The Who Album-By-Album (& Single-By-Single) Thread

As I noted above, Keith Moon's drumming single-handedly elevates "I Can't Explain" above a mere Kinks rip-off. Mick Avory was a great guy and a solid drummer, but he couldn't play like that. No one could.

 

I think this is a great single. The Kinks influences don't bother me too much because, like you pointed out, Driver 8, Keith's drumming propels this song and takes it to a completely different place. Also, the guitar tone, although it wouldn't be typical in the long term for the Who, is quite different from that on "You Really Got Me": that bright, thick twelve string leaps out. A great introduction to the group, I think, since so many of the things that made the Who great, such as lyrics about adolescent confusion, problems with communication and closeness powered by great melodies and a propulsive power-trio backing, are already there.

For what it's worth, I first heard this in 2003 as a freshman in high school and it sounded absolutely vital and (dare I say it) modern. I rate this a winner.

Edit: just saw Driver 8's comparisons to the Beach Boys and I think it's spot on. So much so that I don't have anything to add.

 

And that solo screams Jimmy Page. Or does it? I've learned that one of the easiest ways to start an endless argument here on the forum is to bring up the issue of whether or not Jimmy Page played on an early Kinks or Who single. Dave Marsh's book actually argues that Townshend played lead on "I Can't Explain" while Page played rhythm; I personally find the solo far more advanced than any other lead Townshend played on record in 1965; I suspect that Page did in fact play lead on "I Can't Explain.'

 

No way that's Jimmy playing rhythm. I can't imagine that Pete would surrender rhythm duties on the group's first single, or that anyone would deem it necessary for him to do so. I have always wondered if he was playing that solo, despite his repeated claims, because it just doesn't sound like his leads on, well, pretty much anything else before Tommy. If Pete could play like that, why didn't he do so more often?

 

The solo never has seemed like Page. Perhaps it is, but it isn't too far removed from Townshend's sound from the era.

Nevertheless, I Can't Explain is a very nice debut single. It has elements and a foundation of what would always make The Who great - great riff, great vocals, solid lyrics, great drumming, etc.

 

Bowing out, carry on though.

 

Keith's drumming is great, and Mick Avory actually did not play drums on many of the Kink's early Pye singles. But really, this song is just o.k., I think each of their subsequent singles leave this one in the dust.

 

The Who kept "I Can't Explain" in their live set for the rest of their career - it's still in the set on Who's Last. The only other band of whom I can think that still regularly played their debut single live 20 years into their career is U2, with "I Will Follow." Can't imagine the Beatles playing "Love Me Do" or the Stones playing "Come On" twenty years down the road.

 

As I'll probably state again when we get to the first album, I don't much care for the Who's earliest output because of all of the covers and strong R&B influence. But "I Can't Explain", being an original song, is one I can really enjoy these days. Sounds a bit like the Kinks? Luckily it sounds like the Kinks when the Kinks were exciting then.

The only thing that bothered me about this is song is what Driver 8 mentioned - it became a staple for the band for many years to come. After a while I got so sick and tired of hearing it played over and over again live. Somehow the magic is in the original recording. By the time it was being played in the early '80s, it sounded like the band had matured far past this song. That is, it just didn't fit in anymore with the rest of the material.

 

They also kept "Substitute" and "My Generation" in the set pretty much throughout their whole career, so there was usually more than one '65/'66 single in the live set.

 

Great tune. So much going on in it in such a short period. I love the breakdown at about the 1:33 mark.

 

I have wanted to do this for a long time, but put it off because I don't own every Daltrey and Entwistle solo album, don't have the Lifehouse Chronicles box set, etc. I'm going to try to pick those albums up before we get to them, but I decided to go ahead and start a Who thread anyway, even if I'm not the ultimate superfan with every recorded song.

If you want to include some of the information you were working on for your proposed thread, please feel free to do so.

 

Which other Townshend solo from '65/'67 is anywhere near as amibitious and technically accomplished as the "Can't Explain" solo? It sounds beyond Pete's capabilities at that time to me. On numerous occasions Pete has attributed his use of feedback, windmills, etc. during the early years as devices to compensate for his lack of technical proficiency as a lead guitarist at that time. Of course, by the time of Tommy and Live at Leeds, Townshend had become a more accomplished lead guitarist.

 

Would it be permissible toward the end of each discussion for folks to list their preferred CD/vinyl version of the single/album. I'd had 3 or 4 Who comps plus Tommy and Who's Next, but I really started buying the individual albums in 95/96 - the Astley remasters I've come to realize are basically abhorred by forum members. I'd like to get the best version (or at least the best one I can afford) of each album now.

 

good idea. I don't absolutely hate ALL the Astley remasters but the quality does vary.

 

Pete's pride probably (and understandably, I guess) prevents him from admitting after all this time that he didn't play the solo, if he didn't play it. But I just don't see how he could have, or if he did, why he never tried anything like that again until the late sixties. The next Who solo that sticks out in my mind not for its explosiveness, but for the notes, is the one on "Our Love Was," and that one is notable more for its melody than for its technique.

 

"I Can't Explain" is just the best debut single ever by any group or artist I can think of. Good thing that they were called "High Numbers" when they did "I'm the Face". It's not a bad song, but it would have been a rather lame first single for The Who compared to "Can't Explain".

 

"I can't explain" was an excellent debut single. Yes, it sounds like the Kinks, but I really can't mention another band that's still using their first single as the opener of their live set more than 40 years on. Imagine Franz Ferdinand opening with "Darts of pleasure" in 2047. It's not going to happen.

 

I know people don't like the My Generation Deluxe much, but I prefer "I Can't Explain" without the tambourine. I rather hear that 18 year old prodigy play those drums...

"I Can't Explain" ripoff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZJymJloLbE

 

These days it's much more likely a band's first single is the song they're going to be remembered for.

 

I Can't Explain​

http://www.*****/images/ICE-UK2.jpg

UK: January 15, 1965 - I Can't Explain / Bald Headed Woman - Brunswick 05926
US: 1965 - February 13, 1965 - I Can't Explain / Bald Headed Woman - Decca 31725
[US 1st Press says "Can't Explain" - 2nd corrected]

A1: I Can't Explain (2:04) *****
(Pete Townshend)
B1: Bald Headed Woman (2:09) ***
(Shel Talmy)

The Who's first single is a great one, and one of the most exciting of all the British R & B-singles so far. Pete makes his mark as one of the greatest rhythm guitar players of all time from the first second. Gotta love that riff, and what a sound! Great playing as well, just listen to John and Keith here, they're incredibly tight, and that's some tasteful soloing from Pete! You definitely hear Kinks here, but listen to the B-side "Bald Headed Woman" and compare it to Kinks' version, and it becomes clear that The Who have a chaotic drive and energy that blows Kinks out of the water in terms of dynamics. The harmonica solo is a highlight, where Roger puts the harmonica into his mouth the wrong way around. Talmy takes credit for it, but it was actually written by Trad (who surely must be the greatest songwriter of all time). ​

 

Another reason why "I Can't Explain" has that Kinks influence is that both the early Kinks and early Who were produced by the same man, Shel Talmy, an American born in Chicago.

In this period, The Who were not signed to a record label, but to Talmy's production company, which then leased the masters. Talmy's primary deal for the Who was with US Decca.

In the UK in the 1960s, Brunswick was the label on which material originally issued by US Decca appeared, as the name "Decca" was already in use in the UK. (Though they started out somewhat related to each other, UK Decca and US Decca were unaffiliated from the 1940s until the PolyGram-Universal merger reunited the labels.) The vast majority of Brunswick releases were of American artists, so it must have been confusing to the Brits, at least initially, to see a home-grown band on an "American" record label!

As for sound quality, my original US Decca 45 sounds phenomenal.

 

Absolutely fantastic lead debut single. Catch some of the excitement from this 1965 Who Shidig performance of I Can't Explain, Moon was already amazing!

 

Miscellaneous thoughts:

Despite most members' (of both The Who and here) statements regarding the Kinks influence on "I Can't Explain," I've never really heard a direct parallel.

I'm sure The Kinks had an overall influence on early Who, but there's a big difference between the single (or in the one case, double) chord stabs with lots of space between them on "I Can't Explain" and the five-chord riff with no space between each chord of "You Really Got Me."

The simple progression and the rhythm with which it's delivered just seem so "inevitable" somehow...and they served as the template for much power pop that would follow in the coming decade or more.

To me, so many simple but great elements come together on this song: the *sound* of the Rickenbacker 12-string for one (it simply doesn't sound right when played only on a 6-string)...the Ivy League's smooth "ooo"'s and the full harmony on the bridge...needless to say, Keith's magic drumming propelling it forward...

...and finally, the two solos. I see no reason whatsoever to disbelieve Townshend when he says that he played them. For one thing, they're played on the 12-string, the only guitar heard on "I Can't Explain." There is no second guitar playing behind the solos -- just John and Keith doing what they did throughout The Who...filling up the empty spaces with their sheer brilliance.

So unless you believe that Townshend didn't play at all on "I Can't Explain," it has to be him playing throughout...going straight from the rhythm part to the solo.

Nor do I believe that the solo is too complex for Townshend to have played it in 1965. Hell, I can play it, and I'm not a great lead player. If anything, the quick riff toward the end of the second one that sounds like a snippet from the "Shakin' All Over" riff is a little ham-handed rhythmically. I think Jimmy Page might have executed it a little more deftly.

In any case, Townshend has always given credit to Page for playing the solo on "Bald Headed Woman," while saying the "I Can't Explain" solo was "so simple I was able to play it."


In the end, I think "I Can't Explain" is a timeless song, just because it's so simple and direct. I love The Who, but I'm not the kind of fanatic that collects live shows, so maybe I haven't had the chance to burn out on it. As it is, I never, ever tire of listening to it...or playing it.

 

"All Day and All of the Night" is generally considered the Kinks song that inspired "I Can't Explain" -not so much "You Really Got Me". And yes, there are spaces between the chords in ADAAOTN similar to I Can't Explain.