Tonight's the Night

Danny Whitten died in November 1972 and Young's roadie Bruce Berry died of a heroin overdose in June 1973. Berry's brother Ken owned the S.I.R. studios in Hollywood where the album was recorded, mostly on 26 August 1973, with other tracks on 9, 10 and 13 September. Young said the sessions were the first time what was left of Crazy Horse had played together since Whitten died. Nils Lofgren, Ben Keith, Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina played with him. Ralph Molina said the album's cracked vocal moment on Mellow My Mind still gave him chills. Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown, written by Young with Whitten, is a live recording from the Fillmore East on 7 March 1970, with Whitten singing. Joni Mitchell dropped by the sessions and sang Raised on Robbery with the group.

The album was shelved at first, and Young released On the Beach in 1974. Reprise's president warned him that putting Tonight's the Night out could end his career, and he answered that they had better put it out right away. He chose it after Rick Danko of the Band, hearing Homegrown and then Tonight's the Night at a playback, told him to release the second one. The early vinyl came with a note reading "I'm sorry. You don't know these people. This means nothing to you," black and white Reprise labels, and an insert that printed a Dutch article by the journalist Constant Meijers. Dave Marsh's original Rolling Stone review said the album was preoccupied with death and disaster. It peaked at 25 on the Billboard 200, and the Roxy Theatre shows that followed the sessions were released in 2018 as Roxy: Tonight's the Night Live.