Poll--The Weakest Link: The Who's B-Sides 1964-69, Round 3

Seems like nobody really wanted much to do with "Anytime You Want Me" as that was the leading vote-getter (albeit narrowly) in round 2. Also eliminated was "I'm The Face," a song about which I have literally nothing to say.

To recap, thus far we've lost:

Anytime You Want Me - Round 2
I'm The Face - Round 2
Bald Headed Woman - Round 1
Daddy Rolling Stone - Round 1

For our new discussion question...

A few John Entwistle compositions remain, and when we ran the first part of this game last October, John's "Heaven and Hell" was in the final pairing, subsequently coming second to "Pure and Easy."
This has me wondering the following: how many Entwistle tracks would you rate among The Who's best output?

 

I voted Under My Thumb and Dogs Part 2. Can't touch the Entwistle tracks!

 

The 2 covers are weak and got to go. I never really warmed up to both of the Stones covers. And while the version of Shout And Shimmy in TKAA movie is great, the studio version never translated to tape. The white tornado anyone?

 

I've made no secret of the fact that the Who's early R&B covers are not my fave, so it should surprise no one that I've targeted "Shout and Shimmy." For my second pick I chose "Call Me Lightning." There's a reason the song was left unrecorded in 1965... it's weaker than anything else Pete was writing at the time. Doing it in 1968 was a self-conscious (and ineffective) attempt to recapture their old sound and chart success.

Looking at the votes, I fear "Under My Thumb" is gonna go this round. It's not a song that's ideally suited to the band, but I absolutely love Pete's guitar solo. It doesn't deserve to go in round three.

 

Shout And Shimmy

Despite the "Maximum R & B" moniker, the Who really were fairly average when doing R & B. This song is pretty boring overall.

 

success story - in a who top 20
boris the spider - in a who top 30
silas stingy - in a who top 40

 

yeah, it's pretty unfair competition having to compare most things to that performance but the studio recording of Shout and Shimmy was exceptionally corny. it's on songs like that where Daltrey's lack of an identity are particularly evident. he's trying hard to sound tough and gritty but rather is noticeable only for his lousy James Brown impersonation. still, I like that song more than a few of the tracks left here.

 

a bump for some last minute votes...

also, my picks this time around were "In the City" and "I've Been Away"

for the discussion question, I love Entwistle, but apart from "Heaven and Hell," which was much better live than in the studio, I don't think I could list any of his compositions among the Who's very best. that said, Jekyll and Hyde is a great track, as are "Someone's Coming," "Boris the Spider" and so forth, but more often than not, I feel like Entwistle's contributions to Who albums lagged well behind that of Townshend. One exception, possibly, is Who Are You, where "Trick of the Light" may be the best song on the album.