Neil Young is as amorous about his past as he is about his present. Both are operating on full steam, thanks to a commitment to move forward while reminding everyone the archives are brimming over with delectable delights from the past six decades. Young’s present and past crossed paths recently when he released a live album recorded in 1973 called Roxy: Tonight’s The Night Live. While not exactly a Crazy Horse show, Young was joined by three of the band’s members: drummer Ralph Molina, bassist Bill Talbot and guitarist / pianist Nils Lofgren. The first week of May 2018, Young got together with Molina, Talbot and Lofgren, and played five shows in Fresno and Bakersfield. “Tonight’s The Night” didn’t make the cut.
It did on Roxy: Tonight’s The Night Live. Both parts. Most of the Tonight’s The Night album did, even though it wasn’t released until 1975. Young didn’t care. He took the music, some of which was written in the throes of despair and mourning, and had a raucous party at the then-new Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles to try it out live. No one in the audience understood the guilt that plagued Young after Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry overdosed and died. It was in the songs, though you’d never know it from the way they were rolled out at the Roxy. “Welcome to Miami Beach,” Young announced after he was introduced. “First topless girl we get up here gets one of these boots ladies and gentlemen…” It only gets better from here.
Nowadays, it’s rare if Young mutters a full sentence between songs. At the Roxy in 1973, he had a lot to say…about Miami Beach, the sun, David Geffen, policemen, the 70s and a stripper named Candy Bar. Maybe it was all meant to lighten the load of the songs. There’s some soul searching on “World On A String” and a bit of deep introspection and sadness, no doubt facilitated by Ben Keith’s crying pedal steel, on “Albuquerque.” When Young dedicates “Tired Eyes” to “all the people who couldn’t make it tonight,” you have to wonder if he’s thinking about Whitten and Berry. Of course, Berry gets a shout-out in “Tonight’s The Night,” but this time “(Come On Baby Let’s Go) Downtown,” the only song he co-wrote with Whitten, didn’t make the cut. Supposedly about scoring a bag of heroin, the version that appears on Tonight’s The Night was recorded live in 1970 at the Fillmore East, and likely added as a tribute with a message. In 1973, mere months after Whitten’s tragic death, it was probably the last song in the world Neil Young wanted to sing.
“Tired Eyes” puts it all in the perspective. It could have almost been a requiem, but it’s actually another drug song about a deal that went south because that’s the way it typically goes. “Was he a heavy doper or was he just a loser?” The lyrics ask. “He tried to do his best but he could not.” Tonight’s The Night may be the most honest record Neil Young has ever made. Within a discography of over 40 studio albums, it remains a favorite of fans and critics alike; ambiguous to anyone you ask, even Young. Roxy: Tonight’s The Night Live opens the lid and offers a glimpse, without sounding remorseful. The singer himself isn’t exactly sure where it all came from. Forty-five years later, he smiled and looked over at Nils Lofgren across the Warnors Theatre stage in Fresno. In that one instance, gathered with familiar friends and diehard fans, one could sense Neil Young has finally restituted his grief over the innumerable losses he’s endured, and will leave it to the muse to catalyze the journey to the very end.
~ Shawn Perry
