“We drank a lot of tequila, and I wrote Tonight’s the Night’s songs somewhere around the beginning. We had nine songs and played them twice every night for a long time until we thought we had them. … We had finished recording and decided to celebrate with a gig at a new club opening on the Sunset Strip, the Roxy. We went there and recorded for a few nights, opening the Roxy. We really knew the Tonight’s the Night songs after playing them for a month, so we just played them again, the album, top to bottom, two sets a night for a few days. We had a great time.”
Oh man. One glimpse of this album cover brought a wave of joy to my humble being. My all-time favorite Neil Young record is "Tonight's the Night." It is a dark, raw, Stonesy record. Tight arrangements, glimmering little jewels of songs, recorded live in the studio, no overdubs, no "fixes."
This record from Neil Young's Archives project: "Roxy: Tonight's the Night Live," captures the band in 1973 at a newly opened club in L.A. - The Roxy, playing the songs from the "Tonight's the Night" album. It is Neil and the "Santa Monica Flyers" - the Crazy Horse rhythm section (Ralph Molina on drums, Billy Talbot on bass), with special guests Ben Keith, from FAME in Muscle Shoals, on Pedal Steel and Nils Lofgren, young guitar wunderkind on guitar and piano. Neil plays a Fender Telecaster. A rarity!
There are no extended jams. Neil's Telecaster is a completely different musical animal from "Old Black," his vintage, modified Les Paul guitar. Here Neil is concise, confident, focused. The band is so good - tight & loose, raw and refined. They know these songs well, but they are being shared with an audience for the first time, there is an edge, a exuberance, an unfettered beauty. R&R at it's ramshackle best.
"The faster you drink, the better we play..." - Neil Young