I just got back from a jaunt over to one of Soho’s (London) vinyl graveyards. I use my lunch break to seek out old records that need new life breathed into them. Today I feel like a regular Dr. Fronkensteen (not Frankenstein!).
I just picked up the last album I needed to complete Neil Young’s so called, “Ditch Trilogy”. Not familiar with the Ditch Trilogy? Well,
this trilogy has nothing to do with Lost Arcs or Ewoks (not that we wouldn’t expect Ol’ Neil to pull that kinda stuff on us). No, this trilogy deals with something far more brooding and intoxicating:
honey-slides, lost albums and pissing in the wind.
Neil Young’s three consecutive early 1970′s albums “Time Fades Away”, “On The Beach” and Tonight’s The Night are considered by many fans the Rosetta Stone to understanding his entire body of work. Because of their dark, haunting brilliance, the albums are known as “The Ditch Trilogy”.
In the often quoted hand written liner notes of Decade, Neil writes: ” ‘Heart of Gold’ put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch.” Hence, the origin of the “Ditch” term — which is sometimes also referred to as the “Doom” period or “The Wilderness Years”.
Lots more where that came from: dig here for a deeper Ditch download.
When I got to London in September I found a copy of “Times Fades Away”. A few months later, on another one of my Lunch Break Lacquer hunts, I found “Tonight’s the Night”. Today I found the last jewe in this dented crown: “On the Beach”.
All three albums were original pressings. ”Tonight’s the Night” came with all the original goodies (see pic). “On the Beach” was served up the same way, complete with note from Rusty Kershaw and the orange-y yellow wallpaper on the inside of the gate fold (see pic).
Tonight will definitely be the night…I plan on playing these back-to-front and back-to-back-to-back in all their doom and gloom brilliance. Before I head home there is one more thing I need to make this chariot swing low…
“Tonight’s the night; yes it is…”
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