It's Your Night

It's Your Night
Studio album by James Ingram
Released	July 27, 1983
Recorded	1982–1983
Studio	Westlake (Los Angeles) Ocean Way (Los Angeles)
Genre	R&B, disco, funk, soul
Length	41:19
Label	Qwest Warner Bros.
Producer	Quincy Jones
James Ingram chronology
It's Your Night (1983) Never Felt So Good (1986)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]

It's Your Night is the debut album by American singer-songwriter James Ingram, released by Qwest Records/Warner Records on July 27, 1983. The album was commercially successful, as it peaked at number 46 on the Billboard 200 album chart and reached number 10 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. It was later certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in early 1984, making this his highest-charting album and only RIAA-certified album.

The aforementioned album and its parent singles were nominated for quadruple Grammy Awards for both 1984 and 1985, with "Yah Mo B There", a duet with singer Michael McDonald, winning for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group.

It was his first on Qwest Records, which was run by Quincy Jones.

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Quincy Jones.

Side A

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Party Animal"	James Ingram Richard Page Mark Vieha	4:55
2.	"Yah Mo B There"	Ingram Quincy Jones Michael McDonald Rod Temperton	4:40
3.	"She Loves Me (The Best That I Can Be)"	Jim Photoglo Brian Francis Neary	3:40
4.	"Try Your Love Again"	Glen Ballard Brock Walsh	4:25

Side B

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Whatever We Imagine"	David Foster Paul Gordon Jeremy Lubbock	3:58
6.	"One More Rhythm"	Temperton	4:05
7.	"There's No Easy Way"	Barry Mann	3:51
8.	"It's Your Night"	Ingram Mann Cynthia Weil	3:37
9.	"How Do You Keep the Music Playing?"	Alan and Marilyn Bergman Michel Legrand	4:16

Personnel

James Ingram – lead vocals, synthesizers (1, 2, 8), synth bass (1), arrangements (1, 2), backing vocals (2, 8), keyboards (8) Michael Boddicker – synthesizers (1–3, 8) Greg Phillinganes – keyboards (1, 4), synthesizers (1, 4, 6), acoustic piano (6) Mark Vieha – synthesizers (1), arrangements (1) Craig Hundley – synthesizer programming (1, 4-6), synthesizers (4) Quincy Jones – arrangements (1–3, 7, 9), African voices (2), electric piano (3) Michael McDonald – synthesizers (2), arrangements (2), lead and backing vocals (2) Rod Temperton – synthesizers (2, 6), arrangements (2) Robbie Buchanan – keyboards (3), synthesizers (3, 8), arrangements (3) Don Dorsey – synthesizers (3) David Paich – synthesizers (3, 7, 9), arrangements (7) David Foster – keyboards (5), synthesizers (5), acoustic piano (9), arrangements (9) Ian Underwood – synthesizer programming (5, 6) Jimmy Smith – organ (6), synthesizers (6) Steve Porcaro – synthesizer programming (7, 9) Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars (1, 4, 8, 9) Larry Carlton – guitars (3) George Doering – guitars (9) Louis Johnson – bass guitar (1, 8) Abe Laboriel – bass guitar (7) Nathan East – bass guitar (9) Harvey Mason – drums (1) John Robinson – drums (2, 4, 5, 7, 8) Raymond Calhoun – drums (3) Leon "Ndugu" Chancler – drums (9) Paulinho Da Costa – percussion (2, 4, 5, 8)

Steve Ray – fingerpopper (8) Ernie Watts – tenor sax solo (4) Larry Williams – saxophones (4, 6) Tom Scott – lyricon (5), saxophones (6), lyricon solo (8) Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone (4, 6) Gary Grant – trumpet (4, 6), flugelhorn (4) Jerry Hey – trumpet (4, 6), flugelhorn (4) Johnny Mandel – arrangements (9) Ollie E. Brown – backing vocals (1) Zane Giles – backing vocals (1) Jim Gilstrap – backing vocals (1) Susaye Greene Brown – backing vocals (1) Howard Hewett – backing vocals (1, 6) Bunny Hull – backing vocals (1, 8) David Pack - backing vocals (2) Phillip Ingram – backing vocals (1) Augie Johnson – backing vocals (1) Valerie Johnson – backing vocals (1) Scherrie Payne – backing vocals (1) Luther Vandross – backing vocals (1) Tom Bahler – backing vocals (6) Linda Harmon – backing vocals (6) Edie Lehmann – backing vocals (6) Paulette McWilliams – backing vocals (8) Carmen Twillie – backing vocals (8) Maxine Willard Waters – backing vocals (8) Patti Austin – lead and backing vocals (9)

Production

Producer – Quincy Jones Co-Producer on Track 9 – Johnny Mandel Production Assistants – Steve Ray and Mark Ross Tracks 1-8 recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien Track 9 recorded by Joel Moss Additional Recording and Technical Director – Matt Forger

Assistant Engineers – Steve Bates, Ric Butz, Mark Ettel and Greg Laney. Mastered by Bernie Grundman at A&M Studios (Hollywood, CA). Art Direction – Simon Levy and Jeri McManus Design – Jeri McManus Photography – Matthew Rolston Sleeve Notes – James Ingram and Quincy Jones

Popular culture

The song "Whatever We Imagine" was used as the closing theme for both 1984 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and 1986 NBA Finals for CBS Sports.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1983–1984) Peak position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [3] 27 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [4] 30 UK Albums (OCC) [5] 25 US Billboard 200 [6] 46 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [7] 10 Chart (1987) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [8] 99

Year-end charts Chart (1984) Position US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [9] 16

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [10]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Music, All. James Ingram: It's Your Night > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
2. "James Ingram: Discography". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
3. "Dutchcharts.nl – James Ingram – It's Your Night" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
4. "Swedishcharts.com – James Ingram – It's Your Night". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
5. "James Ingram | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
6. "James Ingram Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
7. "James Ingram Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 148. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
9. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1984". Billboard. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
10. "American album certifications – James Ingram – It's Your Night". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved October 4, 2020.