B-side "The Last Goodbye" Format 45" single Genre Southern rock | Released May 1979 Recorded 1978 | |
Length 04:49 (Album Version)
03:46 (Single Version) | ||
"Heart of the Night" is a song introduced on the 1978 album release by the country-rock group Poco entitled Legend: a 1979 hit single, "Heart of the Night" is also featured on the group retrospective 20th Century Masters album as well as The Essential Poco album.
Featuring a lead vocal by its composer Paul Cotton, "Heart of the Night" is an evocation of the night life of the city of New Orleans. Cotton, who was born in Alabama but raised in Chicago, said in a September 2000 interview with Sound Waves magazine, "I'm just drawn to the South. Hey, I spent 25 winters in Chicago."
In 1978, Cotton and Rusty Young, "got a little rehearsal hall, put together a band, and played...'Heart of the Night'" for ABC Records executives. The song is highlighted by an alto saxophone solo by Phil Kenzie.
"Heart of the Night" was issued as the second single from Legend in May 1979, reaching a Hot 100 peak of #20. Billboard ranked "Heart of the Night" as a #5 Easy Listening hit, with the track appearing on the C&W chart at #96. In Canada "Heart of the Night" peaked at #18.
A live performance by Poco of "Heart of the Night" appears on the November 1979 multi-artist album No Nukes: The Muse Concerts for a Non-Nuclear Future which contains selections from the September 1979 Madison Square Garden concerts by the Musicians United for Safe Energy collective. A live rendition of "Heart of the Night" is also featured on the 2004 Poco concert album Keeping the Legend Alive recorded May 20, 2004 at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville.