The Who Sell Out 50 years later: song by song discussion

I like both versions of Glittering Girl, but the 'alternate' version with Daltrey's vocal is a bit beefier, and I don't understand why that one never escaped into the world as a single (or, at the very least, a b-side). I'm biased though, I feel that way about most of the outtakes - they're all stellar. Although Glow Girl and Little Billy were recorded after Sell Out, they would have made a great early '68 post-LP single. The story of them not having enough new material to release and so Townshend had to exhume Call Me Lightning from four years earlier for them to record seems highly suspect to me, when you consider all these fine songs that were left by the wayside.

Oh, and I haven't seen it mentioned, but the HDTracks Hi-res 2014 stereo edition includes a unique 'complete' mix of Odorono.

The 1968 tracks as a whole are a strange mixture of old-school Pop-Art Who and new-school Rock Who, and when compiling an album's worth of post-Sell Out tracks a single, transitional album sounds too awkward to my ears. I have to split them into two shorter albums, although the second 'heavier' album comes up a little too short even with the long version of Magic Bus kicking things off (in my head to fill it out to LP length I add the possibly mythical Joys, 1968 version of Now I'm A Farmer and the projected 'rock and roll EP' tracks like Shakin' All Over, along with Young Man Blues from the first Tommy session).

 

Great tracklist! I revised it slightly, in order for the sides to be more "equal" in lenght and add some stuff that I thought was missing. I added "Pictures of Lily" to side one, since it was recorded during the sessions and was the single, and moved the Odorono reprise to last on the side. On side two I added "Doctor Doctor", PoL's b-side, and the My Generation BBC jingle. On the other two, I just added the Boris jingle to side three and moved Summertime Blues and Early Morning Cold Taxi over due to timing. Now all sides are on a 21/22 minutes each. There it is:

THE WHO - THE WHO SELL OUT (DOUBLE ALBUM, 1967)
Side One:
01 Radio London Daily/ARMENIA CITY IN THE SKY/Wonderful Radio London
02 HEINZ BAKED BEANS/More Music
03 MARY ANNE WITH THE SHAKY HAND/Premier Drums/Wonderful Radio London
04 JAGUAR/Wonderful Radio London
05 John Mason Cars
06 ODORONO/Radio London Smooth Sailing
07 GLITTERING GIRL
08 John Mason Motors Jingle/Bag O’ Nails (from Life with the Moons)
09 PICTURES OF LILY (from Magic Bus - The Who on Tour)*
10 Odorono (final chorus)
Side Two:
11 Happy Jack Jingle (from Maximum R&B)
12 TATTOO/Radio London Church of Your Choice
13 OUR LOVE WAS, IS/You’re a Pussycat/Speak Easy/Rotosound Strings
14 GIRL’S EYES/Bag O’Nails
15 DOCTOR, DOCTOR (from Magic Bus - The Who on Tour)*
16 Charles Atlas/I CAN’T REACH YOU
17 My Generation Jingle (from BBC Sessions)*
18 SODDING ABOUT
19 Track Records/Premier Drums (from Maximum R&B)
Side Three:
01 Coke After Coke
02 I CAN SEE FOR MILES
03 Things Go Better with Coke
04 RELAX
05 Rotosound Strings (with final note)
06 SILAS STINGY
07 Russell Harty Dialogue (from Maximum R&B)
08 IN THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING
09 MEDAC
10 SUMMERTIME BLUES
11 Boris the Spider Jingle (from BBC Sessions)
Side Four:
12 Coke 2 (from Maximum R&B)
13 EARLY MORNING COLD TAXI/Radio London Special News Bulletin
14 Top Gear
15 Premier Drums (full version)
16 SOMEONE’S COMING/Radio London Weather Word
17 SUNRISE/Bag O' Nails
18 RAEL 1 & 2
19 RAEL NAÏVE/John Mason Cars
20 ARMENIA CITY IN THE SKY (REPRISE)/Great Shakes
21 Track Records Run-Off Groove (from Life with the Moons)

 

I wouldn't include "Pictures Of Lilly" or "Doctor, Doctor" as being in "sessions" for the album, they were recorded 5th April 1967 at IBC Studios, London and released 21st April 1967 as UK Track (604002); they fall in that grey area between albums as plenty of other tracks did and, stylistically, they came out of a different period of writing.

Personally, I'd be more comfortable adding "Magic Bus" and "Dogs"....... ;-)

 

I also included because before that they were slated for an album called Who's Lily, that later evolved into Sell Out, so that's why (and those two are on my Who's for Tennis, actually)

 

Is this the same version that's on Disc 2 of the Deluxe Edition?

Mark

 

This version (the 'lighter' Pete vocal version) is on disc 1 on the Deluxe, whilst the version on disc 2 is the 'heavier' Daltrey/Pete vocal

 

I didn't know much if anything of The Who's unreleased tunes at the time it came out, so the 1995 release was a revelation for me - not only the original album which I don't think I owned a copy of at the time, but copious notes plus the bonus tracks made this a win-win-win

IMO Glittering Girl, Melancholia, Jaguar, Hall Of The Mountain King and Glow Girl are all Who tunes of the first rank, and I much prefer the 'Mirasound' version with the loud organ of Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand that's one of the bonus tunes here

Someone's Coming has never hit the spot for me, apart from the horn break as someone commented the other day in a different thread - probably my least favourite Entwistle song of the '60s. Same with Early Morning Cold taxi, a song that passes me by without ever leaving much of an impression. Girl's Eyes however I find really charming, maybe it gets a pass for me because it's a rare Keith Moon song but like I said, I do find it a charming little ditty


With thanks to the many on this forum who know far more than I ever will concerning The Who, and who I continue to learn from, here's a list of the 1995 bonus tracks that I knocked up for myself, the various mixes and their locations. Best as I could make out anyway!


Rael 2 aka Rael Naive

New narrow (nearly mono) stereo mix on the Hi-Rez download, with a new unheard solo organ piece at the end


Top Gear

Recorded 10th October, `1967


Glittering Girl [1st version]

Recorded 5th July, 1967
1995 mix on DE as well, not on the Hi-Rez download but is on the stereo MFIT Sell Out.


Coke 2 aka Coke After Coke

Recorded 24th April, 1967


Melancholia

Recorded 29th May, 1968
Remix on the ’95 Sell Out (and boxset), original 1968 stereo mix on the Japanese Two’s Missing. The remix has an extra 12 seconds and comes to a complete end, rather than fading out early as it does on the 1968 mix. Clean start and end on the boxset, clean start on Two’s Missing. Coke After Coke’s ending bleeds into start on ’95 Sell Out, clean ending though



Someone’s Coming

Recorded 23rd May, 1967 [Backing track only, horns and vocals recorded 27th August, 1967)
1995 US Stereo remix {double tracked vocals}
One of the UK mixes {single tracked vocals} and the same US stereo remix are on the DE. The Hi-Rez download has a new stereo mix with complete ending as there's no 'Latest Weather' jingle at the end. US mono mix is on Who’s Missing and also on the Hi-Rez, which annoyingly doesn’t have the UK mono anymore!


Jaguar

Recorded 20th October, 1967
1995 mix on DE as well, plus vintage mono mix. Has a brand new stereo mix on the Hi-Rez download. Boxset has the same remix as ’95 but is faded in



Early Morning Cold Taxi

Recorded 8th May, 1967
Remix on the ’95, original mix on Deluxe Edition. Has complete ending on the Hi-Rez download


Coke 1 aka Things Go Better With Coke

Recorded 24th April, 1967


In The Hall Of The Mountain King

Recorded 24th April 1967
Remix on the ’95, original mix on Deluxe Edition



Girl’s Eyes

Recorded 8th May, 1967
Remix with complete ending on the ’95, original mix on Deluxe Edition. Original mix on the Hi-Rez and not cross-faded with the Bag O’ Nails jingle


Odorono {final chorus}
The complete unedited Odorono is on the Hi-Rez download, with a clean start


Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand (Mirasound Version)

Recorded 5th and 6th August, 1967
I guess this was a mix done for the ’95 release, fades out, same mix is on the DE - but it has a complete ending on the Hi-Rez download, which is also a new stereo mix. US mono mix is also on the DE, whilst Odds & Sods SHM has the standard stereo LP version/mix, but with a complete ending (rather than crossfaded into Premier Drums, as on The Who Sell Out). Odds & Sods ’96 has the US version, mixed to stereo


Glow Girl

Recorded 11th February, 1968
Remix on the ’95 with complete ending, Odds & Sods SHM has 1974 mix that’s faded out, don’t know about 1996 Odds & Sods mix (sounds the same as ’95 Sell Out) has full ending. Hi-Rez is yet another new mix that now has a longer fade out!

The original 1968 mix is apparently available on bootleg

 

Not remixed for the HD download.

I don’t have it in front of me, but I thought the SHM O&S claimed it was a 1968 mix. Unless I’m mixing it up with another 1968 track.

 

I knocked this up recently, the backing track for Armenia In The Sky that was on the DE, reversed so it's now running forward as they recorded it - with Pete (and John) using the lessons he'd learned at the UFO and giving Syd a run for his money

 

Fabuloso - SO much more interesting presented this way than in reverse!

 

Yup, I was VERY pleasantly surprised it came out like this

 

I came across whilst researching the album, an excerpt of an original review for I Can See For Miles

From the Observer archive, 15 October 1967: Why the Who are just miles better

and an Australian handbill advertising The Who Sell Out

 

That is really amazing. It is quite an interesting listen by itself that way. I especially liked being able to hear and better distinguish all of John's horn parts. I didn't realize he'd played that many.

Mark

 

Last week at the flea market I realized that one dealer had an early Sell Out lp with the decca inner sleeve but no outer jacket. It was in nice shape though. The other dealer had a copy of the album but the record was destroyed with a chunk missing. So I bought the pair separately for $4 total and now I have a really nice early copy. I'm pretty happy because this record is hard to find around here.

 

I used to hear this abrupt transition in the intro as part of the pirate station vibe of this album.
As such it wasn’t horrible to my ears.

Does anyone know when this became a more of less well-known issue among Who lovers ?
Did rock critics write about, before the remix in 1995 made it very clear ?

 

Around the time of the advent of the old email subscription lists and discussion was much more widespread and immediate.

Don't remember reading anything about the issue from any press sources and I seem to remember that it wasn't brought up by Marsh in "Before I Get Old" which was (sadly) The Bible back in the day.

 

Melancholia and Someone's Coming are my favorites from the bonus tracks. In fact, "Melancholia" is one my favorite tracks by The Who - in the top twenty I'd say.

 

The fact that Melancholia remained unreleased for 25 years astounds me

 

Even odder is that Pete said on Scoop that the Who never recorded it (I think he said the same thing about Time Is Passing)! It's actually a little late for a Sell Out track, but since there's no "Magic Bus" in our new (aka old UK) special edition reality, it had to go somewhere.

 

I love this track as well, and it's great to have both the original 1968 mix, and the 1995 remix that has the extra 12 seconds of Who freakout at the end

 

And I enjoyed the electric guitars!

 

Awakening a dormant thread to throw my few cents in.

There was nobody like The Who, 1965-1968. I love pretty much everything they've done but, for me, Sell Out is their greatest release. My Generation, A Quick One, Sell Out are unlike anything from either side of the Atlantic during that period.
Sell Out was such a unique concept and it's filled with phenomenal tracks. I think it's one of the ten best albums ever released. Due to that opinion, I own numerous copies of Sell Out. The usual suspects....an original UK stereo press, US, mono and stereo Decca pressings, the Classic Records reissue, etc.

When the 1995 CD remix came out, with bonus tracks, it became my Sell Out go to, though I prefer vinyl. So many great tracks that were left off of the original album. Those bonus tracks were such a revelation, a band hitting on all cylinders. Smacking, punching on all cylinders.....so powerful. My appreciation for the album only grew. Blown away anew.

I briefly saw mention somewhere way upthread of the Vinyl Lovers reissue from a few years back. While aware that it's a digitally sourced reissue, let me support and agree with that poster's opinion that it sounds really, really good. It's probably sacrilege, but the Vinyl Lovers pressing with the second disc of bonus tracks is the best sounding vinyl press of this album that I've had the pleasure to hear. It adds

Side 3
1. Rael 2
Top Gear Jingle
2. Glittering Girl
Coke 2 Jingle
3. Melancholia
Bag O' Nails Jingle
4. Someone's Coming
John Mason Cars (Rehearsal)
5. Jaguar
John Mason Cars (reprise)

Side 4
1. Early Morning Cold Taxi
Coke 1 Jingle
2. Hall Of The Mountain King
Radio One (Boris Mix)
3. Girl's Eye
Odorono (Final Chorus)
4. Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand (Alt version with Al Kooper on organ)
5. Glow Girl

If a huge fan of this album, a vinyl person and found for a reasonable price, I think you'll quite enjoy it.

 

Isn’t that the Astley remix of the album?