One of These Nights

The Eagles began working on their fourth album in late 1974. Glenn Frey and Don Henley wrote four of the nine songs by themselves, and they also collaborated with other members of the band on three other songs. Many of the songs were written while Frey and Henley were sharing a house in Beverly Hills, including "One of These Nights", "Lyin' Eyes", "Take It to the Limit" and "After the Thrill Is Gone". In an interview with Cameron Crowe, Henley joked that it was their "satanic country-rock period" because "it was a dark time, both politically and musically" in America, referring to the turmoil in Washington and disco music starting to take off. He added: "We thought, 'Well, how can we write something with that flavor, with that kind of beat, and still have the dangerous guitars?' We wanted to capture the spirit of the times."

Frey said that "One of These Nights was the most fluid and 'painless' album [they] ever made", and thought that the quality of the songs he wrote with Henley had improved dramatically.{{cite web |url=http://www.theuncool.com/journalism/the-very-best-of-the-eagles/ |title= Conversations With Don Henley and Glenn Frey|author= Cameron Crowe |date=August 2003 |work= The Uncool}} However, Leadon was becoming increasingly unhappy during the making of the album. He wrote three of the nine songs, none of which was released as a single.{{cite book|first=Marc|last=Eliot|title=To the Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles|year=2004|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-81398-6 |pages=116–117}} He was unhappy with the more rock direction of the band that Frey preferred, at one time walking out of a meeting to discuss which take to use after the recording of a rock track.{{cite AV media|title= History of the Eagles |year= 2013 |time= 1:14:00–1:16:00 |url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194326/}} Leadon would leave the band in late 1975, after the album was released.

Frey also began to sing less as a lead singer starting with this album, singing solo lead on only one song ("Lyin' Eyes") and sharing lead vocals with Henley on another ("After the Thrill Is Gone"). Henley later said: "[Glenn] was generous in that respect ... If I began to do more than he did, it was because if someone had a strong suit he would play that card. 'You sing this, you sing it better,' that kind of thing."{{cite book|first=Marc|last=Eliot|title=To the Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles|year=2004|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-81398-6 |page=131}} Randy Meisner sings lead on two songs, one of which, "Take it to the Limit", a composition he co-wrote with Frey and Henley, was released as the third single from the album. Of the nine Eagles songs to feature Randy Meisner singing solo, this is the only song of his to be released as a single.

"One of These Nights", "Lyin' Eyes", and "Take It to the Limit" were released as singles.

"Journey of the Sorcerer" was used as the theme music for Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series produced by the BBC in 1978 and 1979. Adams said he had wanted something that sounded "sci-fi" while at the same time suggestive of a traveller, so this banjo-based instrumental struck him as ideal.{{cite book | last = Adams | first =Douglas | author-link = Douglas Adams | title = The Original Hitchhiker Radio Scripts | publisher = Harmony | date = 1985 | location = New York | pages = 32 | isbn = 0-517-55950-1}} "Journey of the Sorcerer" was used subsequently for the television series in 1981 (albeit re-recorded), the sequel radio series produced by Above the Title Productions for the BBC in 2003 and 2004, and (re-recorded once again) for the film produced by Disney/Touchstone in 2005. The original version from One of These Nights was used for all original transmissions of all five radio series, and a further version was used for the sixth. The TV adaptation of the series, and also an additional version released on LP record, used an arrangement by Tim Souster. The CD releases of radio series transmitted in 2004 and 2005 used another version arranged by Philip Pope, and recorded by a tribute band The Illegal Eagles,{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/diary.shtml |title=Final Production Diary – 1 June 2005 |work=BBC }} and the 2005 film used a version by Joby Talbot.

“I Wish You Peace” was written by Bernie Leadon and his then-girlfriend Patti Davis, daughter of Republican then-Governor of California Ronald Reagan. Nancy Reagan had already disowned Patti during this period, ostensibly because of her choice to live together with Leadon as an "unmarried couple".{{cite book|last= Kelley|first= Kitty|title= Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography|publisher= Simon & Schuster, New York|year= 1991|isbn= 0-671-64646-X|page= [https://archive.org/details/nancyreaganunau000kell/page/209 209]|url= https://archive.org/details/nancyreaganunau000kell/page/209}} Years later Don Henley would disparage this song as an Eagles release, describing it as “smarmy cocktail music and certainly not something the Eagles are proud of”.{{cite book|last= Kelley|first= Kitty|title= Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography|publisher= Simon & Schuster, New York|year= 1991|isbn= 0-671-64646-X|page= [https://archive.org/details/nancyreaganunau000kell/page/219 219]|url= https://archive.org/details/nancyreaganunau000kell/page/219}} Henley was also annoyed that Davis was given cowriting credit, and told a reporter: "Nobody else wanted [the song]. We didn't feel it was up to the band's standards, but we put it on anyway as a gesture to keep the band together."{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o_EjE6-iyQoC |title=To The Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles |first=Marc |last=Eliot |page=117 |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-306-81398-6 }}

According to Henley, he and Frey were aware of B.B. King's song "The Thrill Is Gone", and wrote the song to explore the aftermath: "We know that the thrill is gone – so, now what?"{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/eagles-complete-discography-don-henley-looks-back-20160610/one-of-these-nights-1975-20160609 |title=Eagles' Complete Discography: Don Henley Looks Back |first=David |last=Browne|date=June 10, 2016 |magazine=Rolling Stone }} On the studio recording (and live performances during Frey's lifetime), Frey sings lead on the verses and choruses, while Henley sings lead on the bridge.

The cover for the album is an image of an artwork by Boyd Elder, also known as "El Chingadero".{{cite web |url=http://stephenkpeeples.com/blasts-from-the-past/boyd-elder-encounters-southwestern-kind-1978/ |title=Boyd Elder: Encounters of the Southwestern Kind, 1978 |date=March 31, 2015 |author= Stephen K. Peeples }} Elder knew the Eagles in 1972 when pieces of his work were exhibited in an art gallery in Venice, California; among those who attended the opening were members of the Eagles who performed "Witchy Woman" at the show, an early appearance by the band as the Eagles.{{cite news |url=http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/637694/Eagles-death-Glenn-Frey-memory-remembrance |title=How the Eagles sold us sunshine: In memory of Glenn Frey|author=Barney Hoskyns |date=January 24, 2016 |work=Daily Express }} In 1973, Elder started to create artwork of painted skulls with wings and feathers.{{cite magazine|first=Sterry|last=Butcher|title=Boyd Elder Is the Most Famous Artist You've Never Heard Of|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/being-texan/boyd-elder-west-texas/|magazine=Texas Monthly|date=February 2018|access-date=June 11, 2019}} Elder was a friend of the album cover designer Gary Burden, who was responsible for the Eagles' three previous albums and was interested in using one of Elder's pieces for this cover. Elder presented two of his works to the Eagles in Dallas in late 1974, one of which was then chosen for the cover of One of These Nights.{{cite web |url=http://lonestarmusicmagazine.com/respect-boyd-elder-valentine-texas-greatest-hit/ |title=Respect Boyd Elder, Valentine, Texas' Greatest Hit |author=Michael Corcoran |date= February 10, 2016 |work=Lone Star Music Magazine}} Later another work of Elder, an image of an eagle's skull, would be used for the cover of Their Greatest Hits album. The painted animal skull motif was also used in the cover for their compilation album The Very Best of, and the skull of One of These Nights was used for the cover of the documentary History of the Eagles.

The album cover for One of These Nights is the last Eagles album design on which Burden was involved. He made the skull stand up off the page by debossing large areas together with detailed and elaborate embossing in the wings and feathers. According to Burden, the cover image represents where the band was coming from and where they were going – "The cow skull is pure cowboy, folk, the decorations are American Indian inspired and the future is represented by the more polished reflective glass beaded surfaces covering the skull. All set against the dark eagle feather wings that speak of mysterious powers."{{cite web |url=http://garyburdenforrtwerk.com/2009/09/one-of-these-nights/ |title=Eagles – One Of These Nights |author=Gary Burden }} The album artwork received a Grammy nomination for Best Album Package.

Original vinyl record pressings of One of These Nights (Elektra/Asylum catalog no. 7E-1039) had the following text engraved in the run-out grooves of each album side:

1. Side one: "Don't worry --"
2. Side two: "-- Nothing will be O.K.!"

The Eagles and their producer Bill Szymczyk would continue the trend of including such "hidden messages" in the run-out grooves on several subsequent albums.

This is the second album by the Eagles to have a Quadraphonic surround sound pressing. It was released on Quadraphonic 8-track tape and CD-4 LP.

{{Album ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web |first=William |last=Ruhlmann |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r6476|pure_url=yes}}|title=One of These Nights |publisher=Allmusic |access-date=September 10, 2013}}

|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

|rev2Score = C+{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: E|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=E&bk=70|access-date=February 24, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}

|rev3 = Rolling Stone

|rev3score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book |first1=Nathan |last1=Brackett |first2=Christian David |last2=Hoard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA267 |page=267|title=The Eagles |publisher=Simon and Schuster |date=2004 |isbn=9780743201698 |access-date=September 10, 2013}}

}}

Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone, in an early review of the album, expressed a liking for the album but did not consider it a great album. He thought the band's ensemble playing "unprecedentedly excellent" but they "lack an outstanding singer", and that while "many of their tunes are pretty, none are eloquent." He added: "And for all their worldly perceptiveness, the Eagles' lyrics never transcend Hollywood slickness. Their hard rock has always seemed a bit forced, constructed more from commercial considerations than from any urgent impulse to boogie. And when the Eagles attempt to communicate wild sexuality, they sound only boyishly enthused. These limitations, however, seem built into the latter-day concept of Southern California rock, of which the Eagles remain the unrivaled exponents."{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/one-of-these-nights-19750814 |title=One Of These Nights|author= Stephen Holden |date=August 14, 1975 |magazine=Rolling Stone }} The Rolling Stone Album Guide judged the album to be the band's "most musically adventurous outing yet, flirting with disco on the title song, a waltz on "Take It to the Limit", and bluegrass psychedelia on Leadon's "Journey of the Sorcerer".

In a retrospective review, William Ruhlmann of AllMusic was more favorable. He thought that it had more original material and that the material was more polished, writing: "One of These Nights was the culmination of the blend of rock, country, and folk styles the Eagles had been making since their start; there wasn't much that was new, just the same sorts of things done better than they had been before. In particular, a lyrical stance—knowing and disillusioned, but desperately hopeful—had evolved, and the musical arrangements were tighter and more purposeful. The result was the Eagles' best-realized and most popular album so far."

Ultimate Classic Rock critic Sterling Whitaker rated both "One of These Nights" and "After the Thrill Has Gone" as being among the Eagles' 10 most underrated songs.{{cite web|title=Top 10 Underrated Eagles Songs|author=Whitaker, Sterling|accessdate=2023-01-09|date=January 18, 2016|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/most-underrated-eagles-songs/|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock}}

{{awards table}}

!{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

|-

!scope="row" rowspan="4"|1976

| rowspan="2"|"Lyin' Eyes"

|Record of the Year

|{{nom}}

|rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|{{cite web|url=http://www.awardsandshows.com/features/grammy-awards-1976-224.html |title=Grammy Awards 1976 |work=Awards and Shows }}

|-

|Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal

|{{won}}

|-

| One of These Nights (Gary Burden)

|Best Album Package

|{{nom}}

|-

| One of These Nights

|Album of the Year

|{{nom}}

|-

|}

The album debuted on the US Billboard 200 chart at number 25 the week of its release,{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1975-06-28 |title=Billboard 200 |date=June 28, 1975 |magazine=Billboard }} and climbed to number one in its fourth week on the chart,{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1975-07-26 |title=Billboard 200 |date=July 26, 1975 |magazine=Billboard }} where it then stayed the next four weeks. It was the first of four consecutive number one albums for the Eagles. The album was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), signifying shipment of over four million copies in the United States.{{Certification Cite Ref |region=United States |artist=Eagles |title=One of These Nights |type=album }}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title1 = One of These Nights

| length1 = 4:51

| writer1 = {{flatlist|

• Don Henley
• Glenn Frey}}

| extra1 = Henley

| title2 = Too Many Hands

| length2 = 4:43

| writer2 = {{flatlist|

• Randy Meisner
• Don Felder}}

| extra2 = Meisner

| title3 = Hollywood Waltz

| length3 = 4:04

| writer3 = {{flatlist|

• Henley
• Frey
• Bernie Leadon
• Tom Leadon}}

| extra3 = Henley

| title4 = Journey of the Sorcerer

| length4 = 6:40

| writer4 = Leadon

| extra4 = instrumental

}}

{{Track listing

| Writing_credits = yes

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title1 = Lyin' Eyes

| length1 = 6:22

| writer1 = {{flatlist|

• Henley
• Frey}}

| extra1 = Frey

| title2 = Take It to the Limit

| length2 = 4:48

| writer2 = {{flatlist|

• Meisner
• Henley
• Frey}}

| extra2 = Meisner

| title3 = Visions

| length3 = 3:58

| writer3 = {{flatlist|

• Henley
• Felder}}

| extra3 = Felder with Henley, Leadon, and Frey

| title4 = After the Thrill Is Gone

| length4 = 3:56

| writer4 = {{flatlist|

• Henley
• Frey}}

| extra4 = Frey and Henley

| title5 = I Wish You Peace

| length5 = 3:45

| writer5 = {{flatlist|

• Leadon
• Patti Davis}}

| extra5 = Leadon

}}

Credits adapted from the liner notes.{{Cite AV media notes |title=One of These Nights |others=Eagles |year=1975 |first= |last= |authorlink1= |last2= |first2= |authorlink2= |type=booklet |url=https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/eagles/ootn/linernotes.htm |publisher=Asylum Records |location=California |access-date=2023-06-08 }}

Eagles

• Glenn Frey – vocals, acoustic and electric rhythm guitars, piano, electric piano, harmonium on “Hollywood Waltz”, lead guitar on “Too Many Hands”
• Don Henley – vocals, drums, percussion, tablas on “Too Many Hands”
• Bernie Leadon – vocals, guitars, banjo, mandolin, pedal steel guitar
• Randy Meisner – vocals, bass guitar
• Don Felder – vocals, guitars, slide guitar

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

Additional personnel

• David Bromberg – fiddles {{small|("Journey of the Sorcerer")}}
• The Royal Martian Orchestra – strings {{small|("Journey of the Sorcerer")}}
• Albhy Galuten – synthesizer {{small|("Hollywood Waltz")}}
• Jim Ed Norman – piano {{small|("Lyin' Eyes", "Take It to the Limit")}}, orchestrations, conductor, string arrangements{{cite web | url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/jim-ed-norman-hotel-california-tour/ | title=How Don Henley Reunited with Ex-Bandmate for Current Eagles Tour | date=9 May 2022 }}
• Sid Sharp – concert master
• The Eagles – string arrangements

{{col-2}}

Production

• Bill Szymczyk – producer, engineer
• Allan Blazek – engineer
• Michael Braunstein – engineer
• Ed Mashal – engineer
• Michael Verdick – engineer
• Don Wood – engineer
• Gary Burden – art direction, design
• Norman Seeff – photography
• Tom Kelley – cover photography
• Ted Jensen – remastering

{{col-end}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=album|artist=Eagles|title=One of These Nights|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=1975|certyear=1996|accessdate=14 July 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|artist=Eagles|title=One of These Nights|award=Platinum|relyear=1975|certyear=1976}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=album|artist=Eagles|title=One of These Nights|award=Platinum|relyear=1975|certyear=2004|id=4884-663-2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|artist=Eagles|title=One of These Nights|award=Platinum|number=4|relyear=1975|certyear=2001}}

{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.superseventies.com/1975_8singles.html "One of These Nights"]—Super Seventies
• [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=6702 One of These Nights by The Eagles]—''Songfacts

{{Eagles}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1975 albums

Category:Albums produced by Bill Szymczyk

Category:Albums recorded at Record Plant (Los Angeles)

Category:Asylum Records albums

Category:Eagles (band) albums

Category:Elektra Records albums