One evening a few weeks ago Petra pulled out the copy of 'Tonight's the Night' that she had brought back from Holland. It was pretty dusty, not having been listened to for about 20 years! Not sure where she had it stowed, but now that there is a turntable downstairs, its fun to listen to records together.

Waiting for Petra to return from her quilting workshop tonight, I thought about this record. I don't know why. It's late, dark, stormy. Maybe its the moon and the stars. Anyway, after cleaning it up a bit, I put it on the turntable.

Wow.

What a juxtaposition: In the next room, kids sitting side by side in front of the computer playing with the Sims II game just installed, and here is Neil  wailing, "Tonight's the Night." A guitar crackles, bass thumps, Neil's voice like knife...

I guess I haven't listened to 'Tonight's the Night' from start to finish for a long time. I've listened to individual songs over the years on compilation CDs, but hearing the record again is stunning. The first four songs on side one set a tone that is beautifully spare and raw and true, unmatched on many other records I can think of... and Nils Lofgren has never sounded so good on guitar.

Makes me sad to think I sold my copy of 'On the Beach' 15 years ago. It's so hard to come by now. Would love to hear it now.

So, I was inspired to sit down and write something about this moment but now I can't find words. Maybe you should just put the record on...