{{Short description|1971 song by Joni Mitchell; a hit for Nazareth}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox song | name = This Flight Tonight | cover = | alt = | type = | artist = [[Joni Mitchell]] | album = [[Blue (Joni Mitchell album)|Blue]] | released = 22 June 1971 | recorded = | studio = | genre = [[Folk music|Folk]] | length = 2:51 | label = [[Reprise Records|Reprise]] | writer = Joni Mitchell | producer = Joni Mitchell | misc = {{External music video|header=Official audio|type=song|{{YouTube|AD0dRjq4m20|"This Flight Tonight"}}}} }}

"'''This Flight Tonight'''" is a song originally by [[Joni Mitchell]], from her 1971 album ''[[Blue (Joni Mitchell album)|Blue]]''. Scottish [[hard rock]] band [[Nazareth (band)|Nazareth]] released the song as a single in 1973 that charted internationally.

==Original recording== [[Joni Mitchell]] wrote and released the song on her 1971 album ''[[Blue (Joni Mitchell album)|Blue]]''. The song tells of Mitchell's regrets as she leaves her lover on a flight and wishes to return. The track was also released as the [[B-side]] of "[[Carey (song)|Carey]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Joni-Mitchell-Carey/master/344603|title=Joni Mitchell – Carey|year=1971 |publisher=[[Discogs]]|access-date=10 January 2016}}</ref>

Mitchell plays guitar and sings, and was the [[record producer|producer]], [[pedal steel guitar]] is by [[Sneaky Pete Kleinow]] and [[Henry Lewy]] was the [[Audio engineer|engineer]].<ref>{{Cite AV media notes|title=Blue|others=Joni Mitchell|year=1971|publisher=Reprise Records|location=US|type=LP liner notes|id=MS 2038}}</ref>

==Nazareth cover== {{Infobox song | name = This Flight Tonight | cover = Nazareth This Flight Tonight.png | alt = | caption = Cover of the 1973 German single | type = single | artist = [[Nazareth (band)|Nazareth]] | album = [[Loud 'n' Proud]] | B-side = Called Her Name | released = October 1973 | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = [[Hard rock]]<ref>{{cite web|author=Song Review by Donald A. Guarisco |url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/this-flight-tonight-mt0033935355 |title=This Flight Tonight – Nazareth &#124; Listen, Appearances, Song Review |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=4 July 2015}}</ref> | length = | label = [[Mooncrest Records|Mooncrest]] | writer = [[Joni Mitchell]] | producer = [[Roger Glover]] | prev_title = [[Broken Down Angel]] | prev_year = 1973 | next_title = [[Love Hurts]] | next_year = 1974 | misc = {{External music video|header=Video|{{YouTube|P9uvpr_gm64|"This Flight Tonight" (Austrian TV, 1975)}}}} }}

Scottish [[hard rock]] band [[Nazareth (band)|Nazareth]] reworked the song in 1973. Their version, a driving hard-rock arrangement, was a hit in Canada, West Germany (where it reached number one) and the UK.<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2C6I4KfgJ1kC&pg=RA1-PA565|page=565 |year=1998|title=The great rock discography |isbn=978-88-09-21522-1 |author=M. C. Strong}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LzzCw6xs9roC&pg=PA201 |pages=201–202 |year=2004|title=Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story |isbn=978-1-55022-618-8 |author=Dave Thompson}}</ref> It was produced by [[Roger Glover]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.discogs.com/Nazareth-This-Flight-Tonight-Called-Her-Name/release/1336123 | title=Nazareth (2) &nbsp;– This Flight Tonight | date=October 1973 | publisher=[[Discogs]]| access-date=27 May 2014}}</ref> The single reached number 11 in the [[UK Singles Chart]] in November 1973. The band re-recorded the song in 1991 for the album ''[[No Jive]]''.

Writing in ''[[The Independent]]'' in 2012, [[Robert Webb]] said: <blockquote> The Dunfermline hard-rockers [[Nazareth (band)|Nazareth]] loved ''Blue''. You remember them: the gap-toothed vocalist, [[Dan McCafferty]], had hair like a kitchen scourer and a voice to match. They were bad, bad boys. Among the tracks on their 1973 album ''[[Loud 'n' Proud]]'', produced by the former [[Deep Purple]] bassist [[Roger Glover]], is a taut version of "This Flight". "We used to listen to Joni as we were travelling round in the van," recalls Nazareth's bass-player, Pete Agnew. "'This Flight Tonight' was a big favourite."

Mitchell was impressed with the makeover: "When she was recording at [[A&M Records|A&M]], we were just starting an American tour," explains Agnew. "We all happened to be in the studio the day the single was released, so we were introduced to her and told her what we had done. She said, 'What, with a rock band?'" Joni paid the Scottish band the greatest compliment after "This Flight Tonight" became a worldwide hit for them, touching down at No 11 in the UK. "She was playing a gig in London and told the audience: 'I'd like to open with a Nazareth song'!".<ref>{{cite web|author=[[Robert Webb]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/double-take-this-flight-tonight--joni-mitchell--nazareth-138472.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/double-take-this-flight-tonight--joni-mitchell--nazareth-138472.html |archive-date=2022-05-07 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Double Take: 'This Flight Tonight' – Joni Mitchell / Nazareth |work=[[The Independent]] |date=13 September 2002|access-date=4 July 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> </blockquote>

[[Nancy Wilson (rock musician)|Nancy Wilson]] revealed that the guitar riff for Nazareth's version of "This Flight Tonight" inspired the riff for the [[Heart (band)|Heart]] song "[[Barracuda (song)|Barracuda]]".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MR28NW1sLM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/7MR28NW1sLM |archive-date=20 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Heart's Nancy Wilson: We Took 'Barracuda' Riff From Legendary Band |website=YouTube |date=5 March 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===Charts=== ====Weekly charts==== {|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !Chart (1973–1974) !Peak<br/>position |- {{single chart|Austria|2|artist=Nazareth|song=This Flight Tonight|rowheader=true|access-date=16 February 2021}} |- {{single chart|Canadatopsingles|27|chartid=3850a|rowheader=true|access-date=16 February 2021|refname="can"}} |- {{single chart|Switzerland|5|artist=Nazareth|song=This Flight Tonight|rowheader=true|access-date=16 February 2021}} |- {{single chart|UK|11|date=19731104|rowheader=true|access-date=16 February 2021|refname="uk"}} |- {{single chart|West Germany|1|artist=Nazareth|song=This Flight Tonight|songid=309|rowheader=true|access-date=16 February 2021}} |}

====Year-end charts==== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |- !Chart (1974) !Position |- !scope="row"|Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://austriancharts.at/year.asp?cat=s&id=1974|title=Jahreshitparade Singles 1974|language=de|access-date=23 June 2025}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|4 |- !scope="row"|West Germany (''[[Musikmarkt|Der Musikmarkt]]'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/single-jahr/for-date-1974|title=Top 100 Single–Jahrescharts 1974|publisher=[[GfK Entertainment]]|language=de|access-date=23 June 2025}}</ref> | style="text-align:center;"|11 |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Joni Mitchell}} {{Nazareth}} {{Authority control}}

[[Category:1971 songs]] [[Category:Joni Mitchell songs]] [[Category:Songs written by Joni Mitchell]] [[Category:Nazareth (band) songs]] [[Category:Song recordings produced by Joni Mitchell]] [[Category:1973 singles]] [[Category:Song recordings produced by Roger Glover]] [[Category:Mooncrest Records singles]]