The Who unissued and unreleased songs--a comprehensive list

Not sure, but it seems unlikely. That boot seems to come from a tape source, not acetate, and it seems to be rough mixes. In particular, Happy Jack doesn't have the overdubbed backing vocals. Plus some of the released songs are on that boot, albeit unedited.

 

I think there were more songs recorded for Endless Wire and left in the can, than have been mentioned in this thread. No one has mentioned How Can I Help You Sir for example. I believe in that Townshend video where he is the studio recording the song, mentions something about the WHO recording the song? Of course we know Uncertain Girl exists, Townshend performs the song on "The Attic" says Zak played great, and that Roger will be singing it the following day. I wonder how many more unused songs Zak played on, particularly because Zak is only on one or two Endless Wire songs as well as the Real Good Looking Boy and Old Red Wine single tracks.

Also I'd like to see the WHO reconsider and release some version of the WHO's For Tennis and the aborted 72 follow up to WHO's Next. I'm sure everyone has their own comps of the 68 and 72 material. However if the WHO did it themselves they could add several tracks that have never been booted. It may have been the right choices to forego those albums in 68 and 72 but at this point it would be great to have. Also in 68 there was a second song recorded at the Little Billy 68 anti smoking sessions, I forget the name of that second song, but it's confirmed it was finished and sits in the vault. There was more than enough for the 68 and 72 albums. Everyone wants to hear Joys and the other song listed on that session tape log. If they can release Signal 30 and all that stuff on the expanded Who Sell Out editions why not the 68 material? Failing that why not release another re-expanded Odds and Sods or 30 Years of R&B.

An official High Numbers-Early WHO album of outtakes like the instrumentals would be great especially if You Don't Have To Jerk exists. The demo is confirmed, where is the demo? has it ever been confirmed that Do The Strip and those other early demo's were never recorded by the band? Things have changed wasn't Townshend confirmed that, what about the rest of them. What About Lazy Fat People and King Rabbit. What about just additional demos like that if they exist.

I would also dearly like to hear the additional Endless Wire songs especially if the WHO wont be recording again. The speculation was Certified Rose did exist, and there was a bassline of Entwistles they could fly in from a rehearsal by the WHO shortly before his death. So that Entwistle could be included however briefly on Endless Wire. Perhaps because that's a Daltrey song it didin't get used, solely for that reason. Because Daltrey wrote it.

Actually there is some kind of official WHO release of the WHO 72 tracks. I believe they took most of the aborted follow up songs and released a comp album called Join Together. I believe it had Join Together, Relay, Let's See Action, Long Live Rock, Put The Money Down. There are around a dozen of those songs, and they may not flow as well, or be as great as WHO's Next, but it's still great stuff. Townshend said it wouldn't have been a worthy follow up to Who's Next, and that Quadrophenia was a worthy follow up. I can accept that. However in retrospect that aborted album has such great tunes they should release a faux album, I don't have that Join Together comp, so I don't think that was promoted or most people ever understood what it consisted of, I think it was only available as import as well. The same logic applies to the 68 songs. At the time it might have been better to wait for Tommy, they gambled everything on Tommy. No studio album for nearly two years, but it worked. Now however lets hear ten or twelve songs from 1968 compiled as the lost 68 album. That would allow them to release two or three songs we have never heard like Joys and the companion piece to Little Billy.

 

Worth bearing in mind the nature of BBC sessions. The tracks had to be "exclusive" to the BBC and not the same as commercial record releases (or tracks that might be considered for commercial release). The original policy was that all recordings had to made at a BBC studio (many still are), and time limits tended to result in more live takes and fewer overdubs / post production work than records. The Who were the first band to break this protocol in 1967 when they wanted to use "I Can See For Miles" in a BBC session but could or would not remake it at the BBC. The compromise was that the Who's commercial master could be used providing there was some difference to define it as a BBC session - in that case a new bass part was overdubbed.

"Heaven And Hell" exists in two mixes entirely due to this BBC policy. What is annoying is that the released version wasn't given a decent stereo mix.

 

This is good to know. The track listing on that SHM release is pretty extensive -- anything else on it that isn't available on easily found (Rarities, Who's/Two's, deluxe editions, etc.) CDs?

 

My understanding is the Rock Is Dead - Long Live Rock concept died in the middle of the sessions, and that the "missing" tracks never got recorded by the band. Perhaps there are some early/alternate mixes of the released tracks, but it doesn't sound like there is anything entirely unreleased.

Wasn't the BBC broadcast *first*, before the release on 45? It seems that the exclusivity issue wouldn't come into play. It also seems a bit questionable that the same mix with a single additional guitar strum would be enough to be considered different.

The aborted EP versions/mixes of Postcard and I Don't Even Know Myself were previously only released on the bonus CD to the Japanese Then & Now. Fortune Teller and Melancholia are the same performances as on 30 Years, but they are original mixes, rather than the modern remixes on that set. There's also a little bit of extra dialogue on some of the live tracks.

 

I'd love the "Sell Out" jingles separately..

 

With a new box set coming. Does anyone have any ideas what is likely to be on it.

 

THE WHO: UNRELEASED TRACKS 1964-1998 »

 

Bump

 

Am I the only one who thinks Pete's demo of "Teenage Wasteland" pisses all over "Baba O'Riley?" (I've never been a huge fan of "Baba," the song is ok but a classic? Not to me). I can only imagine what a full Who version of that would've sounded like...

 

Maybe not the only one, but surely a minority !

 

Just read through this old thread and found it amazing!

 

Yes, good discussion of this important and great band.
Would be nice if they got all this stuff in order and properly released in a cohesive package.

 

Ambitious and successful song, imo. What was created as Baba O is well deservee classic, but yes, the expansive Teenage Wasteland demo is a BIG and fine piece of work imo and yes The Who in being faithful to the that demo would have likely elevated and raised it into something we would be talking more about today! Then again, if the excised and edited band productions of PT's demos of Let's See Action and Pure and Easy are an indicator, it would have been an 'incomplete reproduction' but still, yes, I agree it probably would have its share of musical transcendence that The Who could create at that time in their work and we could possibly be talking about both BOR and TW as individual and complementary compositions and recordings.

 

I don't think Magic Bus was The Who's idea - it was Decca's which might be why it only came out in the U.S. and Canada.

 

Agree with the thematic point, though I do like that tune and it also fits the script of the story. I agree it's more incidental than essential Still, a lead Pete vocal, a sort of Blues guitar-riff based lick that the song is built around, Keith and John in the mix - it makes me happy to hear it. I've added it to the running order of the album as I imagine it's part of the journey of everyone 'tryin' to get through' to Tommy and although it's run of the mill, if that, for a PT song, it's a genre based tune that the band don't do a lot of and I feel like they do the song well, basic as it is. A good find. Agreed, not amazing though.

I just wonder if later on from there with the dissolution of Lifehouse, the aborted '72 album, the '73 PT I'm quitting the band letter never sent and the problems with the tour, if a ' steadier hand' in studio management during those years could have helped organizationally and more carefully with something like studio tape recordings, archiving, retention, whatever...If the band did record more PT demos, it just seems as likely those few tapes are lost, gone missing, in someone or somewhere else's hands, etc...

 

LOL.

 

Yeah, the Who had NOTHING to do with that album and have been very open and vocal with their disgust for it in the years since.

 

The problem with that list is too much of it is speculative in terms of there being true WHO outtakes and versions. Only a handful of the songs on the list probably truly exist in the archives.

 

Atkins is a member here, the list of outfakes are stated to be originating from him.

 

Speaking "unreleased" Who performances, has a list of songs ever been compiled of the July 1977 rehearsals recorded and filmed at Shepperton? There is Barbara Ann and I Saw Her Standing There, and presumably others. Ragged, but pretty cool nevertheless. The Shepparton rehearsal and live material should also see a release; actually, I was surprised none of it (including the embryonic version of Who Are You from Kilburn) was used on the 1996 Who Are You reissue.

 

Totally agree, to see or hear outakes would be incredible, I've always heard that Stein was very disorganized with the material, so wonder if anything is still around.

What is most incredible to me is Pete's guitar tone in the Barbara Ann segment in Kids. He's just wearing jeans and a T-shirt but it is vintage Pete, duck walking and knocking the mic stand over, his playing is incredible. I love how he tries to right the stand with his foot. Just to see the formal Shepperton outakes from the day of filming at the special concert would be amazing. Probably all lost or sitting in the vault somewhere. I envy the Dylan fans, who will get an entire tour from mid 60's soon at a low price.

 

I don't think they're lost.
I'm pretty sure some of the concert was used in the Who's Next doc in the slow motion clips.

 

Here's a question for the experts. What 3 or 4 available LP's give you the best selection of rarities? I have Rarities 1&2. I realize a lot of the music being discussed isn't available

 

I'd go for Who's missing and Two's missing.