Op 18 november 1972 overleed Neil Young’s vriend Danny Whitten aan een combinatie van diazepam en alcohol. Young had Whitten eerder op die dag ontslagen en op een vliegtuig naar Los Angeles gezet. Whitten was een fantastische gitarist, maar worstelde al enkele jaren met een heroïneverslaving.
Eind ’72 was Whitten’s toestand zozeer verslechterd dat hij niet meer in staat was zijn gitaarpartijen te spelen, wat Young geen andere keuze liet dan hem te ontslaan: “We were rehearsing with him and he just couldn’t cut it. He couldn’t remember anything. He was too out of it. Too far gone. I had to tell him to go back to L.A. ‘It’s not happening, man. You’re not together enough.’ He just said, ‘I’ve got nowhere else to go, man. How am I gonna tell my friends?’ And he split. That night the coroner called me and told me he’d died. That blew my mind. Fucking blew my mind. I loved Danny. I felt responsible. And from there, I had to go right out on this huge tour of huge arenas. I was very nervous and … insecure.”
Neil’s schuldgevoelens werden nog verergerd doordat kort daarop roadie Bruce Berry – ook een goede vriend van Young – overleed aan een overdosis heroïne. Neil verwerkte zijn schuldgevoelens op Tonight’s The Night, één van de donkerste albums uit de muziekgeschiedenis. Daarop is ook een live-versie te vinden van de Whitten-compositie Come On Baby, Let’s Go Downtown, een verslag van een bezoek aan LA om smack te kopen. Ondanks de donkere thematiek, is het verslag bijna euforisch: Snake eyes, French fries and I got lots of gas/Full moon and a jumpin’ tune, now you don’t have to ask/Sure enough, they’ll be sellin’ you stuff/When the moon begins to rise.
Come on, baby, let’s go downtown
Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go downtown
Come on, baby, let me turn you around
Now turn you, turn you, turn you around
Come on, baby, let’s go downtown
Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go downtown
Walk on, talk on, baby, tell no lies
Don’t you be caught with a tear in your eye
Sure enough, they’ll be sellin’ you stuff
For when the moon begins to rise
Pretty bad when you’re dealin’ with the man
And the light shines in your eyes
Come on, baby, let’s go downtown
Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go downtown
Come on, baby, let me turn you around
Now turn you, turn you, turn you around
Come on, baby, let’s go downtown
Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go downtown
Snake eyes, French fries and I got lots of gas
Full moon and a jumpin’ tune, now you don’t have to ask
Sure enough, they’ll be sellin’ you stuff
When the moon begins to rise
Pretty bad when you’re dealin’ with the man
And the light shines in your eyes
Come on, baby, let’s go downtown
Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go downtown
Come on, baby, let me turn you around
Now turn you, turn you, turn you around
Come on, baby, let’s go downtown
Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go downtown
Come on, baby, let’s go downtown
Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go downtown
Come on, baby, let me turn you around
Now turn you, turn you, turn you around
Uitgelichte afbeelding: By Derived from a scan of the album cover (creator of this digital version is irrelevant as the copyright in all equivalent images is still held by the same party). Copyright held by the record company or the artist. Claimed as fair use regardless., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3098459
