Nightbirds

Nightbirds is an album by the all-female singing group Labelle, released in 1974 on the Epic label. The album features the group's biggest hit, the number-one song "Lady Marmalade", and it became their most successful album to date.

Nightbirds
Studio album by
Labelle
ReleasedSeptember 13, 1974
Recorded1974
StudioSea-Saint Studios, New Orleans, Louisiana
GenreFunk, funk rock, R&B
Length36:40
LabelEpic
ProducerAllen Toussaint
Labelle chronology
Pressure Cookin'
(1973)		 Nightbirds
(1974)		 Phoenix
(1975)
Singles from Nightbirds
  1. "Lady Marmalade"
    Released: November 5, 1974 (U.S.)
    November 22, 1974 (U.K.)

Background

Labelle was a group in search of a hit. Despite creative control - member Nona Hendryx began composing most of the group's material - the group hadn't had commercial success with their first three albums - Labelle, Moon Shadow and Pressure Cookin', all albums had flirted with elements of rock music mixed with the group's soul/gospel roots from their days as Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. Despite this, the group became a draw as opening acts for The Who, Laura Nyro and The Rolling Stones. Following their opening act on the Stones' 1973 U.S. tour, Epic Records signed the act to its roster.

The group was assigned to notable New Orleans producer Allen Toussaint and the group was sent to Toussaint's hometown of New Orleans to work on the record that would eventually be released as Nightbirds. The album was recorded in two months. Along with their adaptation of glam rock-styled outfits during their live performances, the group incorporated elements of funk music, something they started to include in their last album, Pressure Cookin on the song, "Goin' On a Holiday". The funk direction continued with songs such as "Are You Lonely", "Somebody, Somewhere", "Space Children" and their famous hit, "Lady Marmalade". More experimental glam rockers such as "Nightbirds" and "It Took a Long Time" showed the group's range while the album closer, "You Turn Me On" was a sexy R&B slow jam, which shocked past listeners of the Bluebelles' material.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Christgau's Record GuideA–[2]
Rolling Stone [3]

The album became their most successful to date, becoming their first album to hit both the pop and R&B charts - neither of their previous albums charted - peaking at number seven on the latter chart, thanks to the phenomenal success of the funk single, "Lady Marmalade", one of the few songs not written by Nona Hendryx. The group's only other hit single, "What Can I Do For You", was written by Queens, New York musicians Edward Batts and James Ellison, who would continue to work for Patti LaBelle following the split of the group. The other members of their touring band, Jeffrey Shannon, drums, Hector Seda, bass, and Leslie "Chuggy" Carter, percussionist, where all responsible for their individual instrumental arrangements, of which, many were used on the Nightbird album and on all live performances.

The album remains their most successful album, certified platinum in the U.S. for selling over a million copies. Due to this success, Labelle landed on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Legacy

With Nightbirds, Labelle were praised for mixing their R&B/pop sound with elements of rock and funk. The success of the album's two singles also helped to pioneer the disco movement, which peaked in the late 1970s and influenced dance music for three decades. In 2003, the album was ranked number 272 on Rolling Stone's magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 274 in a 2012 revised list.[4] That same year, the album's leading hit track, "Lady Marmalade", was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Several acts have covered "Lady Marmalade" into international successes on their own including covers by All Saints and the quartet collaboration between singers Christina Aguilera, Mýa, Lil' Kim and Pink. "It Took a Long Time" was featured during the final scene and ending credits to the motion picture Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire.

Release history

In addition the standard 2 channel stereo version the album was also released by Epic in a 4 channel quadraphonic edition on LP record and 8-track tape. The quad LP was encoded using the SQ matrix format.

The album was reissued by Audio Fidelity on the Super Audio CD format in 2015. This version contains the complete stereo and quad mixes.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nona Hendryx, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lady Marmalade"Bob Crewe, Kenny Nolan3:56
2."Somebody Somewhere" 3:25
3."Are You Lonely?" 3:12
4."It Took a Long Time"Raymond Bloodworth, L. Russell Brown, Bob Crewe4:03
5."Don't Bring Me Down"Allen Toussaint2:48
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."What Can I Do for You?"Edward Batts, James Budd Ellison4:02
7."Nightbird" 3:09
8."Space Children" 3:02
9."All Girl Band"Allen Toussaint3:50
10."You Turn Me On" 4:37

Personnel
  • Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx & Sarah Dash - lead and backing vocals
  • Allen Toussaint - keyboards, percussion, guitar, arrangements
  • Art Neville - organ
  • George Porter, Jr., Walter Payton - bass guitar
  • Leo Nocentelli, Rev. Edward Levone Batts - guitar
  • Smokey Johnson, Herman Ernest III - drums
  • James "Budd" Ellison - piano
  • Earl Turbinton - alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet
  • Alvin Thomas, Lon Price - tenor saxophone, flute
  • Clyde Kerr, Jr., Steve Howard - trumpet
  • Lester Caliste - trombone
  • Carl Blouin - baritone saxophone
  • Clarence Ford - alto saxophone
  • Jeffrey Shannon - drums, arrangements, touring band member
  • Hector Seda - bass guitar, arrangements, touring band member
  • Leslie "Chuggy" Carter - percussionist, arrangements, touring band member
Technical

Charts
Year Album Chart positions[5]
US US
R&B
1975 Nightbirds 7 4

Singles
Year Single Chart positions[6]
US US
R&B		 US
Dance
1974 "Lady Marmalade" 1 1 1
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References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: L". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 1, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. Rolling Stone review
  4. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  5. "Labelle US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  6. "Labelle US singles chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
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