Before I get POLLED: the WHO voting and nominations thread (ilm artist poll #25: deadline Friday, September 7)

I don't know if VU ever actually caught up :) Anyway, I just played "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" back to back with SY's "She's In A Bad Mood" just to make sure I'm remembering right, and yeah, I'm remembering right. You could really get from the former to the latter while skipping about twenty years of musical developments...

It always bugged me that the Who seem to be written out of that history. I once played "AAA" for a friend who was a huge VU fan. He initially refused to believe it was the Who. He had no idea they ever did anything remotely like that.

more excited about voting in this than in the november elections

^^^ otm

There isn't a chance in hell it'll make it, so let me throw a little respect toward "Free Me" from Daltrey's McVicar soundtrack, which I believe is Daltrey/Townshend/Entwistle/Jones + horns. Screaming awesome rawkness.

I'm not 100% sure that's Townshend on "Free Me" (he's on other songs on the soundtrack), but it's definitely Entwistle and Jones. Not eligible for the poll, though, since it was released as a Daltrey record and not a Who record. Great song, though.

On the subject of solo Daltrey, this deserves a listen or ten:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG_q_qUqupw
His whole first solo record is great, really gives you a different perspective on his vocal approach.

I was curious as to whether Quadrophenia was available on DVD, and it came out exactly two days ago on Criterion.

http://cdn.hometheaterforum.com/c/c3/539x700px-LL-c3579e4b_quadfront.jpeg

Excellent film, needless to say.

Seven ballots so far! Are there more at the door?

my ballot probably won't change much over the next week but i'm probably gonna wait til near the deadline just to have an excuse to listen to lots and lots of Who music

I like the way you think. The only thing better than the Who is more Who.

I should have mine in over the weekend

Will probably send mine on the 6th.

I'm not 100% sure that's Townshend on "Free Me" (he's on other songs on the soundtrack), but it's definitely Entwistle and Jones. Not eligible for the poll, though, since it was released as a Daltrey record and not a Who record. Great song, though.

― Choogle Image Search (Tarfumes The Escape Goat)

http://s.dsimg.com/image/R-1365138-1213192183.jpeg

Of course they played up the presence of Pete/John/Kenney when the album came out (which undoubtedly helped it get a lot of airtime on New York's WNEW-FM), but I've never been able to find out who played on what. The back cover just lists the musicians:

Drums – Kenney Jones, Stuart Elliot, Dave Mattacks
Bass – John Entwistle, Herbie Flowers, Dave Markee
Guitar – Ricky Hitchcock, Billy Nicholls, Pete Townshend
Slide, Electric & Acoustic Guitar – Jo Partridge
Keyboards – John 'Rabbit' Bundrick
Synthesizer/Keyboards – Ken Freeman
Percussion – Frank Ricotti, Tony Carr
Flute – Ron Aspery
Producer, Arranged By, Conductor – Jeff Wayne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOdLEF7xXmI

"'tommy' has plenty of gorgeous moments but the material as a whole feels really drawn-out and underwritten."

I think some of the tracks like Sparks and others that sound huge live on Live at Leeds and other period live recordings just don't have that sound on Tommy

They had some other great tracks from the 69-70 period like Naked Eye, Pure and Easy or Heaven and Hell which were great songs, but they just didn't quite capture the song well in the studio, so the tunes never really became as well known like say the tracks on Who's Next.

Naked Eye is pretty spectacular.

That it is. Their first post-Tommy release was supposed to be an EP, recorded at Pete's garage/home studio, with "Postcard," "Now I'm A Farmer," "Water," "Naked Eye," and "I Don't Even Know Myself." The proposed title was 7 Foot Wide Car, 6 Foot Wide Garage. The material wouldn't fit on a 7", so it was scrapped, but the latter three songs were played live throughout 1970.

4 out of 5 tracks on the CD:

http://991.com/NewGallery/The-Who-Odds--Sods---Seal-476893.jpg

The Who definitely had combustible part to their sound that seemed to peak when in front of a crowd, at least at their live peak. The studio version of Naked Eye just doesn't take off like the live version. I have to wonder if that is part of the reason Townshend wanted to incorporate the captured audience on the original Lifehouse idea, as that feedback from the crowd seemed to bring that other gear out of the band.

There is definitely a potentially very good lost Who LP in those tunes from that came between Tommy and the remains that did not make it on to Who's Next, especially if you add in the single only "The Seeker".

never listened to Odds and Sods before. surprisingly great!

Weirdly, it's a perfect introduction to the Who, even without any hits.

why isn't the Seeker on here? god this discography is almost as bad as the Kinks

It's on the 1971 comp Meaty, Beaty, Big And Bouncy, which was all singles (give or take a "Boris"). O&S, in its original incarnation (1974), was all previously-unreleased material (except for "I'm The Face," which was impossible to find anyway). The 1998 reissue doubles the original's length.

And yeah, the Who's discography is a mess. Some titles are remixed, some aren't, some reissues have bonus tracks that aren't included on subsequent reissues of the same title, the 2001 Deluxe Live At Leeds has some overdubbed vocals and shitty mastering...it's all a rich tapestry.

"The Seeker" was on Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy which was a real early and real good singles compilation from 1971.

x-post

some reissues have bonus tracks that aren't included on subsequent reissues of the same title

Yeah the deluxe version of Sell Out misses off 'Glow Girl' and 'Melancholia', those are the two best extra tracks!

True story: I've seen Roger Daltrey solo live, and I've seen Pete Townshend solo live (he signed by "Quadrophenia" sleeve!), but I've never seen the Who live. I may be the only one.

Was talking with someone else the other day about the Who's odd output, about how such a massive band with so many massive songs put out so few records. Was this group just always on the road in the '70s? So was Zeppelin, but Zeppelin churned out the product. It's a bit of a mystery. Maybe because a band like Zeppelin didn't have any weight of the world sorts like Townshend amongst their ranks.

I've seen them 3 times -- the best was 1999 at the Bridge School Benefit. Ox did Boris the Spider, and all the Bridge School kids up on stage were laughing and just so freaking delighted by that song...that was a really fun show.

I saw the later version of the Who twice, once in old Busch stadium in St. Louis in 1989 and then on that Quadrophenia tour in the late 90s. I was pretty excited about seeing them that first time, but to be honest, it was kind of like "The Who on Ice" with this huge band and Townshend playing acousting in some plexiglass cube.

The second time with Zak Starkey playing drums and Townshend back on electric with his brother playing a second guitar was really pretty good. Starkey is a heck of a drummer and they actually interacted while playing. The version of "The Real Me" had this crazy ass bass solo part that Entwhistle just took off like a freakin' rocket. Kind of a shame Townshend lost the fire and they pretty much faded away, cause Entwhistle really never lost it as a player and really the only band he could play like that and have it work was The Who.

I can't imagine a bassist such as Entwhistle that could cut a mountain like that playing in Ringo's all star band. Kind of curious if he really ever cut loose in that band live, which toured for a few years.

70s output:

The Who: 4 studio albums, 1 live album, 3 comps (1 UK-only)
Led Zeppelin: 6 studio albums, 1 live album, zero comps

Not that different

one of those Zep albums is a double (as is the live album)

random thing - anyone who hasn't seen it, check out VH1's Classic Albums episode of Who's Next. It's flippin' great.

Quadrophenia's a double as well, plus add the Kids Are Alright soundtrack (a double) for 2 live albums. The two bands' outputs are not enormously different in quantity.

in the 70s

Also, the Who put out non-LP singles in the early 70s, something Zeppelin would have never considered doing: "Relay," "Join Together," and "Let's See Action," all with non-LP b-sides.

The Who toured relentlessly in 1970 (almost the whole year), only slightly less so in 1971, and did short tours in '72, '73 and '74. But they toured a lot in '75 and '76, mainly because so much of their money was missing/tied up due to litigation with their former managers. Some of the '76 shows are as amazing as their '70-'71 shows.

Also, there are at least ten Who 70s solo albums.

who could forget Ride a Rock Horse

ENTWISTLE!

Speaking of "the Who's odd output," was there any band of comparable stature who was willing to release completely goofball stuff like "Dogs," "Now I'm a Farmer," even "Magic Bus"? You expected humor from Entwistle songs, or when they threw Moon a bone ("Waspman," "Cobwebs & Strange"), but even Townshend would go happily bonkers from time to time.

I think that sense of humor is one of the cool parts of their music.

There's some parallel universe out there where Empty Glass was The Who album and Face Dances was the Townshend solo one.

Probably the same parallel universe where the other members of the Who made better choices as to which songs should go on their records:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDTVgq62-m4
That's Entwistle and Moon overdubbing a Townshend demo (a fairly regular occurrence with them, as it turns out). The rest of the band pejoratively referred to this song as "Choir Boy," and elected it not be included on Who Are You.
(this is eligible for the poll, btw)

Ha! I had just listened to "Choir Boy" before posting that...

Speaking of "the Who's odd output," was there any band of comparable stature who was willing to release completely goofball stuff like "Dogs," "Now I'm a Farmer," even "Magic Bus"?

Beach Boys surely - there's even some comedy bits on their early albums, plus send-ups of their own songs, a mock-party LP, the general way-out-thereness of the Smile sessions, the offbeat codas throughout 20/20, and more. The Yardbirds had alot of funkyness buried in the dark corners of their albums too - Gregorian chants, country hoedowns, campfire singalongs, weird pop covers like "Ha Ha Said the Clown" or "Ten Little Indians" that no blues-rock band should have gone near.

the Beatles' type of whimsy was different from the Who's but it should go without saying that they apply here

The irony of the Yardbirds' whimsy is that much of it was during the Page era, and none of it transferred over into Led Zeppelin. "The Crunge" is all I can come up with for a Zeppelin track that might be classified as "goofball" (and even then, it was more tribute than send-up).

Maybe "Hot Dog"...., but, yeah.

Pagey wasn't in the producer's chair for the Yardbirds, and their sometimes worked in their advantage, as they were forced to retain whimsical one-take-and-done numbers like "Stealing, Stealing" and "Smile on Me" that never would have survived Page's perfectionist production leanings.

and their that sometimes

Happy Labor Day!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP4yP3-I8Tk

Pagey wasn't in the producer's chair for the Yardbirds, and their sometimes worked in their advantage, as they were forced to retain whimsical one-take-and-done numbers like "Stealing, Stealing" and "Smile on Me" that never would have survived Page's perfectionist production leanings.

I always attributed that odd era of the Yardbirds to producer Mickie Most who was brought in when "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" flopped and they needed a pop hit fast. The Yardbirds bio gets into the details, but it's the stereotype story about the producer trying to get a 3 minute pop song from a band that doesn't want to do it. Relf is the only Yardbird on "Ha Ha Said The Clown."

Most's business partner was Peter Grant, and we all know what happened next.

The Yardbirds management move in hindsight would have been to get them the biggest amps on the planet and told them to go out live and try to outdo The Experience and Cream. It seems in that period around the time Beck got kicked out of the group until LZ, they were kind of late on that move. That's eventually what Grant and Page did and so did Deep Purple and others. The Who were already an explosive mix of whimsy and power, so they didn't really have to change.