Tag Archives: the who

#1074: The Who – The Punk and the Godfather

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Been a long time since I’ve written about a track from Quadrophenia. Looking at my phone, it appears the previous song from it would have come in the ‘I’ series. Couldn’t even begin to remember what year I was doing that in. I’m sure I would have discussed how much the album means to me (for lack of any less melodramatic phrase) in at least one post out of the eight songs I’ve covered from there in the past. But I’ll sum it up here by saying simply it’s my favourite Who album by miles, came across it when I was 15 and feeling a bit lost and it seemed like the perfect soundtrack for the whole time. Plus, the four band members are firing on all cylinders on every cut. I’m a big fan of By Numbers too, but there is a reason why many a person including Pete Townshend himself regards Quadrophenia as the last great Who album.

The big point about Quadrophenia is that it’s a rock opera. One about a kid named Jimmy who’s a Mod, trying to find where he belongs in the Mod scene, all while having a sort of split personality disorder, separated into four different characters based on the four individuals of The Who. These four personalities also have their own individual musical motifs that will appear in one song, become the main refrain in another, before then appearing again as maybe a little melodic hook somewhere else. It’s a whole thing. You really should hear the record in its entirety. In the album’s fifth track, ‘The Punk and/meets the Godfather’, Jimmy goes to see a band to find some kind of inspiration in the dull life. The track takes on the narrative perspectives of who I think are the security letting the people into the venue, or the punks, and the performers onstage who try to possess the audience in the palms of their hands.

This might just be my favourite Who song. It’s definitely up there. Like I said earlier, every instrument strum/strike/finger pick is delivered with a ferocious urge. Those slamming beginning power chords set the scene, Keith Moon amps it up with his hectic drum fills. John Entwistle enters the frame by mimicking the strum pattern of the guitar chords on his bass guitar and they all fall together to allow Roger Daltrey to begin his vocal. Daltrey knocks it out the park here too. Upon the initial listen years ago, I thought another person began singing when it came to the “I’m the guy in the sky…” choruses. But it’s just him putting on a voice, I guess to just help him reach those notes. Townshend offers his own vocal during the song, coming in during the gentler, introspective bridge – one where he harmonises with himself too. After the final chorus, the dust settles with the melodic stuttering of ‘My generation’ among a twinkling acoustic guitar, a fantastic bass riff and the sound of an audience cheering. It’s like they’re applauding the song that’s just happened. In the story though, Jimmy’s left disappointed and disillusioned by it all. It’s a beautiful track. Might just listen to it right now.

#954: The Who – Now I’m a Farmer

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Released on the band’s Odds & Sods compilation in 1974, The Who’s ‘Now I’m a Farmer’ is certainly one of the oddest songs the band had ever made, especially once you consider that the rather introspective and ambitious Quadrophenia rock opera had been their most recent work and out for almost a year by the time of the compilation’s arrival. The song’s origins went as far back as 1968 when Pete Townshend was in the early stages of writing Tommy. You can kind of hear the similarity between the melody of the verses in ‘Farmer’ and ‘Christmas’ from Tommy. It didn’t make it onto that album. It was then recorded in 1970 for an EP that then didn’t see the light of day. And so, left on the cutting room floor, no one except the band knew of the song’s existence for another four years.

In Townshend’s words, the song is a drug one, but you wouldn’t be able to tell because the lyrics generally concern vegetables and corn and cereal and other usual farming activities. In my opinion, the song’s always been about how great farming is and the delight that one can take from it, and there are several points in the track that can back that idea up. It’s a strange topic to choose for The Who, but it was also written during a period where the band were writing songs about dog racing and spirituality, so it seemed that it was just a case of “anything goes”. I don’t know if The Who have ever been considered pretentious at any point in their history, maybe so with all the rock operas and the concept albums, but it’s a track like this that shows that the group could always bring out humour in their music and not take things too seriously.

Unlike other Who songs of the ’70s, this one’s a little less electric-guitar centric. Townshend is present, more so on the acoustic, and instead the rhythm is provided by the great piano work of Nicky Hopkins. He wasn’t a member of the group, but whenever he was on a Who track he could always make them that much better. Same applies here. Look out for those runs he pulls off on the keys. In fact, on the original mix his piano is a lot more upfront in the mix with Keith Moon’s drums pushed way to the back. I’m more accustomed to the ’90s mix, so that difference always sounded unusual to me. It’s down below, select your preference.

#913: The Who – New Song

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This here is ‘New Song’, the opener to The Who’s 1978 album Who Are You, one that many may argue to be their last great record solely due to the fact that it’s the last one Keith Moon played on before he died a few weeks after its release. I think it’s okay. The predominant use of synthesizers throughout definitely gives the album a sound of its own. Certainly unique compared to the albums that preceded came before. But they also make the album sound quite dated on there as a result. And ’cause of that lack of those usual balls-to-the-wall rock-and-roll performances, the majority of tracks don’t possess that power that The Who were usually known for. But I like this track though. I like it quite a bit.

At the time of its release, Who Are You was the arrival of new Who material in three years. In the period, all four members went their separate ways pursuing their own individual interests and journeys. But now they were back. And the first track was suitably titled ‘New Song’. So what would this about? Turned out it was a song about making music. Pete Townshend tackles the subject of writing songs in the cynical, joking, almost mocking way that only he could. He explains to the listener how hard it is to write material without inadvertently creating a song that’s been done in the past. How despite his aging appearance and his tendency to go to the bottle to drown his sorrows away, he can write a hit song that’ll get us all up on our feet and make everything okay. And how in the end, the new songs he writes aren’t really that different from those he’s written before, and yet we all come grovelling for more. It’s a track that self-deprecates as well as pokes fun at fans as well. Something to say the artists are chumps and so are the followers, but as long as the music’s there it’s all fine. I think that’s why I like it in a way, everyone gets a fair share of ridicule.

It’s a solid performance from all four Who members. As I said before, it’s not the manic teetering-out-of-control type of show that The Who would give in the past. Instead, it’s more of a controlled affair. Townshend seems to have put his guitar down to have more control on the synths, but he does come in with neat guitar fills and strident chords here and there. Daltrey sings almost each line with that trademark growl of his, but when the music changes and calls for a softer approach he obliges. Fair to say Keith Moon isn’t as spectacularly flamboyant with his drumming here, but he definitely still includes those fills that shouldn’t work but somehow do. There’s a moment at about 3:20 where I think he overlaps into the chorus a bit too late, but comes into it like nothing happens. Arguably the best performer on here is John Entwistle on the bass, who provides a drone-like atmosphere during the introduction and provides a standard rhythm during the verses, before going all funky on the choruses when the track goes into half-time. More than 40 years on, the album may not be The Who had their best, but there was a certain magic that always happened when the four individuals played together. Such a bummer Moon went so soon. Music goes on and all that, still.

#774: The Who – Love Ain’t for Keeping

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The Who’s 1971 album Who’s Next opens with two intense rockers. ‘Baba O’Riley’, one of the band’s most iconic songs, and then ‘Bargain’, a five and a half minute powerhouse of hard rock. So to slow the momentum down just a bit, ‘Love Ain’t for Keeping’ arrives as a bit of a country-folk acoustic number, steady to the ear and much easier to take in in comparison to its predecessors.

I’ve always been fond of this one. It’s only two minutes and ten seconds, probably gets a bit shafted because of all the other songs on the album too. But it shows that The Who were as great in their softer approach to their music rather than the usual balls to the wall performances. Keith Moon on the drums plays with just enough restraint and keeps control of the song’s rhythm alongside bassist John Entwistle, and Pete Townshend plays the acoustic guitar in both channels, covering the rhythmic role in the left and lead guitar lines on the right. I think the overall highlight of the song are its vocals. They’re a highlight on many a Who song but it’s a glorious feeling when Roger Daltrey comes in with the first ‘Layin’ on my back…’ line that opens this one, especially with the natural reverb that occurs when he drags out the long note. The three-part harmonies during the instrumental nearing the end are amazing too.

So what it’s about? Judging from the lyrics, I say it’s about a person living in the countryside feeling fine and wants to make use of the good times they have by making love. It’s not meant to be kept, after all. If you think this track is boring, there was another version of the song made with guitarist Leslie West during the sessions for Who’s Next. It’s a lot more like the Who performances you may know and prefer. Townshend also takes the lead vocal here. I think it’s okay. I’ll stick with the one that appeared on the album.

#750: The Who – Little Billy

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1968 was something of a transitional year for The Who. After 1967’s The Who Sell Out didn’t do as commercially well as the band – especially songwriter and guitarist Pete Townshend – thought it would, the group went straight back to work on making another album. That record, obviously, never saw the light of day – but some of the songs that were made for it (‘Glow Girl’, ‘Faith in Something Bigger’) were eventually released on Odds & Sods, a compilation of rarities and outtakes released in 1974. Others, like ‘Dogs’ and ‘Call Me Lightning’ were released as standalone singles.

‘Little Billy’ was due to be a single in that year too. The track was written for the American Cancer Society, I’m guessing so the band would prosper from advertisements and association with the company, but when it was taken to their executives it was swiftly forgotten about and left in an office for a number of years. Not very nice that that happened, as the track probably deserved more than nothing at all. It’s a peppy tale about the titular character who gets teased by his classmates for being fat. As they all grow older Billy stays somewhat healthy in comparison to those children who once teased him, who ‘one by one’ pass away due to cancer caused by smoking. Billy, being the ‘big man’ inside and out that he is, takes in the kids whose parents have died as his own. It’s a very cheery song but has quite dark lyrics – it works very well.

Got great vocal harmonies shared by Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle that were quite typical in ’60s Who recordings. And Keith Moon goes crazy on the drums and at one point gets a bit lost when carrying out the fills, before somewhat getting into the beat again. Above is the 1996 mix of the track, but the original 1974 release seems to be somewhat faster and in a higher key. I’ll put that down below. By the end of 1968, The Who were in the studio making Tommy and that worked out very well for them.