Southern Nights is a 1975 R&B

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

 by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

r Allen Toussaint

Allen Toussaint

Allen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...

. Seminal to the development of New Orleans R&B, Toussaint incorporated into the album elements of funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 and soul music

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

, while, according to Allmusic, suggesting neo-psychedelia

Neo-psychedelia

Neo-psychedelia is music that emulates or is heavily influenced by the psychedelic music of the 1960s. It began to be revived among British post-punk bands of the later 1970s and early 1980s and was taken up by groups including bands of the Paisley Underground and Madchester scenes, as well as...

. Two singles

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 were released in support of the album, "Country John" backed with "When the Party's Over" and "Southern Nights

Southern Nights (song)

"Southern Nights" is the title of a song written by Allen Toussaint and most famously recorded by American country music singer Glen Campbell. It was released in January 1977 as the lead single from the album of the same name...

"—Toussaint's signature song—backed with "Out of the City". Although neither single charted

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

 for Toussaint, "Southern Nights" as later covered by Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell

Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...

 in 1977 reached number one in Billboard's

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

 country

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

, pop

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and adult contemporary

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

 charts. Originally released in May 1975 by Reprise Records

Reprise Records

Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...

, the album has been subsequently reissued multiple times on both LP

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 and CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

.

Songs

Among the better known songs of the album, "Southern Nights" was Toussaint's tribute to evenings spent with his Creole

Louisiana Creole people

Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...

 family on a porch in the song-writer's native Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. The song that would become Toussaint's signature song was brought to the attention of Glen Campbell by Campbell-collaborator Jimmy Webb

Jimmy Webb

Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...

. Campbell released it on an album he titled Southern Nights

Southern Nights (Glen Campbell album)

Southern Nights is the 32nd album by American singer/guitarist Glen Campbell, released in 1977 .-Track listing:Side 1:# "Southern Nights" - 3:07# "This Is Sarah's Song" - 2:34...

in February 1977, whereupon it spent four weeks at the top of the country, pop and adult contemporary charts. Toussaint's version of the song was very different from the "cheerful catchiness and...bright, colorful feel" of Campbell's; Allmusic comments in its album review on the "swirling, trippy arrangement that plays like a heat mirage" of Toussaint's version, while The Times-Picayune remarked in 2009 on its "strange psychedelic-swamp-water sound." In 1994, Toussaint came out of a lengthy hiatus as a performer to record the song in duet with Chet Atkins

Chet Atkins

Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...

 for the compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 Rhythm, Country and Blues

Rhythm, Country and Blues

-Production:*Produced By Tony Brown & Don Was*Executive Producers: Tony Brown, Al Teller, Kathy Nelson*Recorded, Engineered & Mixed By Bob Clearmountain*Mastered By Doug Sax-Personnel:*Drums: Kenny Aronoff, Ricky Fataar, Curt Bisquera, Paul Leim...

. Toussaint frequently performs the song in concert.

Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...

 also had success with her cover of "What Do You Want the Girl to Do", retitled "What Do You Want the Boy to Do?" and released on 1975's Home Plate.

Reception

According to 2002's Louisiana Music, the album is regarded as "perhaps...[Toussaint's] signature record"; in 1994, Toussaint himself characterized the album as his best. Although overall a critical success, it was not financially successful and was not universally well-received. At the time of its release, Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...

 of The Village Voice

The Village Voice

The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...

gave the album a tepid "C+", indicating that the first half was good, but not typical of Toussaint's genius. Allmusic indicates the album should be "part of any serious soul collection", but notes that a few average songs and repetitive instrumental fillers "prevents Southern Nights from being a full-fledged masterpiece".

Track listing

All songs composed by Allen Toussaint.

1. "Last Train" – 3:01
2. "Worldwide" – 2:42
3. "Back in Baby's Arms" – 4:49
4. "Country John" – 4:45
5. "Basic Lady" – 2:58
6. "Southern Nights
   Southern Nights (song)
   "Southern Nights" is the title of a song written by Allen Toussaint and most famously recorded by American country music singer Glen Campbell. It was released in January 1977 as the lead single from the album of the same name...
   
   " – 3:36
7. "You Will Not Lose" – 3:42
8. "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" – 3:40
9. "When the Party's Over" – 2:38
10. "Cruel Way to Go Down" – 3:52

Performance

• Carl Blouin – baritone saxophone
  Baritone saxophone
  The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
  
  
• Gary Brown – tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  
• Lester Caliste – trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  
• Joan Harmon – backing vocals
  Backing vocalist
  A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
  
  
• Steve Howard – trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  
• Claude Kerr, Jr. – trumpet, flugelhorn
  Flugelhorn
  The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
  
  
• Ziggy Modeliste
  Ziggy Modeliste
  Joseph Modeliste is an American drummer best known as a founding member of the funk group The Meters. Considered to be one of the most innovative, and highly acclaimed drummers ever to hail from New Orleans, Louisiana, Modeliste is a pioneer of second-line funk...
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Charles Victor Moore – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Jim Moore – flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  , tenor saxophone
• Sharon Neborn – backing vocals
• Arthur "Red" Neville
  Art Neville
  Art Neville is an American singer and keyboardist from New Orleans.-History:Neville is a part of one of the most famous musical families of New Orleans, the Neville Brothers...
  
   – organ
  Organ (music)
  The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
  
  
• Leo Nocentelli
  Leo Nocentelli
  Leo Nocentelli in New Orleans, Louisiana is one of the founding members of the New Orleans funk band, The Meters. He has been credited for popular funk songs such as "Cissy Strut", "People Say" and "Hey Pocky Way"...
  
   – guitar
• Deborah Paul – backing vocals
• George Porter, Jr.
  George Porter, Jr.
  George Porter, Jr. is a musician best known as the bassist and singer of The Meters. Along with Art Neville, Porter formed the group in the mid 60's and came to be recognized as one of the progenitors of funk. The Meters disbanded in 1977, but reformed in 1989...
  
   – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Lon Price – flute, alto saxophone
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
  , tenor saxophone
• Alfred "Uganda" Roberts – conga
  Conga
  The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
  
  
• Teddy Royal – guitar
• Allen Toussaint
  Allen Toussaint
  Allen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...
  
   – guitar, harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
  
  , piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Clyde Williams – drums

Production

• Greg Burgess – liner notes
  Liner notes
  Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
  
  
• Roberta Grace – engineer
  Audio engineering
  An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
  
  
• Gary Hobish – reissue mastering
  Audio mastering
  Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
  
  
• Ken Laxton – engineer
• Bob Merlis – photography
  Photography
  Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
  
  
• Patrick Roques – reissue art direction
  Art director
  The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
  
  , reissue design
  Graphic design
  Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
  
  
• Filippo Salvadori – reissue producer
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  
• Marshall Sehorn – producer
• George Stavrinos – cover
  Album cover
  An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
  
   illustration
  Illustrator
  An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
  
  
• Ed Thrasher – art direction
• Allen Toussaint – arranger
  Arrangement
  The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
  
  , producer

Release

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	May 1975	Reprise Records Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...	stereo Stereophonic sound The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...  LP Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...	MS 2186
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...	March 1985	Edsel Records Demon Music Group Demon Records is a United Kingdom record label founded in 1980 by former United Artists A&R executive Andrew Lauder and Jake Riviera who had previously started Stiff Records...	stereo LP	ED 155
United States	April 1966	Reprise Records	CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...	7599 26596-2
United States	2000	Warner.Esp Warner Strategic Marketing Warner Strategic Marketing is a record label that is part of the Warner Music Group. It specializes in compilation albums, much like sister division Rhino Entertainment. However, unlike Rhino, it does not reissue classic albums in the WMG catalogue...	CD	7599265962
United States	2006	Water Records	CD	WATR 177
United States	2008	Reprise Records	CD	75407