-- Who - BBC Sessions | (Audio CD) MSRP $ 13.98 Amazon Price $ 13.98 Savings $ 0.00 | |  Release Date: 15 February, 2000, Mca
TRACK LISTING - My Generation [Radio 1 Jingle]
- Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
- Good Lovin`
- Just You and Me, Darling
- Leaving Here
- My Generation
- Good`s Gone
- La-La Lies
- Substitute
- Dancing in the Street
- Disguises
- I`m a Boy
- Run Run Run
- Boris the Spider
- Happy Jack
- See My Way
- Pictures of Lilly
- Quick One, While He`s Away
- Substitute
- Seeker
- I`m Free
- Shakin` All Over
- Relay
- Long Live Rock
- Boris the Spider (Radio 1 Jingle)
Usually ships in 24 hours | | | a riotous road to the top | | Smoke, fire, bleeding eardrums, destruction and chaos - that was the road to creation for The Who`s generation. Funny then that this 1965 -1973 collection of the Mod`s stint with Britian`s Radio One opens with a rejigged jingle of My Generation. `They said the BBC was dead and c-c-c-cold, but their new approach is brash and bold, talkin` `bout my favourite station,` the band sing shamelessly. What irony. It`s hard to believe the Beeb actually convinced the band to tinker with one of their hits in order to flog the stodgy fuggy broadcaster to a new generation of listeners. But as this motherload of one-take, no overdub singles reveals, The Who represented everything the Beeb wasn`t - brash, energetic and arrogantly in touch with Britain`s youth movement. In a brief interview, Townshend cheekily dismisses I Can`t Explain - the band`s biggest hit at the time - as a commercial ditty designed to introduce the band to the charts. When DJ Brian Matthew cues up the clanging cacophony of Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere, Townshend declares the song to be closer to the `real` Who. And he`s right. Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere is a wonderfully obnoxious rave of self-assertion underpinned with Pete`s finger-shredding guitar chords, chaotic backbeats courtesy of Keith Moon and sub-atomic thrubbing from bassist John Entwhistle. Vocalist Roger Daltrey, with his cedar shake vocal chords, is wonderfully anti-polish. That`s not to say the band weren`t above engaging in crass commercialism to forward their cause. Several early tracks are rough-hewn covers of pop hits (Good Lovin`, Dancing In The Streets) though the band do flex their sneers for some obscure Motown soul (James Brown`s Just You and Me, Eddie Holland`s Leaving Here). Scattered between are recorded versions overhauled and upended (La La La Lies, Substitute, Disguises, I`m a Boy, Run Run Run), a sound which crystalized to perfection by the time they unveil the psychedelic Boris the Spider, with its throbbing acid overtures, in 1967. Outside the studio, swinging London bobbled about in a drug-soaked cultural awakening. Inside, The Who would turn `67 in to the year they ruled the BBC. Four essential tracks (Happy Jack, See My Way, Pictures of Lily, A Quick One) were recorded in a heady blitz that crackles with the riotous verve of the time. Fast forward to 1970. A wildly successful American tour and their rock opera Tommy are behind them. There`s an acute sense of power in their maturing songmanship (Substitute, The Seeker, I`m Free, Shakin` All Over), including an affirmation of the durability (Long Live Rock) and in one rare case, a sneak preview at Townshend`s over-achieving musical vision (Relay, culled from the aborted Lifehouse project which he finally completed last year). As a first-quarter career overview, this expansive collection of ancient recordings makes for a fascinating guidebook to The Who`s authentically riotous road to the top. | | | | Who`s On The Radio In Live BBC Rarities Set | | The Who`s "BBC Sessions" collection is not the revelatory live document similar, more expansive BBC sets have been from the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. The music doesn`t brawl and spark with the ferocity of 1970`s "Live At Leeds" and "Live At Isle of Wight Festival" concerts. Nor does it reveal a hidden band history as well as does 1994`s revitalized "Odds And Sods." But the songs the band chose to perform on these Saturday British radio shows are among rock`s most essential: "My Generation" (heard in full and adapted to a radio jingle), "Pictures Of Lily," (sounding great here) "Happy Jack," the tragicomic opera "A Quick One," bassist John entwistle`s starring role in "Boris The Spider." New versions are thrilling to here live despite constrictive sound. "Substitute," among their most durable works, is heard twice with more acoustic bent and particularly harsh, witty Roger Daltrey vocal in its 1970 version. "Shakin` All Over," featuring some shimmering Peter Townsend guitar effects, nearly matches the "Leeds" version. Who fans will miss Keith Moon even more after hearing his full-throttle drum assault all over these tracks. The group`s transformation of classic R&B into maximum R&B was in full force from 1965-67. Here, the band delivers souped-up versions of James Brown`s "Just You And Me, Darling," Eddie Holland`s "Leaving Here"(a similar structured versions is also on "Odds and Sods") and a flat "Dancing In The Street." A 1965 take on "Good Lovin`," which the Who covered off the Olympics` soul hit, anticipates where the Young Rascals (featuring another aggressive drummer, Dino Danelli) took the song the following year. You wish for better packaging. Commentary from BBC engineers or disc jockeys, or surviving band members, would`ve been useful, as would some better photography. (But much of the rarer photos and essays may have been spent on the group`s 1994 box set.) Also, a more climactic conclusion would have helped than the live vocals "Relay" and "Long Live Rock" sung atop the band`s studio instrumental tracks. (Again, "Odds and Sods" carries the better version.) But after the fury of previous live Who sets, "BBC Sessions" is peak listening from a group ever more devoted to re-telling and preserving its storied past. The Who will never again sound as committed live as this; highly recommended. | | | | Who`s Live. | | This is a superb collection of live tracks recorded for the BBC from the 60`s and early 70`s. "Relay" and "Long Live Rock" are the latest tracks included here (from a whistle test in January 1973), while "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" and "Leaving Here" are the earliest (from May 1965). The sound quality is quite good, and, just like the Hendrix and Led Zeppelin BBC sets, there is running commentary culled from the actual broadcasts between the songs. While this set would have been much nicer as a double-disc set, it doesn`t disappoint at all. Recommended strongly for any Who fan out there. Extra note: This version is excellent, but if you`re someone who wants to hear "Pinball Wizard", "See Me, Feel Me", "I Don`t Even Know Myself", "I Can See For Miles", "Heaven and Hell", "Summertime Blues", a second broadcast of "The Seeker" and a short interview with Pete Townshend, then I have to recommend swinging by Best Buy, they, for now, have an extra disc with those songs on it that comes free with the CD. | | |
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