The Who - "Tommy" 2 xVinyl, LP, Album, 1969 (Decca)

I was 15 years old when I purchased the "Tommy" album.  Oddly enough, considering that I'm a huge Who fan (with Keith Moon/John Entwistle) now, then, I just liked the idea that they smashed their instruments after each performance.  But at 15 I got caught up on the grand aspects of pop music, and when I heard that Pete Townshend was working on an 'opera,' well, this was going to be my first Who purchase.   I admired the Townshend scope and ambition.  Also in publications like Rolling Stone, it was reported that he worked on this project for a long time.  Once I heard it, I knew it was a masterpiece, in fact, I knew so, because being a media child at the time, it was written that "Tommy" is an iconic album.   The truth is, I played the album a few times and forgot about it.  For god sake for one, they were not The Kinks!

Within decades I avoided any album by The Who after "Tommy," but over time, and with great patience, I purchased and listened to Who records that led to their 'opera.'   As a 63-year-old man, I consider that there is no such bad thing as a bad Who album or song before "Tommy."  I lost my "Tommy" album when I made the massive switch from vinyl to CD, during the digital revolution and never replaced it as I did with the earlier Who recordings.

Last March I was on a 9-hour flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles, and in that numb state of mind, I watched the current version of The Who do "Tommy."  I loved it. Not sure if it was due to the boredom of a long plane flight and being trapped in a confining coach seat on the airline, or that I just appreciated the entertainment wherever I can find it.   But it stayed with me until I went to a local record store.  It was a week ago that I bought a used copy of "Tommy" to re-introduce myself to the record without the cultural baggage that came with the rock n' roll opera.   It brought back my memory of being 15, and now I recall why I didn't like the album that much.

The music itself is brilliant.   There is not one bad tune on the entire album.  And I even love the Keith Moon song "Tommy's Holiday Camp" as well as the always brilliant composition by Entwistle "Do You Think It's Alright?"   What I do not like is the actual sound of the album itself.  My cultural hero Kit Lambert failed The Who in the sonic department.   The recording strikes me as a demo more than a finished recorded work.  A sketch when it needed a full oil-paint on a canvas.   Keep in mind that I love Lambert's production on all Who recordings that he worked on, except for the iconic "Tommy."    If I were a total lunatic, I would collect every recording of "Tommy" possible, and I may go down that dark and slippery slope shortly, but meanwhile, I think the best version of "Tommy" is the live recordings such as the longer version of "Live at Leeds."

The big primary question is "Tommy" good for rock n' roll or pop?  I don't have an answer for that.  For one, I have always seen the album as a work that is one whole and not separated by individual song tracks. Of course, this is not always the case by the artists in question.  Still, this is how I look at albums.  I rarely look at an album and go "that's a great song, but the rest...." I take the entire work as if it is (or was) a narrative novel.   There are economic reasons why albums exist, and the difference between the 45 rpm single and the 33 1/3 long player.   But when I play an album, I'm embracing the huge world that this 12" represents to me.   "Tommy" may be one of the first albums for me (as a teenager) that led to the bigger picture of how one approaches the album.  That, and "Sgt. Pepper" of course.

The Who - "Rarities Vol. 1 1966-1968" Vinyl, LP, Compilation, 1983 (Polydor)

Without a doubt the ugliest record design in my collection.  The fact is, I had to think for ten minutes to make a decision either way regarding purchasing this collection of Who B-sides.  Two songs here made the decision for me.  Their cover of the Rolling Stones "The Last Time" and "Under My Thumb."  Still, what bothered me greatly was the choice of the record label to use a portrait of The Who that was very much from the early 1970's when in fact, the actual recordings in this collection were made in the years 1966 -1968.  Little things like that bug me to no end!

If one forgets the cover, this is a great Who album.  B-sides have always been a fascination for me. I have enjoyed the A-side but have been consistently curious about what's happening on the flip side.  Very much like the curiosity regarding what's behind the door.   More pleasure has been found when I do play the mysterious B-side. 

For the past two years, I have been trying to locate the 45 rpm single of "The Last Time" b/w "Under My Thumb."  It's around but usually too far away (I rarely order items from overseas) or too expensive.   The Who recorded these two songs and put it out as a single as a support for the Stones who just got busted for narcotics in 1967.  The summer of love didn't mean that much in The Who world. The record is two voices of disgust, hate, and sour mood.  Which is usually a good combination for a good Who record.  The other highlight of this collection is that there are five John Entwistle songs on it. "Doctor Doctor" and "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" are brilliant pieces of pop noise. The Entwistle songs are consistently amusing because the bass playing is aggressive, loud, and then there's the French horn in the chorus.   There are not that many French horns on a pop record unless it is something done by the Who's bass player.  And the Keith Moon manic drumming also shows up a bit louder on an Entwistle tune.  Kit Lambert's (and Chris Stamp's) production is muddy, chaotic, and always sounds best in Mono.  

It's extraordinary that I have heard the title "Dogs" in conjunction with The Who, but never actually heard this record for the last fifty years.  It's fantastic!  One of the great Townshend classics that somehow went way under the radar.   And also one gets what I suspect is the Keith Moon influenced Beach Boys/Jan & Dean tunes that are in this collection as well.   "Rarities Vol. 1"  is their best album after "The Who Sell Out."

Thunderclap Newman - "Hollywood Dream" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1970 (Track Records)

Thunderclap Newman is a band put together by Pete Townshend and his manager Kit Lambert.   The band was a trio consisting of Pete's driver Speedy Keen, who I gather is the normal guy in the group, Andy Newman, who is the eccentric and maybe slightly older piano/sax player, and their teenage wonder guitar player Jimmy McCulloch, who ended up in Paul McCartney's Wings, when they were huge.  Why Townshend felt a need to put this band together, I think was to give Keen some attention as a songwriter.   Townshend produced and played bass on this album "Hollywood Dream." 

First of all, it's a brilliant record that probably wasn't meant to become a classic.  The scope of Keen's songs go from Hollywood myth town to getting your head together and make this album via Traffic's aesthetic of going to the country.  Thunderclap Newman didn't go to the country but instead went to Townshend's home studio in London which I suspect was a tiny hole-in-the-wall.  Each member has a distinctive sound and role in the band.  Speedy sings lead and drums, and Andy Newman and Jimmy to me are the stars of the group.  Jimmy because he was 15 or so, doing amazing guitar work, but Andy like the other Andy in the future Roxy Music, adds textures and layers of ambient sax sounds which are essential to the Thunderclap sound - and of course is amazing piano playing which sometimes reminds me of Monk meeting some turn-of-the-century whore house pianist.  It's an amazing group of sounds that fits into Keen's songwriting vision.  "Something in the Air" is the great classic hit off this album, and pretty much shows why they are great, but "Accidents" is the track that goes beyond that even by its length of nine minutes as well as an off-color joke that goes well with its length as well as it's great music.  Especially the Andy Newman freak-out sequence in the middle of the piece.  A classic.