Tonight's the Night is the sixth studio album by Canadian-American songwriter Neil Young. It was recorded in August–September 1973, mostly on August 26, but its release was delayed until June 1975. It peaked at No. 25 on the Billboard 200. The album is the third and final of the so-called "Ditch Trilogy" of albums that Young released following the major success of 1972's Harvest, whereupon the scope of his success and acclaim became so difficult for Young to handle that he subsequently experienced alienation from his music and career. on Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, moving up to number 330 in the list's 2012 edition and climbing further to number 302 in the 2020 update.

Background

Tonight's the Night is a direct expression of grief. Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and Young's friend and roadie Bruce Berry had both died of drug overdoses in the months before the songs were written. Bruce Berry was the brother of both Jan Berry of Jan and Dean fame and of Ken Berry, owner of S.I.R. studios where the album was recorded. Berry leveraged his music industry connections to work as a roadie for both Young and Stephen Stills during his Manassas tour. Berry died of a heroin overdose in June 1973. Danny Whitten was a singer, songwriter and guitarist in the band Crazy Horse, with whom Young had recorded two albums. He died in November 1972 the night after Young fired him during rehearsals for the Time Fades Away tour due to his inability to play. The sessions were the first time the remaining members of Crazy Horse had played together since the passing of Whitten. In 1975, Young explained to Bud Scoppa of Creem magazine how the loss was both personal and professional:

Liner notes

Included with the early original vinyl releases of Tonight's the Night is a cryptic message written by Young: "I'm sorry. You don't know these people. This means nothing to you."

On the front of the insert is a letter to a character called "Waterface"; scratched into the run-out grooves on side one is the message "Hello Waterface" while the run-out grooves on side two read "Goodbye Waterface". No explanation is given to this person's identity. In Jimmy McDonough's Shakey, Young says that "Waterface is the person writing the letter. When I read the letter, I'm Waterface. It's just a stupid thing—a suicide note without the suicide." The picture of Roy Orbison in the insert is taken from a bootleg tape Young came across and, feeling bad that Orbison most likely did not know the bootleg existed, printed it in the insert for him to see.

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2score = A

| rev3 = Pitchfork

| rev3score = 10/10

| rev4 = Rolling Stone

| rev4score =

| rev5 = Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev5score =

Dave Marsh wrote in the original Rolling Stone review:

In a follow-up review published in the 1983 edition of The New Rolling Stone Record Guide, Marsh writes:

Chris Fallon of PopMatters said, "Tonight's the Night is that one rare record I will never tire of."

Track listing

All tracks written by Neil Young, except "Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown" written with Danny Whitten.

Side one

  1. "Tonight's the Night" (4:39)
  2. Neil Young – piano, vocal; Nils Lofgren – guitar; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal
  3. Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 8/26/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young.
  4. "Speakin' Out" (4:56)
  5. Neil Young – piano, vocal; Nils Lofgren – guitar; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums
  6. Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 8/26/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young.
  7. "World on a String" (2:27)
  8. Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocal; Nils Lofgren – piano; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal
  9. Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 8/26/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young.
  10. "Borrowed Tune" (3:26)
  11. Neil Young – piano, harmonica, vocal. The lyrics, by Young, are set to the melody of "Lady Jane" by Mick Jagger/Keith Richards. Both the title and lyrics ("I'm singing this borrowed tune / I took from the Rolling Stones") note the song's origin.
  12. Recorded at Studio, Broken Arrow Ranch, 12/5/1973. Produced by Neil Young.
  13. "Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown" (3:35)
  14. Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Danny Whitten – guitar, vocal; Jack Nitzsche – piano; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal
  15. Recorded at Fillmore East, New York City, 3/7/1970. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young.
  16. "Mellow My Mind" (3:07)
  17. Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocal; Nils Lofgren – piano; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums
  18. Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 8/26/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young.

Side two

  1. "Roll Another Number (For the Road)" (3:02)
  2. Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Nils Lofgren – piano, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal
  3. Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 9/9/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young.
  4. "Albuquerque" (4:02)
  5. Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Nils Lofgren – piano, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal
  6. Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 9/13/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young.
  7. "New Mama" (2:11)
  8. Neil Young – guitar, vocal, vibes; Nils Lofgren - piano; Ben Keith – vocal; Ralph Molina – vocal; George Whitsell – vocal
  9. Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 9/10/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young.
  10. "Lookout Joe" (3:57)
  11. Neil Young – guitar, vocal; Ben Keith – slide guitar, vocal; Tim Drummond – bass; Jack Nitzsche – piano; Kenny Buttrey – drums
  12. Recorded at Studio, Broken Arrow Ranch, 12/15/1972. Produced by Elliot Mazer and Neil Young
  13. "Tired Eyes" (4:38)
  14. Neil Young – guitar, harmonica, vocal; Nils Lofgren – piano, vocal; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal; Billy Talbot – bass, vocal; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal
  15. Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 8/26/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young.
  16. "Tonight's the Night – Part II" (4:52)
  17. Neil Young – piano, vocal; Nils Lofgren – guitar; Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal; Billy Talbot – bass; Ralph Molina – drums, vocal
  18. Recorded at S.I.R., Hollywood, 9/13/1973. Produced by David Briggs & Neil Young.

Personnel

  • Neil Young – vocals; guitar on "World on a String", "Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown", "Mellow My Mind", "Roll Another Number", "Albuquerque", "New Mama", "Lookout Joe", and "Tired Eyes"; piano on "Tonight's the Night", "Speakin' Out", and "Borrowed Tune"; harmonica on "World on a String", "Borrowed Tune", and "Mellow My Mind"; vibes on "New Mama"
  • Ben Keith – pedal steel guitar, vocal on "Tonight's the Night", "Speakin' Out", "Roll Another Number", "Albuquerque", and "Tired Eyes"; pedal steel guitar on "World on a String" and "Mellow My Mind"; vocal on "New Mama"; slide guitar, vocal on "Lookout Joe"
  • Nils Lofgren – piano on "World on a String", "Mellow My Mind", "Roll Another Number", "Albuquerque", "New Mama", and "Tired Eyes"; vocal on "Roll Another Number", "Albuquerque", and "Tired Eyes"; guitar on "Tonight's the Night" and "Speakin' Out"
  • Danny Whitten – vocal, electric guitar on "Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown"
  • Jack Nitzsche – electric piano on "Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown"; piano on "Lookout Joe"
  • Billy Talbot – bass all tracks except "Borrowed Tune", "New Mama", and "Lookout Joe"
  • Tim Drummond – bass on "Lookout Joe"
  • Ralph Molina – drums, vocal all tracks except "Borrowed Tune", "New Mama", and "Lookout Joe"
  • Kenny Buttrey – drums on "Lookout Joe"
  • George Whitsell – vocal on "New Mama"

Additional roles

  • Gary Burden – art direction
  • Gijsbert Hanekroot, Joel Bernstein – photography

Charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+1975 chart performance for Tonight's the Night

! scope="col" | Chart (1975)

! scope="col" | Peak<br>position

|-

! scope="row"|Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| style="text-align:center;" |42

|-

! scope="row"|Canadian RPM 100 Albums

| align="center" |12

|-

! scope="row"|Dutch MegaCharts Albums

| align="center" |10

|-

! scope="row"|French Album Charts

| align="center" |11

|-

! scope="row"|Japanese Album Charts

| align="center" |61

|-

! scope="row"|UK Album Charts

| align="center" |48

|-

! scope="row"|US Billboard Top LPs & Tape

| align="center" |25

|-

! scope="row"|US Cash Box Top 100 Albums

| align="center" |19

|-

! scope="row"|US Record World Album Chart

| align="center" |39

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+2025 chart performance for Tonight's the Night

! scope="col" | Chart (2025)

! scope="col" | Peak<br>position

|-

! scope="row"| Croatian International Albums (HDU)

| 2

|-

! scope="row"| Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)

| 15

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|-

! scope="col" | Chart (1975)

! scope="col" | Rank

|-

! scope="row"|Canadian Albums (RPM 100 Albums)

| style="text-align:center;" |75

|}

Certifications

Notes

References

  • Lyrics at HyperRust.org
  • Liner Notes also at HyperRust.org

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