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Neil Young’s sixth studio album, 1975’s Tonight’s the Night, closed out the singer-songwriter’s so-called Ditch Trilogy.  1972’s country-rock landmark Harvest catapulted Young to superstardom, yielding the chart-topping single “Heart of Gold” and becoming the U.S.’ best-selling album of 1972.  But he wasn’t comfortable with everything that fame brought, and his successive albums replaced the wistful glow and commercial sheen of Harvest with something altogether darker. Tonight’s the Night followed Time Fades Away (1973) and On the Beach (1974) in the trilogy, though Beach was actually recorded after Tonight’s. Now, on November 28, Young will revisit Tonight’s the Night on CD, LP, and digitally in a reimagined 50th anniversary edition featuring six bonus tracks (and one song replaced).
The raw, unvarnished music of Tonight’s the Night complemented the stark, black-and-white photo which adorned its original cover. Young was responding in real time to the deaths of Crazy Horse’s Danny Whitten and friend and roadie Bruce Berry with some of his bleakest compositions; his voice was sore and aching, to match. Both Whitten and Berry were represented on the album: Berry was name-checked in the title song, while Whitten’s guitar from a 1970 Fillmore East show was utilized on “Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown.” Young was joined by the band known as the Santa Monica Flyers, featuring Ben Keith, Nils Lofgren, and Crazy Horse’s Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina. Both “Tonight’s the Night” and “Come On Baby,” as well as “Tired Eyes” and “Roll Another Number (For the Road)” directly addressed the tragedies brought on by drugs. “Mellow My Mind” and “Albuquerque” tackled the loneliness and melancholy of a touring musician’s life while “Lookout Joe” depicted a soldier’s return home from Vietnam.
Young has combed his archives (and Archives) for the bonus tracks appended to this reissue. “Lookout Joe” and “Walk On” are heard in previously unreleased, early versions as recorded during the 1973 album sessions in Los Angeles. “Lookout Joe” replaces the version recorded at Young’s Broken Arrow Studio and heard on the original pressing (and subsequent reissues) of Tonight’s the Night. “Walk On” joins five other bonus tracks after the album sequence including the previously unissued Take 3 of “Tonight’s the Night” and three cuts which premiered on Archives Vol. II: “Everybody’s Alone,” “Speakin’ Out,” and “Raised on Robbery” with Joni Mitchell. In his 2012 memoir Waging Heavy Peace, Young called the latter “the most sexy and revealing version that song ever had…I don’t know what the hell she was thinking when she joined us and sang the song. It kicks ass. What the fuck was that about? It was funkier than anything she has ever cut. A total gem!” The bonus material is rounded out by a version of “Wonderin'” from the album sessions which has streamed on Young’s website but never been physically released.
The 50th Anniversary edition of Tonight’s the Night, featuring a new take on the original cover artwork, arrives from NYA/Warner/Reprise on November 28. You’ll find the track listing and pre-order links below. A clear vinyl variant will be available at independent retailers and directly from Young’s Greedy Hand Store. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Neil Young, Tonight’s the Night 50Â (Reprise MS 2221, 1975 – reissued 2025)
1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Clear Vinyl: Greedy Hand Store
Tonight’s The Night
Speakin’ Out
World On a String
Borrowed Tune
Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown
Mellow My Mind
Roll Another Number (For the Road)
Albuquerque
New Mama
Lookout Joe [previously unreleased 1973 version]
Tired Eyes
Tonight’s The Night (Part II)
Bonus Session Tracks
Walk On
Wonderin’
Everybody’s Alone
Raised On Robbery [feat. Joni Mitchell]
Speakin’ Out Jam
Tonight’s The Night (Take 3)
Tracks 10, 13, 18 previously unreleased
Track 14 previously unreleased on physical format
Tracks 15-17 from Archives Vol. II (1972-1976), Reprise/NYA 093624899051, 2020​
Joe Marchese
JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.
Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat “King” Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.
Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.
Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.