During the summer of 1975, the Eagles were starting to soar, thanks to the chart-topping success of their fourth studio album, One of These Nights. The band had scored its first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of ’75 with “Best of My Love,” a song from the group’s previous album, On the Border, and lightning struck again with One of These Nights’ lead single and title track.
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“One of These Nights” reached the top of the Hot 100 on August 2, 1975. It knocked Van McCoy’s early disco classic “The Hustle,” from the No. 1 slot, and spent a week at the pinnacle of the chart before being replaced by The Bee Gees’ danceable “Jive Talkin’.” “One of These Nights” was co-written by Eagles co-founders Don Henley and Glenn Frey.
The tune featured Henley on lead vocals, with bassist Randy Meisner contributing high harmonies to the choruses. Guitarist Don Felder delivered an emotive, blues-based solo. The Eagles initially were known as a country-rock act, but “One of These Nights” found the group adding some R&B, soul, and, yes, disco flavor to their sound.
The single version of “One of These Nights” was about a minute-and-a-half shorter than version that appeared on the album. For the single, most the track’s intro and fade-out sections were edited down.
On the Writing of “One of These Nights”
Frey began writing the song on piano, and Henley then came up with the melody and the initial lyrics.
In a 1975 Rolling Stone interview, Frey explained how the song came together and the music that influenced the tune.
“I’d been listening to Spinners and Al Green records when I started writing it at the piano,” he said. “We wanted ‘One of These Nights’ to have a lot of teeth, a lot of bite—a nasty track with pretty vocals.”
He added, “I started the music, Don [Henley] started the lyrics. What usually happens is when we get the thing fused together, he gets involved in the music and I get involved in the lyrics.”
In the liner notes for the Eagles’ 2003 The Very Best Of compilation, Frey chose “One of These Nights” as his favorite record by the group.
“We made a quantum leap with ‘One Of These Nights.’ It was a breakthrough song,” he wrote. “If I ever had to pick one [favorite], it wouldn’t be ‘Hotel California’; it wouldn’t be ‘Take It Easy.’ For me, it would be ‘One of These Nights.’”
More About the One of These Nights Album
The One of These Nights album reached the top of the Billboard 200 on July 26 and spent five straight weeks at No. 1 on the chart. The record featured two other singles that reached the Top Five of the Hot 100—“Lyin’ Eyes” and “Take It to the Limit,” which peaked at No. 2 and No. 4, respectively.
The album has gone on to sell more than 4 million copies in the U.S.
Eagles’ 2024 Performance Plans
As previously reported, the Eagles will begin a residency at the Sphere venue in Las Vegas starting on September 20. The band has a total of 20 concerts scheduled, four shows each month from September through January 2025.
Tickets for the Eagles’ Sphere concerts are available via a variety of outlets, including StubHub.
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