Writer: Rod Stewart
Producer: Tom Dowd
Recorded: Fall 1975 to early 1976 in Los Angeles
Released: Summer 1976
| Players: | Rod Stewart — vocals Steve Cropper — guitar Donald “Duck” Dunn — bass David Foster — keyboards John Jarvis — keyboards Al Jackson — drums Joe Lala — percussion Plas Johnson — saxophone |
| Album: | A Night On The Town (Warner Bros., 1976) |
Released as a single in the fall of 1976, “Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)” spent eight weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100.
Rod Stewart says the song “came to me in the middle of the night, as songs often do. I always keep a note pad and cassette recorder by my bed, among other things. (Guitarist) Steve Cropper and I worked out the arrangement on Friday morning, and it was in the can by Friday night, lyrics being finished the following evening. We spent more time working on the somewhat complicated intro to the song itself.”
The song was a bit controversial due to its subject matter–the deflowering of a virgin–and brazen lyrics such as “spread your wings and let me come inside.” Stewart notes, “It was banned by many radio stations because of its lyrical content, but nevertheless, a little scandal never did anyone any harm.”
It certainly didn't hurt sales of the A Night On The Town album, which topped the U.K. chart and hit Number Two on the Billboard 200.
The album also sold more than three million copies, Stewart's best showing to that point.
A U.K. television special based on A Night On The Town aired in October 1976.