Another stellar piece of work in the Who reissue catalog! How do you NOT miss a lead guitar, sounds a little empty without it, doesn't it?!? I had to plug in the version from the Rarities CD since I only have Two's Missing on tape.
aye, and they rang John up (he was on a cruise ship for his honeymoon) to get his permission to do the tracks without him - when told he had a call John thought somebody had died and they were ringing to tell him!
I always interpreted the end of Tommy and We're Not Gonna Take It differently than the movie. Rather than the violent ending, this is how I always pictured it... and it's why I didn't like the movie when I first saw it. Tommy is on stage, in a packed church. Tommy says "You must be just like me to be enlightened, wear your shades and earplugs, become me". The follows start to get angry... "You can't tell us what to do!" This is all part of Tommy's plan and he secretly smiles. As they are leaving, Tommy starts singing "See Me, Feel Me". Before you go, listen to me once more. Everyone stops, mesmerized. Then, Tommy runs around the jubilant audience, praising the individuality in each person in the audience. "Listening to you, gazing at you..." That's Tommy's ultimate lesson. To be enlightened, you must find what's special inside you, follow your own muse, don't conform to the masses.
Yeah, the violent end I chalk up to Ken Russell being Ken Russell. This is as good an explanation as any!
You must be a mind reader. I might do Quadrophenia a month or so from now due to the length and time restrictions. I have been thinking Sticky Fingers would be a better idea and it is one of my favorite albums.
There's a LOT to hate in this live clip - especially Pete's ponytail and Roger's clip-on earrings - but I don't know if I've ever heard Pete sing better. "Sensation" - The Who (Live) 1989
Just listened to the album in its entirety in Surround to cap off the thread. Man what an incredible album. One of the best ever.
It seems ridiculous, but it sometimes gets overlooked next to Who's Next and Quadrophenia. Unfairly, as far as I'm concerned. It stands alongside those two quite easily.
I have my moments. Not many of them, but I'll take what I can get. And it's got several stone cold masterpieces on it which helps.
This Rolling Stone article says that Pete already had Pinball Wizard before he wrote the Tommy narrative. That story involving Nik Cohn is possibly not true. What's Deaf, Dumb & Blind and Costs $3.5 Million? 'Tommy!' Also, that's actually Pete's guitar at 0:24. John used to imitate that sound in live performances.
That Rolling Stone remark is possibly not true; at least, the Nik Cohn story is what Townshend says happened. As Richard Barnes says in the Tommy book that comes with the box, "Pinball Wizard probably lifted the work and turned the opera from God Opera to Rock Opera; however it made a mockery of the carefully constructed plot." The first Tommy song was Amazing Journey according to Barnes. Tim
They didn’t have a second guitarist, organ, piano or French horn player on stage. They had to make do with three instruments live and they did it.
I had the same experience. I always thought the less “screamy” version was the original. Does anyone know the story behind why there are 2 versions?
I'm sure it's not cannon but it's fun to think that "Rael" from Sell Out is the prelude to Tommy. The outro to Rael of course is one of the main riffs in Tommy and mentions a "captain", which I presume to be Captain Walker from Tommy, who was away on an expedition ("Now captain listen to my instructions/return to this spot on Christmas Day" in "Rael") and afterward comes back home to find his wife has had an affair and leads to the events of Tommy.
A question popped into my head this morning, one that I've had for years, but have never felt compelled to express prior to this morning. (This thread seemed as good a place as any to post it): Early Decca US vinyl copies of this album changed the title of the song "1921" to "You Didn't Hear It." While this wasn't the only Who song title to be somehow altered for US audiences (is it "Mary-Anne" or "Mary Ann" with the shaky hands? "The Relay" or just "Relay"?) it may well be the only instance of an entirely new title being substituted for the original title, and on an album where one of the most famous songs on it ("See Me, Feel Me" ) wasn't printed anywhere on the original outer sleeve. From what I can tell, "You Didn't Hear It" was used on the outer sleeve and/or label on every US release (including the gold MFSL CD) prior to the 1996 reissue, although the enclosed lyric sheet referred to it as "1921"? (Am I getting this right?) Does anybody happen to know why and/or how the title was changed, or is it just another one of those instances where nobody with Decca or the Who much cared one way or the other?
That is a good question. Would you mind if I posted it in the current well posted Who Album By Album thread and show it as a quote from you? Or you could post it there. The folks in that thread will probably know the answer.
I found Pete's original demos to be a revelation. The songs have a vulnerability and a subtlety that is lost on the Who's performance. It's my go-to when I want to hear the album.
