Night Time Is the Right Time

"Night Time Is the Right Time" or "The Right Time" is a rhythm and blues song recorded by American musician Nappy Brown in 1957. It draws on earlier blues songs and has inspired popular versions, including those by Ray Charles, Rufus and Carla, and James Brown, which reached the record charts. Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded a version of the song on their 1969 album, Green River. The Animals also included a version of the song on their debut album The Animals, released in 1964.

Blues pianist Roosevelt Sykes (listed as "the Honey Dripper") recorded "Night Time Is the Right Time" in 1937. Called "one of his 'hits' of the day", it is a moderate-tempo twelve-bar blues that features Sykes on vocal and piano. It has been suggested that it was "drawn from the old vaudeville tradition":

Now I want you to tell me, mama after I sing this song
Can I take you with me tonight darlin', and hold you in my arms
Because night time is the right time, to be with the one you love, with the one you love

In 1938, Big Bill Broonzy recorded the song, as "Night Time Is the Right Time No. 2," with slightly different (and more suggestive) lyrics. The same year, Roosevelt Sykes recorded a new version, similarly entitled "Night Time Is the Right Time #2," also with slightly different lyrics. These earliest recordings of "Night Time Is the Right Time" are credited to Roosevelt Sykes and Leroy Carr. Carr died in 1935 without any known recordings of the song; "Night Time Is The Right Time" bears similarity to Carr's "When the Sun Goes Down".

In 1957, Nappy Brown recorded the song as "The Right Time". Called "a highlight of Brown's early career", his version features additional lyrics with background singers answering his vocal lines. The instrumental accompaniment is provided by Buster Cooper on trombone, Hilton Jefferson on alto sax, Budd Johnson on tenor sax, Kelly Owens on piano, Skeeter Best on guitar, Leonard Gaskin on bass, and Bobby Donaldson on drums. Brown's song opens with

You know the night time (ba-do-day), is the right time (ba-do-day)
To be (ba-do-day), with the one you love (ba-do-day)

Brown's version did not reach the national record charts, but was "borrowed by Ray Charles in short order". During his career, Brown recorded several versions of the song (sometimes varying the title). His original single lists the songwriter as "N. Brown".

Ray Charles recorded his version, titled "(Night Time Is) The Right Time", on October 28, 1958, at the Atlantic Records studio in New York City. According to Brown, "The difference between me and Ray Charles's ‘Night Time Is the Right Time' ... is he had it up-tempo with Mary Ann and them behind him—the ladies. I had mine in a slow tempo with a gospel group behind me. That was my gospel group. But he got everything just like mine, note for note". Margie Hendrix with Charles' backup singers the Raelettes provided the accompaniment to Charles' vocals.