"One of These Nights" is a song written by Don Henley and

Glenn Frey Glenn Lewis Frey (; November 6, 1948 – January 18, 2016) was an American singer, guitarist and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. Frey was the co-lead singer and frontman for the Eagles, roles he came to share with fellow member Don H ...

and recorded by the American rock band

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...

. The title track from their ''

One of These Nights ''One of These Nights'' is the fourth studio album by the Eagles, released in 1975. In July that year, the record became the Eagles' first number one album on ''Billboard''s album chart, yielding three Top 10 singles: " One of These Nights", "Lyi ...

'' album, the song became their second single to top the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart after " Best of My Love" and also helped propel the album to number one. The single version was shortened from the album version of the song, removing most of the song's intro and most of its fade-out, as well. Henley is lead vocalist on the verses, while Randy Meisner sings high harmony on the refrain. The song features a guitar solo by

Don Felder Donald William Felder (born September 21, 1947) is an American musician who was the lead guitarist of the rock band Eagles from 1974 until his termination from the band in 2001. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 with th ...

that is "composed of blues-based licks and sustained string bends using an unusually meaty distortion tone."

Background

The song was a conscious attempt by the band to write something different from a

country-rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal ...

and ballad-type song. Don Henley said: "We like to be a nice little country-rock band from Los Angeles ... about half the time." He added: "We wanted to get away from the ballad syndrome with "One of These Nights." With Don Felder in the band now, we can really rock." Frey said that they "wanted 'One of These Nights' to have a lot of teeth, a lot of bite—a nasty track with pretty vocals." The writing was influenced by R&B music and disco; according to Frey, he was listening to Spinners and Al Green records when he started writing the song. Frey started the writing process by composing the music, and Henley then started with the lyrics. Frey said: "I just went over to the piano and I started playing this little minor descending progression, and he comes over and goes, 'One of these nights'." After that, Frey said: "What usually happens is when we get the thing fused together, he gets involved in the music and I get involved in the lyrics." While they were recording the album in Miami, the band also shared a studio with the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

, and according to Henley, the "four-on-the-floor" bass-drum pattern is a nod to disco. In the liner notes of '' The Very Best Of'', Frey had this to say about the song: Frey also said that the song is about putting things off. "We've all said, 'One of these nights I'm gonna do something -- get that girl, make that money, find that house.' We all have our dreams – a vision we hope will come true someday. When that 'someday' will come is up to each of us." On the recording, Frey said: "We cut the basic track in Miami in December at Criteria Studios. We took it to L.A., put all the drone guitars and Felder's solo on in L.A., and went back to Miami to put the vocals on in March." The B-side, "Visions", features lead vocals by guitarist

, the only Eagles song to do so.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' praised the "strong harmonies" and said that "One of These Nights" was similar to the Eagles' earlier song "

Witchy Woman "Witchy Woman" is a song written by Don Henley and Bernie Leadon, and recorded by the American rock band Eagles. Released as the second single from the band's debut album ''Eagles'', it reached No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' pop singles chart. Backg ...

" at times. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said it had "a fresh, relaxed sound which should catapult the group to the top."

Personnel

* Don Henley – lead vocals, drums *

– piano, backing vocals *

– lead guitar, rhythm guitar * Randy Meisner – bass guitar, backing vocals *

Bernie Leadon Bernie Leadon (pronounced ''led-un''; born July 19, 1947) is an American singer, musician, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member ...

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:One Of These Nights 1975 singles Disco songs Eagles (band) songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Songs written by Glenn Frey Songs written by Don Henley Asylum Records singles Song recordings produced by Bill Szymczyk 1975 songs