Awesome little documentary !
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Saturday, 24 April 2021 12:23 (three years ago) link
The footage of Townshend and the band explaining the concept of the album to John Peel and then playing him an acetate (I assume) of "Odorono" wsa definitely something I'd never seen before!
― Authoritarian Steaks (Tom D.), Saturday, 24 April 2021 12:57 (three years ago) link
"I'm an Ear Sitting in the Sky" <= is that for real?
― Josefa, Friday, April 23, 2021 8:48 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
Yep. Pete first mentioned in a 1979 interview that Speedy Keen called him right after Sell Out's release to say, "No, no, it's 'I'm An Ear'!" But in the new documentary, Pete says Keen called Pete "years later."
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 24 April 2021 14:40 (three years ago) link
The odd thing about the documentary is that they spend more time on songs that weren't on the record -- "Jaguar," the Coke ads -- than on songs that were, like "I Can't Reach You," which itself goes unmentioned.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 24 April 2021 14:43 (three years ago) link
Maybe serious Who fans knew this already but it was news to me that Speedy Kean is singing co-lead on "Armenia" - for ages I wondered why that particular vocal sounded so weird.
― Josefa, Saturday, 24 April 2021 14:54 (three years ago) link
I'm mildly tempted to poll 'I Can See for Miles' vs 'Helter Skelter' aka the heaviest songs evah.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 24 April 2021 14:55 (three years ago) link
Keen isn't singing co-lead; that other vocal track is Daltrey sped up. The engineer in the documentary was wrong.
xp
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 24 April 2021 14:58 (three years ago) link
Really, wow. Wikipedia is wrong on that too.
― Josefa, Saturday, 24 April 2021 15:01 (three years ago) link
"Anyone Who's Anyone" by Sloan is an interesting pastiche of this song, similarly sung at the top of the singer's range.
― Halfway there but for you, Saturday, 24 April 2021 15:03 (three years ago) link
Wikipedia's also wrong about "Jaguar" -- that's Keith singing lead (with Pete taking lead on "the radio's blasting..." etc.).
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 24 April 2021 15:08 (three years ago) link
I note that this is the third Classic Albums episode about The Who.
― piscesx, Saturday, 24 April 2021 16:04 (three years ago) link
And there's also the 2012 Quadrophenia documentary, by far the best of all the Who album documentaries (sadly, no longer on YouTube, and never issued in a physical format).
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 24 April 2021 16:15 (three years ago) link
Bradley’s Barn?!
― Bewlay Brothers & Sister Rrose (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 24 April 2021 16:44 (three years ago) link
Yep. “Our Love Was,” “Relax,” “Someone’s Coming,” and “Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand” were all completed at Bradley’s Barn on August 17, 1967, during a day off from their tour with Herman’s Hermits. These had all been started in London about a month earlier. While on tour in the US, Kit Lambert would book them into studios on days off to try to get the record finished. They also recorded in NYC, where Al Kooper played organ on “Relax” and “Rael”; and at Gold Star in LA where they took advantage of that studio’s echo chamber for the harmony vocals on “I Can See For Miles.”
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 24 April 2021 19:39 (three years ago) link
Damn--went to watch that tonight and it was gone.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 28 April 2021 02:15 (three years ago) link
If you can't find it drop me a pm ;)
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 28 April 2021 13:58 (three years ago) link
Thanks to CJV for getting this to me, enjoyed it. Only quibble is that my favourite song, "I Can't Reach You," doesn't get mentioned (unless I missed it).
I liked Daltrey at the mixing board listening to demos and fragments. His expression is somewhere between bemusement and intrigue. Reminded me of Dylan in the Scorsese documentary, when he says something about not knowing where those '65/66 songs came from: "I can do other things now, but I can't do that."
― clemenza, Thursday, 29 April 2021 15:03 (three years ago) link
"I Can't Reach You," doesn't get mentioned (unless I missed it).
Nope, no mention of it...but lots of talk about songs that didn't get released until 20+ years later.
My favorite moment in the documentary -- and one of my favorite moments in all Who films, documentaries, etc. -- is Daltrey singing along with "Tattoo."
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 29 April 2021 15:09 (three years ago) link
Yes, my fave moment as well. And he sounds excellent!
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Thursday, 29 April 2021 15:55 (three years ago) link
His voice has held up extraordinarily well. He went through some problems with a pre-cancerous growth on his vocal cords around '06-'09 (his performances from those years are decidedly hit-or-miss), but after surgery he sounded great. I'd argue that he sounds stronger on 2019's WHO than on any record (live or studio) since Who Are You.
A recent reissue of WHO includes a bonus disc of a 2020 acoustic show, and the version of "Tattoo" on it is stunning.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 29 April 2021 17:35 (three years ago) link
Best thing on the CD release is Melancholia,
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Friday, 30 April 2021 17:33 (three years ago) link
Take 1? Demo?
― A Stop at Quilloughby (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 30 April 2021 17:42 (three years ago) link
dunno, I think the demo is on Scoop
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Saturday, 1 May 2021 17:47 (three years ago) link
In addition to the master take, there’s an early run-through of “Melancholia” on the box, with Pete doing a guide vocal. And yep, Pete’s solo demo is on Scoop; in that album’s liner notes, he says he doubts the Who ever heard the song, forgetting that they’d recorded it.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 1 May 2021 19:18 (three years ago) link
did someone ever re-upload that documentary to youtube or anywhere else?
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Thursday, 13 January 2022 15:46 (two years ago) link
Capitaine Jay Vee was nice enough to Dropbox it to me. It was good--I don't think I saved the file, but maybe you can contact him?
― clemenza, Thursday, 13 January 2022 16:00 (two years ago) link
Christ there’s a right old satisfying *thump* to the mono version of I Can’t Reach You. Hard to hear if it’s actually the bass or the drum or both.
― piscesx, Thursday, 13 January 2022 18:50 (two years ago) link