Tonight’s The Night is one of the greatest dark albums in the history of rock’n’roll. Within six month, Neil Young lost two close friends to overdoses: his guitarist Danny Whitten and his roadie Bruce Berry. It explains why the album he recorded soon after, in August and September 1973 (which was only released in June 1975, after On The Beach), was so dark… The introspective trip of Tonight’s The Night feeds on these personal tragedies and blends them with the oppressive atmosphere that reigned in the US at the time. Urban violence, rampant drug use, Vietnam War and faltering hippie utopia all contributed to his sombre yet sublime and poignant partition. Even the instrumentation of Tonight’s The Night is wavering between a flickering piano and a thrifty pedal steel guitar. A stripped-bare style to better highlight the beauty of the melodies on moving ballads like Tired Eyes, New Mama and Borrowed Tune…
On September 20th, 21st and 22nd of 1973, Neil Young and his musicians, baptised the Santa Monica Flyers (with Ben Keith on the pedal steel guitar, Nils Lofgren on the guitar and piano, Billy Talbot on the bass and Ralph Molina on drums), stepped onto the stage of Roxy, a brand-new club in West Hollywood, Los Angeles. In their hands, this new repertoire that stunk of death and sulphur, but the versions they delivered to the Californian public were bursting with true emotional power, real warmth and, at times, a sincere and communicative joy that was – logically – absent from the studio versions. That’s the true magic of this unearthed and restored archive. And while Neil Young’s fans will no doubt have this Roxy − Tonight’s The Night Live on repeat, newcomers can also jump on this stunning bandwagon and discover the universe of a unique musician who was, at the time, on top of his game and writing.
Unfortunately, there is no videos of the mythical show in 1973, but here is a live performance three years later with Crazy Horse:
And a beautiful version of Tonight's The Night :
