| "Right Time of the Night" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Jennifer Warnes | ||||
| from the album Jennifer Warnes | ||||
| B-side | "Daddy Don't Go" | |||
| Released | December 1976 | |||
| Format | 7" (45 rpm) | |||
| Recorded | 1976 | |||
| Genre | Pop, Country | |||
| Length | 2:53 | |||
| Label | Arista | |||
| Writer(s) | Peter McCann | |||
| Producer | Jim Ed Norman | |||
| Jennifer Warnes singles chronology | ||||
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"Right Time of the Night" is the title of a song written by Peter McCann and recorded by American singer Jennifer Warnes The song was introduced on Warnes' 1976 self-titled album.
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"Right Time of the Night" came to the fore in 1976 when Peter McCann recorded his composition for his self-titled album. McCann had in fact written the song several years previously; he was then working as a staff writer for ABC Records who in 1972 released a single version of "Right Time of the Night" by a pre-stardom John Travolta.
The tracks intended to comprise the completed Jennifer Warnes album which Warnes presented to her label Arista Records did not include "Right Time of the Night". Arista president Clive Davis would later tell Billboard: "if a [singer such as] Jennifer Warnes submits an album which is great but lacks a hit single I and my a&r staff will say: 'Listen you need a hit. Because you're not really going to break off FM airplay...So we gave her 'Right Time of the Night'."[1] Warnes had recorded the original tracks for the Jennifer Warnes album with producer Jim Price; for Warnes' recording of "Right Time of the Night" Davis brought in Jim Ed Norman to produce, with Norman also producing "I'm Dreaming" which was another track added to Warnes' album on the basis of its having hit potential. Warnes would recall: "Clive picked 'I'm Dreaming' and 'Right Time of the Night', and he brought in Jim Ed Norman, who arranges strings for the Eagles, to give those songs very explicit tracks."[2] "Right Time of the Night" was remixed by Val Garay.
The second verse of the song as written by McCann was rewritten for Warnes' recording as it was felt the original lyric had too masculine a resonance. Warnes wrote a new lyric for the second verse herself which McCann rejected to eventually write a new second verse for Warnes' version himself. Prior to the release of Warnes' version of "Right Time of the Night", Bette Midler expressed an interest in recording the song but asked that the bridge be reworked, a stipulation McCann was still working on when Warnes' version reached the charts at which point work on a Midler version was dropped.
Released at the end of 1976, "Right Time of the Night" debuted on the 29 January 1977 edition of the Billboard Hot 100 at #81, Warnes' first appearance on the chart in a nine year recording career. The track entered the Top 40 on the Hot 100 dated 26 February 1977 to eventually peak at #6 on for two weeks that May.[3] A #1 Adult Contemporary hit,[2] "Right Time of the Night" also became the first Arista release to reach the C&W chart where it peaked at #17.
"Right Time of the Night" also featured on 1977 album releases by Reba McEntire - on her self-titled debut album - and Lynn Anderson (I Love What Love Is Doin' to Me). Mary Mason recorded "Right Time of the Night" in medley with the Marmalade hit "Baby Make It Soon"; introduced on Mason's Angel of the Morning album, the track "Right Time of the Night/Baby Make It Soon" was released as a single in the UK in 1978.
| Chart (1976/1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia Kent Music Report Top Singles | 33 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 3 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 18 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 17 |