| Jennifer Warnes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1 January 1977 | |||
| Recorded | May 1975 – 1976 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Rock,pop,country rock,folk rock | |||
| Length | 38:45 | |||
| Label | Arista | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Jennifer Warnes chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Jennifer Warnes | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
Jennifer Warnes is the fourth album by American singer/songwriterJennifer Warnes, released in late 1976 as her inauguralArista Records album. It was her first album where she was credited by her full name, after being credited as simply "Jennifer" on her first three albums. The disc generated Warnes' firstBillboard Hot 100 single "Right Time of the Night" which also ranked on theBillboard hit listings ofC&W andEasy Listening tracks, with "Right Time..." reaching No. 1 on the latter.[3] The second single, "I'm Dreaming" also reached the Easy Listening top ten.[4]
Warnes had been signed by Arista Records presidentClive Davis in April 1975[5] on the recommendation ofJim Price, and from May 1975 Price oversaw sessions – atthe Village Recorder in west Los Angeles – for tracks intended for Warnes' inaugural Arista album.[6] Price, producing Warnes sporadically as his work schedule permitted – Warnes said that "[Price was] producing,...arranging, singing, engineering, playing horns and so forth [for various artists]"[7] – could not present Clive Davis with the completed tracks Price intended to comprise Warnes' inaugural Arista album until the summer of 1976.[8]
Davis' reaction to the intended album for Warnes was: "It was a good enough album but it didn't have anything on it that could give her the hit single she needs",[8] and Davis resultantly recruitedJim Ed Norman to produce two tracks to supplement Price's work, with Norman overseeing Warnes' sessions for the tracks "Right Time of the Night" and "I'm Dreamin" at Davlen Sound Studios in July 1976.[7][9] Warnes said: "Clive picked 'I'm Dreaming' and 'Right Time of the Night', and he brought in Jim Ed Norman...to give those songs very explicit tracks"[10]- Norman, who had been a member ofDon Henley's pre-Eagles band Shiloh, having overseen string arrangements for theEagles' albumsDesperado andOne of These Nights and also having arranged strings forLinda Ronstadt's version of "Desperado" (albumDon't Cry Now/ 1973). Warnes said: "Because of the amount of money Linda Ronstadt was making forAsylum [Records] Arista pretty much saw me as [their] ticket [to similar success]."[11]
Clive Davis also assignedVal Garay to mix "Right Time of the Night" and "I'm Dreaming" and also remix Warnes' Jim Price-produced tracks: Garay had mixed the Linda Ronstadt albumsHeart Like a Wheel andPrisoner in Disguise and around the time of his work on theJennifer Warnes album was working on Ronstadt's albumHasten Down the Wind. The production costs of the Jim Price sessions with Jennifer Warnes had totaled $60,000: the recording of the two supplementary tracks: "Right Time..." and "I'm Dreaming", plus the expenditure for the Garay remix upped the production costs of theJennifer Warnes album to a $115,000 total.[8]
After scheduling theJennifer Warnes album for August 1976 release,[12] Davis elected to hold back release until the new year, deeming Warnes' album likely to be lost in theholiday season sales boom.[8] Both the album and its lead single "Right Time of the Night" would in fact be released 1 January 1977 with theJennifer Warnes album debuting at No. 189 on theBillboard 200 album chart dated 26 February 1977, which in that week "Right Time of the Night" entered thetop 40 of theBillboard Hot 100 en route to a No. 6 peak that May with theJennifer Warnes album peaking at No. 43 the same month.[13]
Production and Technical
| Chart (1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[14] | 92 |
| USBillboard 200[15] | 43 |
