hit with his version of the song in 1976 while singer and actress Bette Midler recorded the song 14 years later and had a Top 40 hit with her version in 1990. In 1991, Michael Bolton recorded the song and his version peaked at number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles chart.
"I've Been Loving You Too Long" (originally "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)") is a soul music ballad written by Otis Redding and Jerry Butler. Considered by music critics and writers to be one of Redding's finest performances and a soul classic, it is a slow, emotional piece with Redding's pleading vocals backed by producer Steve Cropper's arpeggiated guitar parts and a horn section.
"Mercy, Mercy" is a soul song first recorded by American singer/songwriter Don Covay in 1964. It established Covay's recording career and influenced later vocal and guitar styles. The songwriting is usually credited to Covay and Ron Alonzo Miller, although other co-writers' names have also appeared on various releases.
Soul Dressing is the second album by the Southern soul band Booker T. & the M.G.'s, released in 1965. It was their final album with bassist Lewie Steinberg, who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn.
Soul Men is an album by the R&B duo Sam & Dave, released in 1967. It reached No. 5 on the Billboard Top R&B LPs chart and No. 62 on the Top LPs chart. The album launched the hit single "Soul Man", which peaked at No. 1 on the R&B Singles chart and No. 2 on the Hot 100 Singles chart. The song won Sam & Dave a Grammy in 1967 for Best R&B Group, Vocal or Instrumental.
"That's How Strong My Love Is" is a song written by Roosevelt Jamison and first recorded in 1964 by deep soul singer O. V. Wright.
Passion Play is the tenth album by the American musician Teena Marie, released in 1994. The album was produced by Marie and Doug Grigsby. She had parted company with Epic Records following disappointing sales of her 1990 album Ivory, and Passion Play was released on her own independent label, Sarai. Without the backing of a major label, the album received only limited distribution, sold modestly, and failed to chart. Marie engaged in legal action related to the album's distribution.
True Love Travels on a Gravel Road is a song written by the Frazier-Owens songwriting team and popularized by Elvis Presley. It was originally recorded by Duane Dee in 1968, and was a very minor hit, reaching #58 on the country charts. Elvis recorded the song on 17 February 1969 at American Sound Studios in Memphis. He also performed the song at the International Hotel in the Las Vegas Valley on January 26, 1970. It appears on From Elvis in Memphis, as well as a number of compilations; The Memphis Record, The Memphis 1969 Anthology: Suspicious Minds, and From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential '60s Masters.
Otis Ray Redding Jr. was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singer-songwriters in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. Nicknamed the "King of Soul", Redding's style of singing gained inspiration from the gospel music that preceded the genre. His singing style influenced many other soul artists of the 1960s.
Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul, or simply Dictionary of Soul, is the fifth studio album by American soul singer-songwriter Otis Redding and his last solo studio album released before his death. The successful Otis Blue and the following performance at Whisky a Go Go led to his rising fame across the United States. The first side of the album mainly contains cover versions, and the second songs mainly written by Redding.
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