''Blue Night'' is an album by the American
soul singer
Percy Sledge, released in 1994. Sledge considered it his first album since the early 1970s.
The album was nominated for a
Grammy Award, in the "Best Contemporary Blues Album" category.
Production
Recorded in Los Angeles in March 1994, the album was produced by
Barry Goldberg and Saul Davis.
[ ]Steve Cropper
Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Ot ...
, Bobby Womack, and Mick Taylor contributed guitar parts to the album.
''Blue Nights liner notes were penned by Jerry Wexler
Jerry may refer to:
Animals
* Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National
* Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian fil ...
.[
]
Critical reception
The ''Ottawa Citizen
The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
History
Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...
'' thought that Sledge's "story songs are told from an adult perspective, unflinching and real as rain." '' 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'."[ 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."][
'' The Guardian'' noted that "Steve Cropper leads the simpatico, understated accompaniment to complete a polished update of steamy, old-style southern soul." The '' Vancouver Sun'' determined that ''Blue Night'' "might be better considered as urban blues than soul/R&B." '' 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."
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, tshows that if Sledge wanted to, he could've rocked as hard as any other Louisiana R&B singer."][
]
Track listing
References
{{Authority control
1994 albums
Virgin Records albums