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The Who “Happy Jack”

sfilzen — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 17:50:58 +0000

The Who “Happy Jack” 1966 (US version; released in the UK as “A Quick One”). Today, August 23rd, would have been drummer Keith Moon’s 75th birthday (b. 1946, d. 1978). Happy Jack/A Quick One was The Who’s second LP and it went to # 2 in the UK. It’s notable for its inclusion of tracks written by all of the band members rather than just or mostly written by Pete Townshend. Keith Moon has two songs: “I Need You” and “Cobwebs and Strange” (almost the weirdest song: a crazed funhouse carnival instrumental with madcap penny whistle and the crashiest of crashing drums and cymbals ever). Bassist John Entwhistle wrote and sings lead on the weirdest track, “Boris the Spider,” apparently inspired by a night out drinking with Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman (Entwhistle also wrote “Whiskey Man”). Roger Daltry gets writing credit for “See My Way.” Townshend wrote the remaining (and the best) songs like “Don’t Look Away,” “Run Run Run” and “So Sad About Us.” The US version includes the UK single-only, Townshend-penned “Happy Jack” which hit #3 in the UK and #24 in the US. It replaced the cover song “Heat Wave” (by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team and recorded by Martha and the Vandellas, 1963) that appears on the UK release.

From the back cover notes about the band members: “Keith Moon. The fastest nineteen-year-old drummer in the world uses at least five pairs of drumsticks during The Who’s act. He plays so ferociously that the sticks splinter and shoot into the audience. Behind his sixteen-piece drum kit, he has brown eyes, black hair, and a passion for breeding chickens.”

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The Who “Who’s Next”

sfilzen — Sat, 14 Aug 2021 17:34:20 +0000

The Who “Who’s Next” released 50 years ago today, August 14th, 1971. Who’s Next was The Who’s fifth studio LP and is considered their best; it’s also ranked one of the best rock albums of the 70′s and of all-time. It went to # 1 in the UK and to # 4 in the US and has some of The Who’s most well-known and iconic songs including “Baba O’Riley,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Behind Blue Eyes.” Most of the songs were intended to be part of another Who rock opera, “Lifehouse,” but that project was abandoned for a bunch of reasons (I started reading a book about that project awhile ago but it got waaayyy to bogged down in a million techy details so I’ve set it aside). “Won’t Get Fooled Again” was the first single from Who’s Next; it went to #9 in the UK and #15 in the US. It closes the album, was to close Lifehouse and is the finale to most of The Who’s concerts (it was the last song Keith Moon ever performed before his death). “Baba O’Riley” aka “Teenage Wasteland” was the second single but was only released in a few European countries, not in the US or the UK. Despite that, it’s arguably the best-known Who song (tied perhaps with “Won’t Get Fooled Again”) and continues to be a teenage anthem to this day (my teenager and his friends all know it and can sing along, like I could in the 80′s and other teens could in the 90′s, etc. etc.) While Roger Daltry sings most of the song, Pete Townshend sings a portion, his voice straining to reach the high notes of “teenage wasteland” making it seem extra-desperate. It too was supposed to part of “Lifehouse” and its title references Meher Baba, Townsend’s guru, and Terry Riley, his musical mentor. The final single from Who’s Next was “Behind Blue Eyes” which went to #34 in the US (they did not release it in the UK). It’s another classic Who track that also was intended for “Lifehouse.” I also really like “Love Ain’t For Keeping,” a nice light and bouncy, hard acoustic love song and the anthemic and harmonizing “Getting in Tune.”

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The Who “My Generation”

sfilzen — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 20:54:30 +0000

The Who “My Generation” released 55 years ago today, December 3rd, 1965. (In the UK – this version is the US release with an alternate cover, released in April 1966). It went to #5 in the UK and critics have praised it as one of the best albums of the era, though ahead of its time. The title track “My Generation” is still amazing, one of the best rock singles ever; it can be (and should be!) embraced by every generation of rockers since the Boomers. It was released as a single prior to the record’s release and hit #2 in the UK but just went to #74 in the US. Also released as singles from My Generation were “A Legal Matter” (#32 UK, sung by Pete Townshend), “The Kids Are Alright” (#41 UK, #85 US) and “La-La-La-Lies” (which did not chart in the UK). Townshend wrote the majority of the tracks on My Generation but the album does have a couple of covers: two by James Brown (“I Don’t Mind” and “Please, Please, Please”) and one by Bo Diddley (“I’m a Man”). The US version has a slightly different track listing than the UK one. On Side B on the US release “The Ox” appears after “It’s Not True” rather than being the last track and “Instant Party” replaces “I’m A Man” from the UK version; apparently because the lyrics were too sexual in nature for the US market 🙄

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The Who “Magic Bus: The Who On Tour”

sfilzen — Tue, 19 May 2020 15:21:54 +0000

The Who “Magic Bus: The Who On Tour” 1968. Today, May 19th, is Pete Townshend’s 75th birthday (b. 1945). Magic Bus: The Who On Tour is a US-only comp and, despite the title’s suggestion, is composed completely of studio tracks. Even though Townshend – and the rest of the band – disliked the record and its cover (which I think is amazing), the LP went to #39 in the US: Decca Records wanted to cash in on The Who’s hit single “Magic Bus” (#25 US, #26 UK) by releasing it on a full-length album. Also on the comp are the B-sides from the UK and US single release of “Magic Bus” – “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” and “Someone’s Coming” respectively; “Disguises” and “Bucket T.” from the 1966 EP Ready Steady Who; “Run Run Run” from the 1966 LP A Quick One; “I Can’t Reach You” and “Our Love Was, Is” from the 1967 LP The Who Sells Out, the 1967 single “Pictures of Lily” and its B-side “Doctor, Doctor;” and “Call Me Lightning” which was released as a single in the US in 1968, hitting #40. It appeared as the B-side in the UK to their single “Dogs.” (Fun tidbit: the Milwaukee band Call Me Lightning is named after The Who song – but very possibly is named for Joan Jett’s version of “Call Me Lightning” rather than The Who’s.)

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The Who “The Who Sell Out”

sfilzen — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 19:48:09 +0000

The Who “The Who Sell Out” released 50 years ago on this date, December 15th, 1967 (in the UK, it was released on January 6, 1968 in the US). The Who’s third studio record is considered by many to be their best, an ironic concept album (which was immediately targeted by corporate lawsuits, for rather obvious reasons) that reached #13 in the UK and #48 in the US. The Who released one single from The Who Sell Out: “I Can See For Miles” which hit #10 in the UK and #9 in the US. Allmusic says, “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… it’s a terrific set of songs that ultimately stands as one of the group’s greatest achievements. “I Can See for Miles” 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).”

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