The Nights -

The Nights were an American soul-funk band that released a 1976 self-titled album on ABC/Little Star.

Members: Anthony Brahumm, Anthony Williams, Dennis Hagger, Ira Clark, Joey L. Mingo, Rickey Blain, Vincent Rocto

Background

The Nights first worked as the Soul Knights, a seven-member vocal-and-instrumental group with Rickey Blain, Anthony Brannum, Ira Clark, Dennis Hagger, Joey L. Mingo, Vincent Rocto, and Anthony Williams. The group performed as a self-contained act before family financing took the members to California for record-industry contact.

Producer-arranger H.B. Barnum, owner of Little Star Records, recorded the group under the shortened name The Nights.

The Nights

The Nights released their self-titled album in 1976 on Little Star, before ABC issued the same album in the US market. Little Star pressed the album as LSLP-1003, while ABC issued it as AB-1033.

The album presents vocal-group soul with boogie and funk titles. H.B. Barnum produced the record in association with Walter Johnson for the seven-man vocal group.

“(When You Dropped Your Guard) Love Knocked You Down” glides through a brisk backbeat, with brass accents and group replies set behind the title warning. “Give It To the Needy, Not the Greedy” clamps the rhythm into heavier dance-band repetition, with the refrain pressed into blunt social-command phrasing. “Country Girl” lingers on high-register falsetto lead and close-set chorus answers, placing the courtship text inside a sweetened slow arrangement.

“Lovers Can Never Be Friends” and “Let There Be Love” work the album’s low-lit side through sustained lead phrases and soft harmony returns. “Face in the Crowd” circles a similar falsetto-and-chorus design, with the lead voice held above satin-finished accompaniment. “Power” and “Hangin’ Tough” give the set its harder-accented side, where the group chants short title phrases against firmer ensemble punctuation.

A1. “(When You Dropped Your Guard) Love Knocked You Down” (3:40) – Walter Leroy Johnson, Traves Jones
A2. “Give It to the Needy, Not the Greedy” (5:51) – W. Johnson
A3. “Country Girl (You’re My Everything)” (4:04) – W. Johnson, Sherman Satchell, Bobby Massey
A4. “Lovers Can Never Be Friends” (4:51) – W. Johnson
A5. “Power (Just Another Name for the Dollar)” (4:05) – James Page, W. Johnson, T. Jones

B1. “Let There Be Love” (4:20) – W. Johnson, S. Satchell
B2. “Face in the Crowd” (5:25) – W. Johnson
B3. “Don’t Knock the Rock” (3:48) – W. Johnson, H.B. Barnum
B4. “Hangin’ Tough” (7:31) – W. Johnson

H.B. Barnum produced and arranged the album with associate producer Walter Johnson.

The Little Star sleeve shows the seven members beneath a stone archway and a hand-held title sign. The ABC sleeve replaces the group image with a rooftop portrait of a woman holding flowers before a city skyline.

ABC issued “Country Girl” as a 1976 single (b/w “Let There Be Love”). Little Star issued “(When You Dropped Your Guard) Love Knocked You Down” as a 1977 single (b/w “Let There Be Love”).

Discography: