''Midnight Fire'' is the second studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Steve Wariner Steven Noel Wariner (born December 25, 1954) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Initially a backing musician for Dottie West, he also worked with Bob Luman and Chet Atkins before beginning a solo career in the late ...

. It was released in 1983 by

RCA Nashville RCA Nashville is an American country music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is distributed by Sony Music Nashville which is part of Sony Music. Artists Current artists *Kane Brown * Corey Kent * Nate Smith * Morgan Wade Former art ...

. The album produced five singles on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart including two top ten singles: "Don't Your Memory Ever Sleep at Night" at number 23, "Midnight Fire" at number 5, "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers" (a cover of a 1972

Bob Luman Robert Glynn Luman (April 15, 1937 – December 27, 1978) was an American country and rockabilly singer. Early life and career Luman was born in Blackjack, Texas, United States, and raised in Nacogdoches, Texas. His early interest in music was ...

hit) at number 4, "Why Goodbye" at number 12, and "Don't You Give Up on Love" at number 49.

Content

"Overnight Sensation" features

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American retired country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful mus ...

on duet vocals. This same recording also appears on Mandrell's 1983 album '' Spun Gold''. The album was produced by Tony Brown and

Norro Wilson Norris Denton "Norro" Wilson (April 4, 1938 – June 8, 2017) was an American country music singer-songwriter, producer, and member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Wilson wrote or co-wrote numerous hit songs during more than 40 yea ...

, except for the last two tracks, which were produced by

Tom Collins The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. This "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically served in a Collins glass over ice with a cherry garnish. A non-alcoholic "Collins mix" drink mi ...

instead.

Critical reception

Giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars, Joy Lynn Stewart of the ''

Red Deer Advocate The ''Red Deer Advocate'' is a twice-weekly newspaper in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. It publishes Wednesday and Saturday and is owned by Black Press. History The newspaper was first established in 1901 as the ''Red Deer Echo'', changing its n ...

'' said that the album had "fine, textured vocals". She felt that Wariner's singing was as strong on the uptempo material as it was on the ballads, and felt that Wariner's style was "old-fashioned country...blended with a newer sound."

Track listing

Personnel

* Steve Wariner – vocals, guitar solo (2), first guitar solo (5) *

Bobby Ogdin Robert Ford Ogdin (born September, 1945) is a Nashville-based recording session pianist. He is best known as a member of Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley's TCB Band, TCB band. He performed on 20 of Presley's recordings and accompanied him on 45 live s ...

– electric piano (1, 3-5, 7-9), synthesizers (2, 10), acoustic piano (10),

Rhodes electric piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

(10) * Alan Steinberger – synthesizers (1, 3, 7, 8) * David Briggs – electric piano (6), synthesizers (6), acoustic piano (9, 10), Rhodes electric piano (10) *

Shane Keister Shane Keister is an American musician. He is known for his work as a studio musician, writer, arranger and producer. He plays synthesizer, piano, Hammond B3, Synclavier, Fairlight CMI, Fender Rhodes, and others. History Keister was born in Huntin ...

– synthesizers (10) *

–

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

(10) * Randy McCormick – organ (10) *

Brent Rowan Brent Rowan (born May 28, 1956, in Waxahachie, Texas) is an American session musician and record producer who works primarily in country music. Active since the 1970s, Rowan began working with John Conlee through the recommendation of record produ ...

– electric guitars (1-4, 7, 8), acoustic guitar (3, 5), guitar solo (3, 8) * Chip Young – acoustic guitar (3) *

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...

– second guitar solo (5) *

Pete Wade Herman Bland "Pete" Wade (December 16, 1934 – August 27, 2024) was an American guitarist. Wade worked as a session musician in Nashville, playing on numerous hits including "Crazy Arms" by Ray Price, "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jo ...

– electric guitars (6) * Peter Bordonali – electric guitars (9, 10) *

Jimmy Capps The Nashville A-Team was a nickname given to a group of session musicians in Nashville, Tennessee, who earned wide acclaim in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s, similar to their West Coast counterpart who became known (after the fact) as the Wre ...

– rhythm guitar (9, 10) *

Larry Byrom Larry Clifton Byrom (born December 27, 1948 in Huntsville, Alabama) is an American guitarist. Byrom performed in a band called the Precious Few in the 1960s, then joined T.I.M.E.; in 1970, he joined Steppenwolf. He left Steppenwolf in 1972 and ...

– electric guitars (10) *

Reggie Young Reggie Grimes Young Jr. (December 12, 1936 – January 17, 2019) was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with ...

– electric guitars (10) *

Dennis Morgan Dennis Morgan (born Earl Stanley Morner; December 20, 1908 – September 7, 1994) was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame. According to one ob ...

– rhythm guitar (10) *

John Hughey John Hughey (December 27, 1933 – November 18, 2007) was an American musician. He was known for his work as a session pedal steel guitar player for various country music acts, most notably Vince Gill and Conway Twitty. A member of the Steel Gui ...

–

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

(1, 2) * Sonny Garrish – steel guitar (3, 6, 7, 9, 10) * Michael Jones – steel guitar (10) * Bobby Thompson –

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

(5), acoustic guitar (6) *

Emory Gordy Jr. Emory Lee Gordy Jr. (born December 25, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter and music producer. A former member of Emmylou Harris' backing band The Hot Band, he is best known for his association with country singer Patty Loveless, to whom ...

– bass (1-5, 7, 8), acoustic guitar (3) *

Henry Strzelecki Henry Pershing Strzelecki (August 8, 1939 – December 30, 2014) was a Nashville studio musician who performed with Roy Orbison, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Ronnie Milsap, Merle Haggard, and ma ...

– bass (6) *

David Hungate David Hungate (born August 5, 1948) is an American retired bass guitarist noted as a member of the Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1976 to 1982 and again from 2014 to 2015, and the son of judge William L. Hungate. Along with most of his ...

– bass (9, 10) * Matt Leech – bass (10) * Larry Paxton – bass (10) *

Eddie Bayers Eddie Bayers (born January 28, 1949) is an American session drummer who has played on 300 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for fourteen years, has three times won the Nashville Music ...

– drums (1-5, 7, 8) * Jerry Kroon – drums (6) *

James Stroud James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in Pop music, pop, Rock music, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant ...

– drums (9, 10) *

Terry McMillan Terry McMillan (born October 18, 1951) is an American novelist known for her vivid portrayals of African American women's lives, relationships, and journeys of self-discovery. Her best-selling works, including ''Waiting to Exhale'' and ''How S ...

– percussion (8) *

Hoot Hester Hubert Dwane "Hoot" Hester (August 13, 1951 – August 30, 2016) was an American fiddle player, multi-instrumentalist, and country music and bluegrass artist. He was born on a small farm near Louisville, Kentucky, on August 13, 1951. Hester playe ...

–

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

(2, 5) * Michael Wesley Foster – saxophone solo (4) * Terry Wariner – harmony vocals (1), backing vocals (4) *

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

– harmony vocals (2), backing vocals (4) * The Cherry Sisters – backing vocals (3, 7, 9, 10) * Jessica Boucher – backing vocals (6, 8) * Don Gant – backing vocals (6) * Greg Gordon – backing vocals (8) * Donny Lowery – backing vocals (8) *

– vocals (10)

Production

* Tony Brown – producer (1-8) * Norro Wilson – producer (1-8) * Tom Collins – producer (9, 10) * Jim Cotton – engineer * Tim Farmer – engineer * Ben Harris – engineer * Bill Harris – engineer * Lee Ladd – engineer *

Kyle Lehning Kyle Lehning is an American record producer whose work is mainly in the field of country music. He has produced virtually every album released by Randy Travis, who described their partnership "an interesting relationship." The only exceptions are ...

– engineer * Ken Corlew – assistant engineer * Doug Crider – assistant engineer * Joe Scaife – assistant engineer * Hank Williams – mastering at MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee) * Denny Purcell – mastering at Woodland Sound Studios (Nashville, Tennessee) * Bill Brunt – art direction * Beverly Parker – photography * Don Light – management

Chart performance

Album

References

{{Authority control Steve Wariner albums 1983 albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Tony Brown (record producer) Albums produced by Norro Wilson