''We've Got Tonight'' is the fourteenth studio album by American singer

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

, released in 1983. It is also his last with

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous rev ...

before signing with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

Overview

The title cut, a duet with

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress who achieved recognition in an episode of the reality television series ''The Big Time (TV series), The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to gain a ...

, was the debut single and became one of Rogers' signature hits, soaring to No. 1 on the country charts and No. 2 on the Adult Contemporary chart, reaching No. 6 on the Hot 100 chart. There were two other singles: "All My Life", which peaked at No. 13 on the country charts, though it fared at No. 3 in Canada, and "Scarlet Fever", which is lesser-known but still reached No. 5 and No. 4 in the US. and Canada, respectively. The title of the album comes from its signature track, written by

Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throu ...

and originating from his album, '' Stranger in Town''. By comparison with Rogers' version, Seger's only reached No. 13 on the Hot 100, making Rogers' version a higher-seller (at the time), five years after it was written. "

You Are So Beautiful "You Are So Beautiful" is a song credited to Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher that was first released in 1974 on Preston's ninth studio album, '' The Kids & Me''. It was also the B-side of his single "Struttin'". Later that same year, English singe ...

" was written by

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...

and Bruce Fisher and originally appears on the 1974 Preston album '' The Kids and Me''.

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

, who by now had been contributing a reasonable number of songs to Rogers, submitted the track "How Long" to this album. The album hit No. 3 on the country chart and No. 18 on the main

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 advertis ...

album chart. It attained

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

status in both the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Track listing

Personnel

* Kenny Rogers – lead vocals, backing vocals (4, 5) *

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...

– keyboards (1, 6), backing vocals (6) * John Hobbs – keyboards (2, 5, 10) *

Randy Goodrum Charles Randolph Goodrum (born July 7, 1947) is an American songwriter, pianist, and producer. Goodrum wrote number one songs in each of the four decades after his first number one hit, 1978's " You Needed Me". Goodrum's songs have appeared on ...

– keyboards (4), backing vocals (4) * Shane Keister – keyboards (4) * Robbie Buchanan – synthesizers (7, 9) * Michael Lang – keyboards (7, 9) *

Clarence McDonald Clarence Kermit "Mac" McDonald (February 24, 1945 – July 21, 2021) was a Los Angeles-based American pianist, composer, arranger, and producer. McDonald was known for his musical diversity, enduring melodies and signature groove. His most famous ...

– keyboards (7, 9) * Reginald "Sonny" Burke –keyboards (8) *

Marty Walsh Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and trade union official who served as the 58th mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021 and as the 29th United States Secretary of Labor from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Democr ...

– guitar (1) * Timothy May – guitar (2, 7, 9) *

Fred Tackett Fredrick O. Tackett (born August 30, 1945) is an American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Originally a session player on guitar, mandolin, and trumpet, he is best known as a member of the band Little Feat. In addition to his work with Li ...

– guitar (2, 10) * Kin Vassy – guitar (2, 3), backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10) * Billy Joe Walker Jr. – guitar (3) *

Richie Zito Richie Zito (born August 21, 1952) is an American songwriter, composer and record producer from Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Zito has experienced success as a prolific session musician, being featured on a wide array of ...

– guitar (3, 5) * Jon Goin – guitar (4) *

Steve Lukather Steven Lee "Luke" Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to ...

– guitar (6) * Carlos Rios – guitar (7, 9) *

Paul Jackson Jr. Paul Milton Jackson Jr. (born December 30, 1959) is an American Jazz fusion, fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist. In addition to being a recording artist in his own right, Jackson is also a session player, with a career ...

– guitar (8, 9) * David T. Walker – guitar (8) *

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass guitarist and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts ...

– bass (1, 8) *

Joe Chemay Joseph Chemay is an American bassist and backing vocalist, known for his recording session work. Biography Chemay started out working as a session and touring support musician in Los Angeles, but moved to Nashville in 1989. Chemay has worked ...

– bass (2, 5, 6, 7, 9), backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 6) * Trey Thompson – bass (3) * Jack Williams – bass (4) * Emory Gordy Jr. – bass (10) *

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, Mini ...

– drums (1, 6) *

Paul Leim Paul William Leim (born December 29, 1950) is an American drummer and recording session musician based in Nashville. Biography Leim was born in Port Huron, Michigan and raised in Troup, Texas. He was inspired to take up drumming as a child a ...

– drums (2, 5, 7, 9, 10), percussion (2) * Ress Williams – drums (3) *

Kenny Malone Kenny Malone (August 4, 1938 – August 26, 2021) was an American drummer and percussionist. Life and career Malone was born in Denver, Colorado. From the 1970s onwards, he was a prominent session musician in folk, country and many other acousti ...

– drums (4) * Leon "Ndugu" Chancler – drums (8) * Gary Herbig –

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

(10) * Jeremy Lubbock – string arrangements and conductor (1, 6) * Bergen White – string arrangements (4) * Sheldon Kurland – strings (4) *

– lead vocals (1) * Terry Williams – backing vocals (2-8, 10), guitar (3) * Dorothy Newton – backing vocals (5) * Juanice Charmaine – backing vocals (7, 8) *

– backing vocals (7) * Cindy Fee – backing vocals (10)

Production

* Producers – Kenny Rogers (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 & 10); David Foster (Tracks 1 & 6); Brent Maher (Track 4); Randy Goodrum (Track 4); James Carmichael (Track 7, 8 & 9); Lionel Richie (Tracks 7 & 8). * Engineers –

Humberto Gatica Humberto Gatica is a Chilean and American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Celine Dion, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Cher and Michael Bublé. Gatic ...

(Tracks 1, 6 & 9);

Al Schmitt Albert Harry Schmitt (April 17, 1930 – April 26, 2021) was an American recording engineer and record producer. He won twenty Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto (band), Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jone ...

(Tracks 1, 6, 8, 9 & 10); Reggie Dozier (Tracks 2, 3, 5, 8 & 10); Stephen Schmitt (Track 3); Brent Maher (Track 4); Calvin Harris (Tracks 7 & 9); Bob Bullock (Track 9). * Second Engineer – Stephen Schmitt (Tracks 1, 4, 5 & 10); Larry Ferguson (Track 2). * Mixing – Humberto Gatica (Track 1); Bob Bullock (Track 2); Al Schmitt (Track 3); Reggie Dozier (Track 5); Calvin Harris (Track 7). * Tracks 1, 2, 3 & 5-10 recorded at Lion Share Recording (Los Angeles, CA); Track 4 recorded at Creative Workshop (Nashville, TN); Tracks 7 & 9 recorded at Hitsville Studios (Los Angeles, CA). * Strings on Tracks 1 & 6 recorded at

Ocean Way Recording Ocean Way Recording was a series of recording studios established by recording engineer and producer Allen Sides with locations in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Saint Barthélemy. Ocean Way Recording no longer operates recording facilities, but O ...

(Los Angeles, CA). * Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 & 10 mixed at Lion Share Recording; Track 4 mixed at Creative Workshop; Tracks 7 & 9 mixed at Hitsville Studios. * Mastered by

Doug Sax Doug Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six Pink Floyd's albums, including '' The Wall''; Ray Charles' multiple ...

at The Mastering Lab (Los Angeles, CA). * Art Direction – Henry Marquez and Roy R. Guzman * Design – Roy R. Guzman * Photography – Matthew Rolston * Management – Ken Kragen

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

* We've Got Tonight album page at Allmusic {{Authority control Kenny Rogers albums 1983 albums Albums produced by David Foster Albums produced by Brent Maher Albums produced by Lionel Richie Liberty Records albums