FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
Part Thirty-Eight: The Who
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FOR this part of A Buyer’s Guide…
IN THIS PHOTO: Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey
I have spent some time recommending the essential work of The Who. The band formed in London in 1964. Their classic line-up consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon – only Daltrey and Townshend remain of the original band. The Who have sold over one-hundred-million records worldwide so, to honour that, I have selected the four must-own albums; the one that I think is underrated; their latest studio album – in addition to a book that is a good companion. If you need some guidance regarding the work of The Who, then this rundown should steer you…
PHOTO CREDIT: Everett Collection
IN the right direction.
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The Four Essential Albums
The Who Sell Out
Release Date: 15th December, 1967
Label: Track
Producers: Kit Lambert/Chris Stamp
Standout Tracks: Armenia City in the Sky/Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand/Tattoo
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=68445&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2nbxElNcpz1C8LudsOW3ZH?si=4r7pPuOOTomD33MczpR59A
Review:
“Pete Townshend originally planned The Who Sell Out as a concept album of sorts that would simultaneously mock and pay tribute to pirate radio stations, complete with fake jingles and commercials linking the tracks. For reasons that remain somewhat ill defined, the concept wasn't quite driven to completion, breaking down around the middle of side two (on the original vinyl configuration). Nonetheless, on strictly musical merits, it's a terrific set of songs that ultimately stands as one of the group's greatest achievements. "I Can See for Miles" (a Top Ten hit) is the Who at their most thunderous; tinges of psychedelia add a rush to "Armenia City in the Sky" and "Relax"; "I Can't Reach You" finds Townshend beginning to stretch himself into quasi-spiritual territory; and "Tattoo" and the acoustic "Sunrise" show introspective, vulnerable sides to the singer/songwriter that had previously been hidden. "Rael" was another mini-opera, with musical motifs that reappeared in Tommy. The album is as perfect a balance between melodic mod pop and powerful instrumentation as the Who (or any other group) would achieve; psychedelic pop was never as jubilant, not to say funny (the fake commercials and jingles interspersed between the songs are a hoot). [Subsequent reissues added over half a dozen interesting outtakes from the time of the sessions, as well as unused commercials, the B-side "Someone's Coming," and an alternate version of "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand."]” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: I Can See for Miles
Tommy
Release Date: 23rd May, 1969
Label: Decca
Producer: Kit Lambert
Standout Tracks: Overture/The Acid Queen/Smash the Mirror
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=68455&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2srjzxgFaYLNh8UlJPAJ8b?si=KZFzyTQYTPCnKeofzoDDRw
Review:
“There’s a lot of heavy lifting for Roger Daltrey as a vocalist here, singing mainly as The Mother, but also The Hawker and, later, Adult Tommy. Townshend and Daltrey duet on “Go to the Mirror!”, Daltrey alternately lamenting and hopeful as the heartsick Mother while Townsend, as Tommy, pleads the immortal words: “See me, feel me, touch me, heal me.” But her frustration grows across “Tommy Can You Hear Me?” until Townshend is just a fading repetition of his name, and then Keith Moon’s drums and John Entwistle’s rock-heavy bass slam us into “Smash the Mirror”, each laying out the summering drama in under two minutes.
The immortal “Pinball Wizard” is, of course, the song that everyone knows, a power-pop song of the highest order. But it’s not the only song structured as such; “Sally Simpson” lays out a story narrative of one of Tommy’s biggest fans against high-wire guitars that spell both delight and danger for the titular heroine. My dad always pointed out this song for its use of the word “rostrum,” a word he doesn’t believe has ever been used in another pop song. It really does have something for everyone!
It’s also easy to forget about Tommy. There’s really only one major hit, and a lot of the songs are short and tied to a narrative. It’s not an album you can listen to in bits and pieces, and as our listening habits get increasingly fractured, we forget that albums were once meant to be played in full and with rapt attention paid to every note. I fell victim to this as well. If I listened to Tommy a handful of times in my 20s, I’d be surprised.
But one afternoon this spring, as I was organizing my vinyl, I found the copy I bought more than a decade ago with the promise that one day I would have a system to play it on. So I did. And from the first glorious note of the overture to the final fading strains of Daltrey’s voice, I remembered every line, every precise chord, now richer and deeper on a vinyl pressing older than I am. Because that’s what it means to be immortal. Tommy gets inside you in a way that so many other albums can’t. The imagery of a blind boy racking up points at the pinball table, of a fallen savior and his false followers, of a woman driven to madness by a need for her son’s show of love. Whether we’ve seen it on stage or on film or not at all, these are all images we can conjure in our heads as the music swells.
You don’t need a candle burning to enjoy Tommy. But it never hurts to take a peek into your future” – Consequence of Sound
Choice Cut: Pinball Wizard
Who’s Next
Release Date: 14th August, 1971
Labels: Track/Decca
Producers: The Who/Glyn Johns/Chris Stamp/Kit Lambert/Pete Kameron
Standout Tracks: Love Ain't for Keeping/The Song Is Over/Won't Get Fooled Again
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=68469&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5MqyhhHbT13zsloD3uHhlQ?si=uqY6L1KaQNGV6wZF_xGzoQ
Review:
“The Who’s fifth album is one of those carved-in-stone landmarks that the rock canon doesn’t allow you to bad-mouth. It was pretty rad for its day. Here’s the twist: it still sounds ablaze. As C.S.I. fans will vouch, there’s not much that isn’t thrilling about Won’t Get Fooled Again and Baba O’Riley, which howl and kick like they were born yesterday.
Like many near-masterpieces, it wasn’t meant to turn out like it did. Pete Townshend had one of his ‘futuristic rock opera’ ideas, and recordings began on a work called Lifehouse. It wouldn’t gel, so The Who made the most of the random songs that did. Upon release in 1971 it blew away critics and fans alike, bar a few Who diehards who thought larking around with things called synthesizers and modified keyboards was, like, selling out. Glyn Johns had replaced Kit Lambert as producer. Still, the sleeve wasn’t exactly bland, picturing the foursome pissing on a slagheap. (Other contenders for the cover had included a group of obese naked women and a shot of Keith Moon in black lingerie. Be grateful for small mercies.)
Baba O’Riley makes a spectacular opener, its hypnotic drone disrupted by power chords that are parachuted in off the backs of meteorites. Dave Arbus’ subtle then frantic viola solo raises it another gear. There has rarely been a more durably evocative refrain than “teenage wasteland”. As ever, Daltrey’s ragged voice brings humanity to Townshend’s over-thinking. Moon is typically hyperactive: any drummer playing like this today would be ordered to rein it in. Bargain floats on the tension between acoustic guitar and the brave new synth. Like most of the album, it’s melodramatic without – as with later Who – fattening into pomposity. The Song is Over oozes poignancy and Getting in Tune and Going Mobile are simply great songs. Behind Blue Eyes is a soul-searching ballad which bursts into belligerence, reflective then urgent.
The climactic (and how) Won’t Get Fooled Again stretches itself and chews its restraints until it becomes much more than a riff and a scream. It’s on fire. In “meet the new boss, same as the old boss” it nailed the bleeding heart of protest-pop. Who’s Next is The Who’s best” – BBC
Choice Cut: Baba O’Riley
Quadrophenia
Release Date: 26th October, 1973
Labels: Track/MCA
Producers: Kit Lambert/Chris Stamp/Pete Kameron
Standout Tracks: The Real Me/The Punk and the Godfather/Drowned
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=68475&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3JV6BIIXo3mj6GLIGH9p8a?si=VPZZ4d3ESkCeusXRBpbY7Q
Review:
“Pete Townshend revisited the rock opera concept with another double-album opus, this time built around the story of a young mod's struggle to come of age in the mid-'60s. If anything, this was a more ambitious project than Tommy, given added weight by the fact that the Who weren't devising some fantasy but were re-examining the roots of their own birth in mod culture. In the end, there may have been too much weight, as Townshend tried to combine the story of a mixed-up mod named Jimmy with the examination of a four-way split personality (hence the title Quadrophenia), in turn meant to reflect the four conflicting personas at work within the Who itself. The concept might have ultimately been too obscure and confusing for a mass audience. But there's plenty of great music anyway, especially on "The Real Me," "The Punk Meets the Godfather," "I'm One," "Bell Boy," and "Love, Reign o'er Me." Some of Townshend's most direct, heartfelt writing is contained here, and production-wise it's a tour de force, with some of the most imaginative use of synthesizers on a rock record. Various members of the band griped endlessly about flaws in the mix, but really these will bug very few listeners, who in general will find this to be one of the Who's most powerful statements” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Love, Reign O'er Me
The Underrated Gem
The Who by Numbers
Release Date: 3rd October, 1975
Labels: Polydor/MCA
Producer: Glyn Johns
Standout Tracks: Slip Kid/Dreaming from the Waist/Blue Red and Grey
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=68458&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6IxRCbXtyK6MlHlofsnhlm?si=6Kzkbg74QfW2B4STWdciXA
Review:
“As angry as it is desperate, the album moves from song to song on pure bitterness, disillusionment and hopelessness. Not only the aging rock star of “Success Story,” “They Are All in Love,” “Dreaming from the Waist” and “However Much I Booze” is frustrated. Even “Slip Kid,” the latest in the line of Townshend’s quintessential teenagers, finds that the only answer is: “There’s no easy way to be free.” Which wasn’t even the question.
For the rock & roll star protagonist, “The truth lies in my frustration.” In song after song, he’s confused, “dreaming of the day I can control myself,” unable to figure out what it’s all worth, much less what it means.
In “How Many Friends,” he despairs of anyone telling him the truth — maybe he really is over the hill — but, in “However Much I Booze,” he realizes that even those who try don’t have a chance. “Dish me out another tailor-made compliment/Tell me about some detriment I can’t forget.” The shreds of utopian optimism in Tommy, the exhilarating moments of discovery in Quadrophenia are gone now: “Take 276. You know, this used to be fun.” Always before, the Who have been able to ride out of these situations on power and bravado — now, they wonder if they still have enough of either.
“Where do you fit in a magazine/Where the past is a hero and the present a queen?/Just tell me right now, where do you fit in/With mud in your eye and a passion for gin?” I don’t know what magazine Townshend might have had in mind when he wrote those words — he makes a cute little raspberry where the title ought to go — but they might give pause to every reader and writer in the rock & roll part of this one, not to mention to every subject of it. As ex-Beatles solo albums rush forward in feeble proliferation, as the Rolling Stones stagger into their second decade with songs drawn almost exclusively from their first, as the Who stumble onward, another of Townshend’s thoughts in that interview quoted above sounds truer than ever: “It’s like that line in ‘The Punk Meets the Godfather’. . . ‘you paid me to do the dancing.’ The kids pay us for a good time, yet nowadays people don’t really want to get involved. Audiences are very much like the kids in Tommy’s Holiday Camp, they want something without working for it” – Rolling Stone
Choice Cut: Squeeze Box
The Latest Album
Who
Release Date: 6th December, 2019
Labels: Polydor/Interscope
Producers: Pete Townshend/Dave Sardy with Bob Pridden and Dave Eringa/Roger Daltrey (vocals only)
Standout Tracks: Ball and Chain/Hero Ground Zero/Break the News
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=1647310&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2WuaYvGgx9MS1Vj37aBiyU?si=hW_NwRfGROe8zERdowvY2Q
Review:
“If not everything here works – there’s nothing wrong with the political sentiment of Ball and Chain, it just feels a little lumbering and clumsy – there’s something exciting about hearing Townshend vacillating between declaring himself spent and readying himself for another charge. Inspired by the Grenfell disaster, Street Song carries a distinct hint of Won’t Get Fooled Again’s furious snarl; Beads on One String rather sweetly sticks fast to a hippy-ish notion of universal brotherhood and the potential for world peace. Moreover, the changing mood fits Daltrey’s vocals perfectly: gruffer and more weathered than it once was, his voice imbues the lyrics with a sense of hard-won experience, alternately weary and fraught.
Nor is Who afraid of assaulting its audience’s preconceptions. You get the feeling Townshend knows precisely who’s going to buy a new Who album in 2019, largely because he frequently seems to be having a high old time doing precisely the opposite of what they might expect. There are bursts of Auto-Tuned vocals. The sonic nods to “classic” Who sit alongside tracks that do things the “classic” Who would never have countenanced. I’ll Be Back is a lovely, Townshend-sung, harmonica-decorated bit of acoustic MOR that ruminates on dignity and reincarnation, while the folky stomp of Break the News, written by Townshend’s brother Simon, hymns the pleasures of old age, among them “watching movies in our dressing gowns”, which frankly seems like straight-up trolling of the kind of person who feels obliged to bring up My Generation’s thoughts about the relative merits of dying and ageing, whenever the Who’s name is mentioned.
Of course, half of the Who did get old, which means there’s a strong chance this might be their last album. If it is, then they’re going out the way they came in: as cussed and awkward and troubled as ever” – The Guardian
Choice Cut: All This Music Must Fade
The Who Book
The Who: The Official History
Authors: Ben Marshall/Pete Townshend/Roger Daltrey
Publication Date: 8th October, 2015
Publisher: Virgin Books
Order: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Official-History-Ben-Marshall/dp/0753556480