IN ORDER TO AVOID MISUNDERSTANDING  WE ADVISE YOU TO ENQUIRE 

ABOUT POSTAGE COST BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY BID/PURCHASE THE ITEM

  PLEASE ASK FOR ANY INFORMATION

NEIL YOUNG

with BILL TALBOT, BEN KEITH, RALPH MOLINA, NILS LOFGREN 

Eternally restless figure who pursued an idiosyncratic solo career touching 

on everything from noise-rock and synth pop to blues and rockabilly

"TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT"

Produced by David Briggs and Neil Young

1975     LP     REPRISE RECORDS    STEREO   K 54040 (MS 2221)

MADE IN ITALY    ORIGINAL FIRST PRESSING

[First pressing was distributed by DISCHI RICORDI; 2nd pressing by WEA]

GATEFOLD COVER + INNER SLEEVE + INSERT

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Barcode: none

LABEL: REPRISE - TAN LABEL w/LOGO on TOP - BLACK TEXT

Catalog on cover: (spine, rear & inner) K 54040 (MS 2221)

Catalog on labels: K 54040 (2221/1) (MS 2221) / K 54040 (2221/2) (MS 2221)

Matrix / Runout (A Side, Stamped): 2221-1 - 20-5-75   (Etched, not clearly legible): CA

Matrix / Runout (B Side, Stamped): 2221-2 - 20-5-75   (Etched, not clearly legible): CA

On labels: rim text reads "Riservati......Made in Italy by Dischi Ricordi S.p.A."

? 1975 Warner Bros. Records

All selections written by Neil Young.......

All selections published by Silver Fiddle/BMI.......

 Produced by Neil Young & David Briggs with Tim Mulligan

Rights Society: SIAE (printed on both side and stamped in red on side A)

On back cover: Distribuzione Dischi Ricordi S.P.A.  © 1975 Warner Bros. Records Inc.

tracklisting

Side A: TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT - SPEAKIN' OUT - WORLD ON A STRING

BORROWED TUNE - COME ON BABY LET'S GO DOWNTOWN - MELLOW MY MIND

Side B: ROLL ANOTHER NUMBER (FOR THE ROAD) - ALBUQUERQUE - NEW MAMA

LOOKOUT JOE - TIRED EYES - TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT PART II

grading

RECORD VG+ but (please, read above description)

SLEEVE VG(+) but (please, see pictures and read above description)

Written and recorded in 1973 shortly after the death of roadie Bruce Berry, Neil Young's second close associate to die of a heroin overdose in six months (the first was Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten), Tonight's the Night was Young's musical expression of grief, combined with his rejection of the stardom he had achieved in the late '60s and early '70s. The title track, performed twice, was a direct narrative about Berry: "Bruce Berry was a working man/He used to load that Econoline van." Whitten was heard singing "Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown," a live track recorded years earlier. Elsewhere, Young frequently referred to drug use and used phrases that might have described his friends, such as the chorus of "Tired Eyes," "He tried to do his best, but he could not." Performing with the remains of Crazy Horse, bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina, along with Nils Lofgren (guitar and piano) and Ben Keith (steel guitar), Young performed in the ragged manner familiar from Time Fades Away -- his voice was often hoarse and he strained to reach high notes, while the playing was loose, with mistakes and shifting tempos. But the style worked perfectly for the material, emphasizing the emotional tone of Young's mourning and contrasting with the polished sound of CSNY and Harvest that Young also disparaged.  He remained unimpressed with his commercial success, noting in "World on a String," "The world on a string/Doesn't mean anything." In "Roll Another Number," he said he was "a million miles away/From that helicopter day" when he and CSN had played Woodstock. And in "Albuquerque," he said he had been "starvin' to be alone/Independent from the scene that I've known" and spoke of his desire to "find somewhere where they don't care who I am." Songs like "Speakin' Out" and "New Mama" seemed to find some hope in family life, but Tonight's the Night did not offer solutions to the personal and professional problems it posed. It was the work of a man trying to turn his torment into art and doing so unflinchingly. Depending on which story you believe, Reprise rejected it or Young withdrew it from its scheduled release at the start of 1974 after touring with the material in the U.S. and Europe. In 1975, after a massive CSNY tour, Young at the last minute dumped a newly recorded album and finally put Tonight's the Night out instead. Though it did not become one of his bigger commercial successes, the album was immediately recognized as a unique masterpiece by critics, and it has continued to be ranked as one of the greatest rock & roll albums ever made...(AllMusic)