The Who
BBC Sessions
»
The Who
BBC Sessions
MCA, 2001
RiYL: Jimi Hendrix' BBC Sessions, Pearl Jam, The Beatles' BBC Sessions |
Indeed, The Who have been packaged and repackaged ad infinitum. On one hand, it's a bad thing because there is so much to wade through, even for the most avid collector (what is the deal with all of the greatest hits albums?). On the other, it almost ensures that there's material still in between the proverbial cracks. Case in point: BBC Sessions, which collects 25 tracks recorded for the venerable U.K. station over the course of eight years.
Refreshingly, this collection isn't loaded down with the songs everybody knows. There's even a bevy of weird covers, including James Brown's "Just You And Me, Darling" and the Motown staple "Dancing In The Street," that reinforce The Who's early "Maximum R&B" sloganeering. But the most appealing feature of BBC Sessions is that one gets to hear The Who's sound move through its umpteen evolutions over the course of one disc, without having to negotiate 30+ years of recordings.
The sonic tour begins in 1965, with these four fresh-faced Mods squarely planted between the jingle-jang of the Beatles and the R&B flexing of the Rolling Stones. Hearing such early Pete Townshend originals as "La La La Lies," "Disguises," or even the super-fast version of "Substitute" would hardly have led one to peg him as the future creator of such high-minded conceptual operas as Quadrophenia and Tommy. But actually, this pre-Tommy era finds The Who at their most carefree, compensating in vim and vigor for what their songs lacked in originality.
It's easy, then, to see why "My Generation" was the Who's early anthem, because it perfectly bridges the aforementioned attributes: Roger Daltrey's unexplained but cocksure stutter, the hyper-active chug of the verses, and Townshend's pointed, oft-quoted assessment of the divide between the ages, "hope I die before I get old." This is The Who at their most unique, raising a giant middle finger to those who don't get it.
Aside from bassist John Entwistle's creepy, deep-throated "Boris The Spider," the tracks recorded in 1967 revert back to following the coat-tails of the U.K.'s big two. "Run Run Run" sports a melody not unlike the Beatles' "Dr. Robert," while Daltrey's galloping "See My Way" could be the theme song for any old rockabilly band. The only other track of note from this period is the seven-minute "A Quick One (While He's Away)," which, while unremarkable, certainly foreshadows the more grandiose themes the group was to explore in the coming years.
Flash forward to 1970, where the foursome once again tackle "Substitute," this time with the maturity of a group that recognized its place in the previous decade's rock explosion. "The Seeker" is more tempered than its rough-hewn single version, while "I'm Free," with its awesome main riff and "Pinball Wizard" tease, epitomizes the group's juggernaut albums of the early '70s. For good measure, The Who dusted off the old standard "Shakin' All Over," which would appear regularly in their live set and on both the Live At Leeds and Live At The Isle Of Wight releases.
By 1973, The Who's greatest album triumphs were arguably behind them. No matter how much non-album track "Relay" rocks -- and it surely does here, thanks to Townshend's effects-drenched lead -- it still would have been hard-pressed to top anything on either Led Zeppelin's IV or Houses Of The Holy, both of which were released around this time.
It's fitting that another non-album track, "Long Live Rock," closes BBC Sessions, its indecisive "rock is dead / long live rock" mantra very indicative of The Who's uncertainty about its place in the changing musical climate. "For kids, rock means nothing," Townshend said at the time. "They're not really listening. It has become a spectator sport, something could easily replace it. Rock music is not really contemporary to these times. It's really the music of yesteryear." Sure enough, in a few short years, punk would explode in London clubs, aiming to annihiliate everything The Who's over-reaching rock operas had constructed.
Although The Who weren't exactly ushered out the door post-1973, their music never had quite the same relevance as it did previously. And inasmuch as BBC Sessions concentrates on the most powerful years of the band's career, it's as good of an entry way as any into The Who's immense catalog.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"