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.”