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."[4]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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."[7] 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.

The cover for the album is an image of an artwork by Boyd Elder, also known as "El Chingadero".[14] 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.[14][15] In 1973, Elder started to create artwork of painted skulls with wings and feathers.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18] 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,[16] 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."[17] The album artwork received a Grammy nomination for Best Album Package.[19]

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.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	C+[20]
Rolling Stone	[21]

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."[22] 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".[21]

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."[1]

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.[23]

The album debuted on the US Billboard 200 chart at number 25 the week of its release,[24] and climbed to number one in its fourth week on the chart,[25] where it then stayed the next four weeks. It is the first of the four consecutive number one albums by 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.[26]

Credits adapted from the liner notes.[27]

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
• Randy Meisner – vocals, bass guitar
• Don Felder – vocals, guitars, slide guitar

• "One of These Nights" Super Seventies
• One Of These Nights by The Eagles Songfacts