The Who Odds And Sods (1974)

From rollingstone.com December 1974

Odds & Sods, the new Who album, collects 11 outtakes, most of them cut between 1968 and 1972. It is an uneven lot. “Put the Money Down” finds vocalist Roger Daltrey at the nadir of an erratic career, while John Entwistle’s “Postcard,” like several other tracks, will hold more interest for curiosity seekers than music lovers.

But the fumbling is almost as illuminating as the flashes of inspiration dotting this album. Far from exploiting a random set of discards, Odds & Sods gives the listener a fascinating glimpse of one of our best bands, caught in the process of forging a style. While Odds & Sods affords fresh evidence of the Who’s durability as rock stylists, it also vividly reveals the elements behind that style — its limitations as well as its scope.

Peter Townshend, the band’s composer and guiding light, appears here not as the grand architect but as the ingenious artisan. He deals in cliches, but they are his own cliches, so deftly assembled that they’ve become a bold musical signature. Townshend’s stylistic units function best in brief doses or in formats where he can move quickly from theme to theme. “Glow Girl” on this album and “Rael” on The Who Sell Out sustain their momentum, whereas Townshend’s longer works — Tommy, Quadrophenia — occasionally falter.

Most of Townshend’s songs are structured chromatically. By modulating stock riffs and progressions, he creates harmonic variety yet preserves rock basics. In fact, Townshend’s genius lies in creating memorable pop from familiar elements: He has opened up the process of rock composition without significantly altering its ingredients.

Although the Who, as performers, present a patchwork of contradictions, their identity and playing are central to the successful realization of Townshend’s ideas. Daltrey shouts as much as he sings, but his unlikely presence — he seems an unblemished but worldly orphan — helps temper Townshend’s piety. Similarly, Keith Moon’s zaniness and Entwistle’s stoic humor both extend Townshend’s own sense of irony and help counter his occasional pretentious-ness. There is a naturalness and taste of reality about this flawed but inviolable quartet of musicians.

The group’s slashing guitar chords, explosive drum fills and anarchic breaks all add up to a classic rock style. Although Townshend has been its principal designer, it is a style that belongs to the group collectively, as Odds & Sods proves once again. Without Moon’s kinetic percussion, Daltrey’s vocal posturing or Entwistle’s bristling bass, Townshend’s songs tend to drag.

Townshend’s solo version of “Pure and Easy” (on Who Came First) flounders in awkward sentiment (“as men try to realize the simple secret of the note in us all”). But the version on Odds & Sods is by contrast a minor masterpiece. Uncluttered and blunt, the band’s arrangement catalyzes the track, while Roger Daltrey’s labored vocal belies the sanctimony of the lyric. In the song’s penultimate section, Keith Moon brilliantly builds tension until the band explodes beneath the “note in us all” line. Townshend follows with a shuddering guitar solo and “Pure and Easy,” once a yawning ode to the karmic chord, becomes instead its invocation — and you don’t need to hear the words to know it.

What all this suggests — and it should come as no surprise — is that the Who’s forte is rock, straight and (relatively) simple. On one level Townshend understands this and can even celebrate the fact, as witness Odds & Sods‘s bravura closer, “Long Live Rock.”

But on another plane, Townshend aspires to something grander. He would like to import transcendental themes into pop; on occasion, he seems to fancy the Who “meta-popstars,” theoreticians as well as practitioners of rock. These ambitions have prompted works like last year’s “opera,” Quadrophenia.

Odds & Sods provides a standpoint for reassessing that landmark. Ironically, the new album accomplishes de facto what Quadrophenia strained for — a portrait of rock as a privileged but insular form of life, destined to perish with youth.

Quadrophenia employed musical motifs and an elaborate dramatic superstructure to make its point. The plot was interesting, almost epic; but the music, a seamless mélange of repetitious themes, lacked the focus imposed by more modest forms.

Odds & Sods has no plot and boasts no premeditated motifs. Instead, its hodgepodge of tracks, thoughtfully paced and annotated, presents pop music raw, the rough edges intact. Rather than fictionalizing the process, Odds & Sods simply documents the metamorphosis of Britain’s quintessential mid-Sixties rock band.

We follow the Who from the cutting wit of “Little Billy” (an antismoking commercial that was never aired) to the earnest professions of “Naked Eye” (“There’s only one who can really move us all”^*). We hear the apostles of absurdity become gurus to a fading counterculture and we hear rock grow old gracefully. Without pretense and despite an abundance of lapses, Odds & Sods confirms the greatness of the Who.

The Who Odds & Sods (1974)

From rockonvinyl.blogspot.com

The original ODDS & SODS album was released by Track Records (2406 116) in October 1974, and as a CD in the early 1980s (Polydor 517 946-2). It was later remixed and remastered by Polydor on CD (539 791-2) in 1998. 

The original ODDS & SODS album was compiled by John Entwistle and in what was seen as an innovative move at the time, the titles of the songs were written in Braille on the rear sleeve. Sadly, my Track Record print does not have these interesting feature. A poster and lyric sheet were included in the package, together with extensive liner notes by Pete Townshend which took the form of a track-by-track explanation (see below), and a longer form of which was published in New Musical Express, issue dated September 21, 1974. 

ODDS & SODS was The Who’s attempt at clearing the decks. Over the years they’d recorded many songs that were never released, though some of them  notably ‘Naked Eye’ and ‘Pure And Easy’ had been played live and were well known to fans. The original album included 11 tracks, some remixed or remastered versions of which appeared as bonus tracks on other CD upgrades.
The remixed and remastered CD consisted of a single disc but expanded by 12 bonus tracks. The intent was to make a number of compilations redundant while keeping with the original spirit of collecting together various Who curios. With the large number of bonus tracks possible on the CD format, the original sequence was changed to attempt to follow the chronological order of recording.

The original recordings were produced by The Who, Pete Townshend, Kit Lambert, Jack Baverstock and Chris Parmenter (see individual tracks for details). The reissue was produced by Jon Astley with remixes by Andy Macpherson at Revolution Studios. ODDS & SODS reached #10 in the UK and #8 in the US. Original sleeve concept by Roger Daltrey. Design and photography by Graham Hughes..ODDS & SODS

While Roger Daltrey was groping round the Tommy film set playing (rather masterfully) the part of the deaf dumb and blind kid himself, Keith Moon was dressed in a dirty raincoat drinking Guinness with a raw egg and flashing at passers by, while I was ensconced in its studio, John Entwistle, with a little help from his friends, was rooting about in the mountain of unmarked tape boxes at Track Records. He came up with this remarkable collection of unreleased oddities, impulsively labelled “ODDS & SODS” by Roger. I’m going to tell you all why they were never released in the first place.

Postcard is a John Entwistle song about touring on the road. He describes in luscious detail the joys and delights of such romantic venues as Australia, America and Germany. Listen out for the field sound effects actually recorded in the countries we toured. Postcard was originally recorded in my house for a maxi single. They were EPs that only cost as much as a single. Ours unfortunately never got released!  I engineered this one with one hand on the controls and the other on the guitar. That’s why I only play one chord throughout the whole song.
Produced by The Who at Petes own Eel Pie Sound sometime during the spring of 1970.

Now I’m A Farmer is from the same bale of hay, recorded at home for the EP. It’s a song, all about the good life out in the fields growing those fantastic ornamental gourds that you can use to…… to…… to make gorgeous fruit bowl arrangements. See if you catch the immensely subtle reference to the “Air” in this song. This track is from the period when The Who went slightly mad, we put out several records called “DOGS”, and at least one about finding ‘ones’ inner self. Gourds mate, that’s the secret of life…… GOURDS.
Produced by Pete Townshend at Eel Pie Studios during spring 1970.

Put The Money Down is one of the tracks recorded by the illustrious Glyn Johns for us. Terrific sound, beautifully recorded. Wonder what group he used ?
Produced by The Who, associate producer Glyn Johns, at Olympic Studios, on 6 June 6 972. This track remained uncompleted until 1974 when Roger finally finished the vocal so it could be included on the original ODDS & SODS.

Little Billy.  Now if I might take a little liberty here, this is a masterpiece. Written and recorded for the American Cancer Society in exchange for world wide success and fame it ended up not saving lives, but mouldering unheard in some executive’s office for six years. “Its too long” he said. I really hate him because he jilted me, the swine. But, as you can hear. Little Billy is doing fine, just fine.
Original recording produced by Kit Lambert at IBC Studios, London, on 11 February 1968, and mixed at Gold Star Studios, Hollywood, 26 February. LITTLE BILLY is a stern, anti-smoking song 

Too Much of Anything. A song about temperance in all things. The insidious horror of excess. This track was a song recorded in the “Who’s Next” sessions by Glyn Johns for the LIFE HOUSE film which never happened. We felt this summed up just what too much of anything could do to a person.
Produced by The Who, associate producer Glyn Johns, at Olympic Studios, during May 1971. 

Glow Girl. I’m really glad, and amazed that John found this one and put it on. It’s a Rock and Roll airplane crash song with a real Pop art plane crash and a happy reincarnation ending. I wrote another song with a similar title called “Glittering Girl”. Both ended up on the cutting room floor. This track reveals a lot about the way I write. I rarely leave any good idea unused, Real themes crop up in Tommy, and so do the last lines of this. Only of course Tommy was a dear little boy.
Original recording produced by Kit Lambert at De Lane Lea Studios, January 1968 and completed on 11 February. Within GLOW GIRL lie the seeds of TOMMY: it closes with the opening lines from IT’S A BOY, albeit referring to a girl… Its a girl, Mrs Walker…

Pure And Easy. This you might know from my solo album. This is the group’s version. Not all of the group’s versions of my songs are as faithful to the original demo as this one, but as usual the ’00’ make their mark. Another track from the abortive LIFE HOUSE story. It’s strange really that this never appeared on WHO’s NEXT, because in the context of stuff like SONG IS OVER, GETTING IN TUNE and BABA O’RILEY it explains more about the general concept behind the LIFE HOUSE idea than any amount of rap. Not released because we wanted a single album out at the time.
Produced by The Who, and associate producer Glyn Johns, at Olympic Studios, in May 1971.

Faith In Something Bigger.  God I don’t know where to hide. Well I mean, the whole thing about HIM is that HE is everywhere isn’t HE? Anyway, the whole idea is preposterous, something, something bigger than US?  US!  THE WHO! A quick listen to this fads will bring us quickly down to size I can assure you.
Original recording produced by Kit Lambert at CBS Studios, London, on 4 January 1968, and completed 14 January.

I’m The Face. Quite simple, our first record release. Words by Pete Meaden mod miracle man with Desert Boots blue beating and randy female pop writer on every page of his address book. Superb jazz guitar solo from somebody I don’t recognise, fast piano from some pilled up lunatic who probably made more in session fees that day than we did from the ensuing years work. Best of all on this for me is Jack the Barber’s hand clapping and John’s amazing ‘ZOOPS’ on the bass.
Original recording produced at Philips’ Studio, London, in June 1964 and produced by Jack Baverstock and Chris Parmeinter. The Whos first single, released on 3 July 1964 when they were known as The High Numbers. The lyrics were written by their then publicist Meaden and set to the melody of Slim Harpos GOT LOVE IF YOU WANT IT. It failed to make the charts and Fontana did not take up the option on a second single by The High Numbers. I’M THE FACE was part of the original ODDS & SODS in 1974 and was reissued as a single on Polydors Back Door label in 1980. The original single on the Fontana label, however, has since become a valuable collectors item, with mint condition copies selling for vast sums of money.

Naked Eye. Another track from the EP. This number was written around a riff that we often played on stage at the end of our act around the time we were touring early TOMMY. It came to be one of our best stage numbers, this was never released because we always hoped we would get a good live version one day.
This is the version recorded at Eel Pie Studio and produced by Pete in spring 1970.

Long Live Rock. Well there are dozens of these self conscious hymns to the last fifteen years appearing now and here’s another one. This was featured briefly in the film for which Keith made his acting debut, ‘That’ll Be The Day’. Billy Fury sang it. This is most definitely the definitive version. I had an idea once for a new album about the history of The Who called ROCK IS DEAD – LONG LIVE ROCK. That idea later blossomed into QUADROPHENIA.
Produced by The Who, associate producer Glyn Johns, at Olympic Studios, on June 5, 1972. It was released as a single on 1 April 1979, reaching #48, and as a US single in June 1979. 

All of these tracks have been part of bigger ideas, or at least grand dreams that didn’t see the light of the day.  [Taken from album insert sleeve. Notes by Pete Townsend, with additional info in italics]

The Who Odds and Sods (1974)

from progarchives.com

Review by Sean Trane

As its title indicates, this is a bit of bottom-of-drawers release, one that was thrown together when Daltrey was busy playing in Tommy (the movie), when Townsend and Entwistle toyed around the studios for the group or their solo career (I seem to remember both putting out a solo albums around this year), but unfortunately where Moon was left on its own and went on lengthy binges that would eventually destroy him four years later. Presented with an ugly shot of the group sporting American Football helmets, this collection was assembled from tracks that were leftover from 68 & 69 and others remaining from their monstrous project: Lifehouse and Quadrophenia or unrelated but still written in those years.

Opening on the brass-laden (courtesy of Entwistle) Postcard, while Farmer is an outstanding track with amazing Moon drumming, both from the 60’s, O&S is an entertaining album that proposes over half of its tracks from that decade. Indeed Little Billy seems like it could’ve been another hit (read the story in the booklet) and Glow Girl (a cousin to Glittering Girl) then Faith In Something Bigger are intermediate track from the two years of silence between Sell Out and Tommy. A real surprise is the ’64 cover of I’m The Face, which could be a Stone track of the times: while it sticks out a bit, it’s lovely to hear it once in a while.

The 70’s track include the interesting Put The Money Down (Daltrey lays some classic yells), while Pete yells out to Moonie that Too Much Of Anything , like Pure And Easy (probably the most Lynyrd-ish Who track in its middle section) , both originally for the Lifehouse and left away from Who’s Next make a big positive argument for the album. Also from the 60’s, but really sounding like Tommy (’69, thus sounding much more 70’s >> hence why I discuss it in this paragraph) is the excellent Naked Eye, probably the best track (and proggiest) of the present album. The closing Long Live Rock is linked to Quadrophenia, which in itself is a compliment.

After the other compilation of MBB&B (regrouping for the first time many hits that had not been available other than in singles), in some ways this recognized “unreleased track compilation” will resemble much the official following studio release the tedious By Numbers and in some ways the excellent Who Are You, by mixing songs from years gone by. Personally (and since I tend to treat this compilation as a real album) I prefer O&S to BN, because the choice of tracks is simply superior to the next release

Review by Tarcisio Moura

I had this album back in 1975, a friend dropped it at my house with Carly Simon´s Hotcakes and Supertramp´s Crime Of The Century. For a pennyless teenage student it was pure gold! I heard those Lps so much I must have wore tham out! The Who´s Odds & Sodds was not a compilation album as much, but really a collection of unrelased songs they recorded over the years before. And I must say I was astonished by the level of quality those otherwise “rejected” songs had. It´s ok that the track order was not one of the best since John Entwistle´s Postcard and Townshend´s Now I´m A Farmer are probably the weakest tunes here and certainly not the ones I´d choose for opening the CD. However, they are not bad songs at all. In fact, I like them both. But they are inferior to the remaining sutff.

And, boy, do they have strong ones here! Pure And Easy is the highlight of Odds & Sods: probably one of The Who´s best tracks ever, it is a crime that they had drop it from the Who´s Next LP (it seems that the new remastered edition corrected this fault by including it as a bonus track). With a beautiful melody line and lyrics, one of Townshend´s most emotional solos and a stunning perfomance by the other members, this is probably the most underrated song this legendary group has ever recorded. Little Billy is another great tune that could have been a huge hit if it was released as a single (oddly, it was said to be music for an ad against students smoking in school). The late Keith Moon did a great job on this one.

Naked Eye, Long Live Rock and Too Much Of Anything are other fine rock tracks, while Glow Girl was a song that originated the whole Tommy idea (just listen to the final lines: It´s a girl, mrs. Walker… it´s a girl…). The only real odd number here is the group´s first ever single (when they were known – or rather unkown – as The High Numbers) I´m the Face. It´s a bit out of place here and if they wanted to included it as a collector´s item, then they should have also put its flip side, Zoot Suit, as well.

Odds & Sods reflects a time when the band was at its peak. So don´t be fooled by the ugly cover. If you´re a fan of the band, this is a must have. I really wish that other bands would have such quality material among they ´rejected´ tracks!

The Who Odds & Sods (1974)

From sfloman.com

Looking to both release an album in 1974 and again beat the bootleggers (a la Live At Leeds) who were distributing crappy versions of songs not yet officially released, John Entwisle pored through tapes of unreleased songs. In some cases the band fixed up songs here and there, others were good to go but simply hadn’t fit whatever album they were working on at the time, and the end result was Odds & Sods, one of the better “rarities” collections out there.

Of course, with many of these songs now appearing as bonus tracks on other reissues, albeit often in different versions, this album isn’t quite as special as it once was. Then again, the remastered/reissued version of this album added 12 songs to the original version, and as per usual with these albums that’s the one I’d recommend getting. Among the original eleven songs, some such as “Postcard” and “Now I’m A Farmer” are very atypical and not in a good way, while others are overly generic (“Put The Money Down”), are included purely for historical purposes (“I’m The Face,” the band’s first song recorded back when they were The High Numbers), or are good (“Glow Girl”) but also appear elsewhere (in this case on The Who Sell Out).

So that’s nearly half the album that’s pretty forgettable, but the rest of the material is grade-A stuff, including “Too Much Of Anything,” a catchy, melodic, country-ish sing along, and “Faith In Something Bigger,” another catchy pop nugget on which their harmonies are the highlight. Even better is “Little Billy,” recorded for an anti-smoking ad that was never used, but best of all are “Pure And Easy” (one of several Lighthouse outtakes), “Naked Eye,” and “Long Live Rock,” which actually became a minor hit and perennial radio favorite.

As with many of the songs on Who’s Next, “Pure And Easy” (which would’ve fit perfectly on that album; in fact, its melody shows up at the end of “The Song Is Over”) is part ballad, part rocker, and it contains a lovely flowing melody and poetic lyrics, while “Naked Eye” features some of Pete’s best studio guitar work ever. As for “Long Live Rock,” it’s The Who in full on anthem mode, though this one is notable for being influenced by ’50s rock ‘n’ roll, for its enjoyably ironic lyrics, and for Roger/Pete’s throat-shredding vocals.

Among the bonus tracks, most were unreleased for a reason, particularly the ones recorded in the mid-to-late ’60s, including a couple of Motown covers (“Leaving Here,” “Baby, Don’t You Do It”), a pair of tracks that pale compared to their definitive Live At Leeds renditions (“Summertime Blues,” “Young Man Blues”), a humorous but minor Eddie Cochran cover (“My Way”), and their famous “save Keith and Mick” cover of “Under My Thumb,” which also pales next to the Stones original (also, where’s “Out Of Time”?). Fortunately, there are several keepers as well.

The exceptionally pretty keyboard-heavy version of “Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand” (guesting Al Kooper) and the rocking, Leslie West assisted “Love Ain’t For Keeping” may be my favorite versions of those songs, for example (the latter is worlds better than the version on Who’s Next, largely due to Leslie’s soaring guitar work). “Time Is Passing” is utterly gorgeous, surpassing the version on Pete’s first solo album Who Came First since it sounds more fully fleshed out and has that lovely harmonium sound going for it. Also included is the short, odd Tommy discard “Cousin Kevin Model Child,” the forgettable “We Close Tonight,” and a studio version of “Water,” a stage favorite from the early ’70s that sounds much better live, alas.

Still, excessive filler aside, it’s hard to fault the suits at MCA for being overly generous, as Odds & Sods remains an extremely interesting album (albeit one designed for hardcore fans) in the way that it shows off so many different sides of the band. Besides, there are a handful of essential Who songs, or essential versions of Who songs, that can’t be found anywhere else, so if you’re a big fan of the band you’d do well to pick this album up.

The Who Odds And Sods (1974)

From sputnikmusic.com

Originally released as a deterrent against the extensive bootleg market of unreleased songs, this is the Who collection that you probably already have if you started listening to them after they began remastering and re-releasing all of their albums. Many of these songs have been inserted as bonus tracks with the album whose context they were originally recorded or composed (or in the case of the Lifehouse songs attached to Who’s Next). This, to me, is a superior arrangement, as many of these songs, excellent on their own and in the context of their respective recording sessions, have little cohesion here. So while there’s a good chance this album is redundant, if you enjoy listening to album exclusively in their original incarnation or if you’re some old fogey who remembers buying Tommy when it first came out on vinyl, then this collection is for you.

While it’s never wise to come into a B-side collection with expectations of cohesion, this one has an especially inconsistent tone. Unlike strong examples of such releases, The Smashing Pumpkins’ Pieces Iscariot immediately comes to mind, where the recordings were taken from a somewhat limited time frame or revolve around a similar idea or style, this album is a jumble of tracks from an eleven year recording span, from the time when they called themselves The High Numbers to the release of Quadrophenia. Accordingly, what we get is a vertigo worthy crash course through history, yet an oddly jumbled one, as the band has not put the tracks in chronological order, so that The Who Sell Out era “Little Billy” and “Glow Girl” are sandwiched between three Lifehouse songs, while “I’m the Face,” their first single is near the end of the album and would have been out of place almost anywhere they stuck it. It seems as if the intention here is to break up the songs from a particular era to prevent the album from feeling disjointed; unfortunately, it is a decision that has the exact opposite effect. At the same time, it’s nice that the track list is somewhat limited. What we get is the best of the worst, the cream of the chaff, and while the quality is spotty, it’s not nearly as spotty as most exhaustive compilations.

Individually, the songs are generally good, and while they never bore, their quality is somewhat inconsistent. Aside from a few standout tracks, it won’t live up to repeated listens, and mostly serves as a history lesson and a method to analyze influences, as the voices of other bands shine through on this album more so than their official releases. “Now I’m A Farmer” sounds like it would just as easily work on an outtake compilation from The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society sessions, and “Faith In Something Bigger” shows the influence of groups like The Byrds and The Turtles. It’s particularly interesting, because the Who were generally innovative on their records, concealing their influences and allowing their own voice to make itself heard, so that aside from the fact that it’s obvious they listened to The Pretty Things S.F. Sorrow album, the geneses of their work is often ambiguous.

Similarly it contains bits of who history that never made it to an official release. The inclusion of their first single shows the growth of the band and can be juxtaposed to both the rest of this album and their main discography to note how they’ve changed over the years. “Glow Girl,” one of the best tracks on the album, contains a coda that would become the birth of Tommy, both literally and figuratively, providing an interesting look at the bridge between The Who Sell Out and their famous first rock opera. And this excluding the fact that it’s a damn good song in its own right, with driving instrumentation and lyrics about a woman who dies in a plane crash and then immediately being reincarnated (although I think it makes for a much more interesting song to interpret it as a woman giving birth as the plane crashes; somehow that feels more poignant). Along with those are the aforementioned tracks from the abandoned Lifehouse project. Although there is little indication of what the concept of the album would have been based on these tracks alone, with the exception of “Pure and Easy” which explores Townshend’s theory about the power of a perfect note or chord, they are, again, an interesting piece of Who history that can be enjoyed on their own or as a vehicle to feel wistful about what could have been. Lastly, it’s nice to see the inclusion of studio favorites such as “Naked Eye,” even though it falls short in comparison to live versions.

The problem is that for every few brilliant or intriguing songs, there are strange and obvious stinkers. The closer, “Long Live Rock,” is a generic addition to the ubiquitous collection of rock musicians writing homages to their genre. Although The Who certainly rocked hard, it’s a little topically strange for them, and it’s pretty clear why it never made any of their albums. The same can be said for “Now I’m A Farmer,” which musically sounds like a Who song, but lyrically not at all.

In the end, the title of the album really says it all. This is a rough collection, and while it’s a fascinating piece of history of one of the most prolific rock bands in history, it isn’t exactly for the casual fan, or for someone expecting a coherent release. Those willing to wade through it, however, will find moments of wealth can hold their own with the best work of their career.

The Who Odds And Sods (1974)

From starling.rinet.ru

A slightly more obscure album of outtakes selected and cleaned up by John while the other band members were following their own fortunes. The good Ox thus lent a hand to the band in that (a) 1974 did not pass out without a Who album and (b) some of the real good stuff has been given out instead of dusting on the shelves. Still, one should always approach an outtake album with caution since, well, outtakes are usually something the band does not like from the start, and if even the band itself does not like ’em, why should we? In fact, the only great outtakes album I know seems to be Tattoo You, but most of them were reworked, so it’s not a clear-cut case… Oh, never mind.

This stuff mostly falls in three categories, one of which is Lifehouse outtakes, the other one is tunes written somewhere around 1972-73 but not directly related to any conceptual project, and the most precious part is earlier stuff which for the most part rules. Funny enough, they decided to include even their first single which was yet recorded under the High Numbers moniker (‘I’m The Face’, a dorky mod anthem set to the melody of Slim Harpo’s ‘Got Love If You Want It’ and lyrics of early mod guru Pete Meaden). It’s nothing special, but it is funny, and especially weird-looking in this context.

The early stuff also includes the anti-smoke groove ‘Little Billy’ which was originally made for a cancer society or something like that but rejected because the company thought it was too scary (ha-ha! little Billy didn’t mind!), and the gorgeous ballad ‘Faith In Something Bigger’ with some unsurpassed vocal harmonies and an excellent, soaring guitar solo (modestly hailed in the liner notes by Pete as “the worst I’ve heard”). Apparently it could have easily fit in on Sell Out. Plus, the shorty ‘Glow Girl’ provides some insights into the beginnings of Tommy – and did you know that ‘Tommy’ was supposed to be a girl in the first place? All these songs are very far from being classics, but that’s no big reason to dismiss ’em none.

Unfortunately, the 70’s stuff is not that good. Sure, it has ‘Naked Eye’, one of their most fascinating rockers with some of Townshend’s most hard-hitting, socially biting, pessimistic lyrics (check out an early, abbreviated, one-verse version on Isle Of Wight, as well as a live version as a bonus track to the re-issue of Who’s Next). It’s even a bit theatrical, with Roger impersonating the “power guy” and Pete playing the “bitter cynic”, thus leading to their more famous vocal interplay on ‘Punk And Godfather’. A classic track by all means. But then this stuff also includes ‘Pure And Easy’, which is the kind of real bombastic stuff I dislike about the Who; it’s in the same vein as ‘Song Is Over’, with even more of that smelly ‘universalist’ flair, and even its good melody and brilliant, understated, economic guitar solo don’t save it from ultimately getting my pukes. And the two songs of lesser cult status – ‘Put The Money Down’ and ‘Too Much Of Anything’ – are pretty average: no wonder they were left off of Who’s Next. Too slow, plodding and long; can’t say that the former lacks power (Roger screams his head off just fine), or that the latter lacks prettiness, but they cause way too little emotional resonance to justify the length and pomp.

The real dreck, though, comes with the even later stuff: Entwistle’s bleak travelogue ‘Postcard’, which unexplicably is used as the album opener, just doesn’t bother to be melodious (sadly, somewhere around this time Entwistle’s talents at songwriting slowly began to sink down the drain. Maybe that was because he ceased to incorporate black humour? Who can tell?), and ‘Now I’m A Farmer’ is one of Pete’s least convincing grooves.

I do like Keith’s hilarious impersonation of a gardener at the end of the track, though – pretty much saves the whole experience for me. Oh well, at least they bothered to have ‘Long Live Rock’ here. In case you haven’t heard it, it’s a brilliant anthem to rock music as a genre, and far surpasses the Stones’ ‘It’s Only Rock’n’Roll’ in that respect. Might seem a little dumb, but hey, it is meant to seem a little dumb – anthem or not, it’s obviously supposed to be taken in an ironic key, and that’s the way I take it. Don’t know about anybody else. Still, an album that has at least one duffer for every gem is not that big of an achievement, I guess, and my original rating here was a weak seven – which is still pretty good by anybody’s standards, and pretty good considered that these are outtakes, but…

PS. Hey, but wait! The new re-release of the album is greatly improved! It has almost twice as many tracks as the original, bringing the album’s running time to 77 minutes, and some of them are good. And what’s more, it’s not just that they are good: actually, none of the bonus tracks are great, but the way they added ’em and rearranged the running order, you get a fascinating “discobiography” of the Who – from their earliest stunts like ‘I’m The Face’ and ‘Leaving Here’, through the poppy period, the rocky period, and the mature philosophic period. Kinda like the Beatles’ Anthology popped into one seventy-minute discs, only most of the stuff are not raw demo versions, but real accomplished songs you ain’t never heard before.

Among the general “additional” goodies you’ll find such groovy novelties as studio recordings of ‘Summertime Blues’ and ‘Young Man Blues’ (both inferior to the live recordings, quite naturally, but still fun to listen to, especially since these are practically the only pieces of ferocious feedbacky, distorted rock’n’roll they recorded in the 1967-69 pop art era); more Lifehouse outtakes (a ‘heavy’ version of ‘Love Ain’t For Keepin” with Pete on vocals, the gorgeous, not-a-bit-overblown ballad ‘Time Is Passing’; the studio version of ‘Water’ – again, inferior to the live takes, because hey, ‘Water’ is supposed to be ten minutes long, not four, goddammit, but, surprisingly, the distorted solo at the end is truly excellent), and some early bits of amusement (an old acetate of ‘Leaving Here’/’Baby Don’t You Do It’).

Missed anything? Oh sure! What about the hilarious cover of Eddie Cochran’s ‘My Way’? The pleasant organ version of ‘Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand’ with Al Kooper on said instrument? The pathetic bluesy “introduction” to ‘Cousin Kevin’? The “save-the-Stones” cover of ‘Under My Thumb’? The… wait, there’s just too much of that stuff here. Hell, it ain’t exactly the greatest music these guys ever recorded, but it’s all so diverse, intriguing, well-performed and involving that it’s no problem for me to upgrade the overall rating one point. Get the reissue, not the original, and screw all you pessimists.