Nightrider (song)

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Not to be confused with Night Rider (Elvis Presley song).
"Nightrider"
File:Nightrider single.jpg
Single by Electric Light Orchestra
from the album Face the Music
A-side "Do Ya"
B-side "Daybreaker" (Live)
Released 19 March 1976 (UK)
February 1977 (US)
Recorded 1975
Studio Musicland, Munich, Germany
Genre Art rock
Length 4:25 (Album version)
3:45 (UK single edit)
Label Jet (UK)
Jet/United Artists (US)
Songwriter(s) Jeff Lynne
Producer(s) Jeff Lynne
Script error: The function "ucfirst" does not exist. singles chronology
"Strange Magic"
(1976)		 "Nightrider"
(1976)		 "Livin' Thing"
(1976)

"Nightrider" is a song from Electric Light Orchestra's (ELO) album Face the Music.

The song's title is a tip of the hat to Lynne's first major band, The Nightriders. It was released in 1976 as the third single from the album in the United Kingdom. The B-side on the single was a live version of "Daybreaker" taken from the 1974 live album The Night the Light Went On in Long Beach.[1] Despite ELO's rising popularity, and the band playing the song on Top of the Pops on 29 April 1976, the song failed to chart.[2] The song was also included as the B-side on the US hit single "Do Ya".[3]

Between 3:16 and 3:19, the song features a string crescendo which was reused (played backwards, from 2:40 to 2:44) on another of the album's tracks, "Evil Woman".[4]

"I took the high string part of Nightrider that climbs up to a climax, and used it backwards in Evil Woman as a big effect. I was amazed when it slotted in seamlessly." - Jeff Lynne (Face the Music remaster liner notes)

Bassist Kelly Groucutt took the lead vocal on the second verse.[5][6]

ELO biographer John Van Der Kiste described the song as "another of those deceptively simple-sounding songs with a very intricate arrangement."[5] Van Der Kiste describes how the song moves from "plaintive keyboard" to "more forceful chorus" to "peaceful conclusion" and praises the "otherworldly strings that are incorporated into the arrangement.[5] Barry Delve described it as a "mini-symphony" with "complex vocal arrangements and driving strings underpinning several dynamic changes."[2] Similar to Van Der Kiste, Delve describes how the song moves from quiet introduction to galloping chorus to "dreamy conclusion."[2]

Rolling Stone critic said that "Nightrider" reminded him of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.[4]

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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