Headed for the Ditch

The Neil Young ditch trilogy: the three dark records he made after "Heart of Gold" went to number one in 1972. The name comes from his liner notes for a 1977 career retrospective, where he wrote that the hit put him in the middle of the road, the middle got boring, and he headed for the ditch, a rougher ride with more interesting people.

What sent him there was death. Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten died of an overdose in November 1972, the night Young sent him home from tour rehearsals, and roadie Bruce Berry died the same way the following summer.

The set runs in release order, which is not the order they were made. Time Fades Away is a live album of new songs from the grim 1973 tour, and it stayed off CD for decades. Tonight's the Night was recorded next, in the summer of 1973, as a ragged wake for Whitten and Berry, then shelved. On the Beach was made after it and released first, in 1974: quieter, bleaker and funnier than its reputation. Tonight's the Night finally came out in 1975.

If you only have time for one, play Tonight's the Night. It is the reason the other two exist, and the loosest, most unnerving record he ever released.