Nightrider (song)

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

Not to be confused with Night Rider (Elvis Presley song).
"Nightrider"
Single by Electric Light Orchestra
from the album Face the Music
A-side"Do Ya"
B-side"Daybreaker" (Live)
Released19 March 1976 (UK)
February 1977 (US)
Recorded1975, Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany
GenreArt rock
Length4:25 (Album version)
3:45 (UK single edit)
LabelJet (UK)
Jet/United Artists (US)
Songwriter(s)Jeff Lynne
Producer(s)Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology
"Strange Magic"
(1976)		 "Nightrider"
(1976)		 "Livin' Thing"
(1976)
Face the Music track listing
8 tracks
Side one
  1. "Fire On High"
  2. "Waterfall"
  3. "Evil Woman"
  4. "Nightrider"
Side two
  1. "Poker"
  2. "Strange Magic"
  3. "Down Home Town"
  4. "One Summer Dream"

The song's title is a tip of the hat to Lynne's first major band, The Nightriders. This was the third single released from the album after "Evil Woman", in 1976. 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
  1. "Electric Light Orchestra - Nightrider (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  2. Delve, Barry (2021). Electric Light Orchestra: Every album, every song. Sonicbond. pp. 54–55. ISBN 9781789521528.
  3. "Electric Light Orchestra - Do Ya (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  4. Spicer, Mark (2018). "The Electric Light Orchestra and the Anxiety of the Beatles' Influence". In Burns, Lori; Lacasse, Serge (eds.). The Pop Palimpsest: Intertextuality in Recorded Popular Music. University of Michigan Press. pp. 116, 122. ISBN 9780472130672.
  5. Van Der Kiste, John (2017). Electric Light Orchestra: Song by Song. Fonthill. p. 39. ISBN 9781781556009.
  6. Christopher, Michael (28 September 2015). "When Electric Light Orchestra Unveiled a New Lineup on 'Face the Music'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
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