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

Besides the great performance, melody, &c., I absolutely love that this song distills what Townshend in more recent years refers to as his "commission" from the audience, that drove so much of his writing. All the excitement, angst, bravado and uncertainty of going through adolescence during the 1960s and 1970s.

 

I'm thinking tomorrow we'll move on to "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere," and then to "My Generation" on Monday and maybe the My Generation album in the middle of the week, if that is cool with everyone.

 

I know a discussion of sound quality is inevitable here - and that's fine. I would prefer, however, to steer clear of personal attacks on Astley or redundant comments about how terrible his remasters sound. Maybe we could focus instead on the vinyl and CD pressings that forum members do like.

 

Ain't that the truth? "I Can't Explain" has certainly been the soundtrack of my life more so than just about the whole class of '65 - much due to its lyrics, and trying to express an inexpressible, inarticulate uncertainty with such an elegantly universal statement is just classic Townshend. The words and music really go hand in hand here. I never tire of it. It might be the perfect power pop song.

 

I listened to both discs of the My Generation deluxe edition last night, and Pete doesn't come close to attempting another solo like the one on "I Can't Explain" at any of the band's 1965 sessions.

I have to conclude that Page played that solo.

 

"I Can't Explain" is still in my top 5 Who songs. Excellent song to start a fantastic career with.

 

Listen again to Pete on "Leaving Here"...

 

Aaaahhh...love that 12 string Ricky...music to my ears.

Fantastic debut single.

 

To conclude this, you still have to get around the arguments I've raised here. How do you do that?

In addition, your "there's not another solo like it" argument seems week to me.

There's not another solo on the first two Beatles albums that's "anything like" the one on "Till There Was You." Should we therefore conclude that George didn't play that solo?

 

Geez, I've got to stop staying up so late. WEAK!!!

 

There's not another song on the first two Beatles albums like "'Til There Was You," with the arguable exception of its show-tune counterpart "A Taste of Honey." It's not surprising that George would play a different kind of solo on a Broadway ballad than he would on "Roll Over Beethoven."

On the subject of the Beatles, that Ringo was replaced by a session drummer on the Beatles' first single would seem to support the probability that Jimmy Page actually played on "I Can't Explain." If there was ever a moment when a session musician was likely to be used in 60s rock, it was at the session for a band's debut single, when the band's clout was - by definition - at its lowest point: we see this with "Love Me Do," the Byrds' debut "Mr. Tambourine Man," on which Roger McGuinn was the only Byrd to play, and, I believe, "I Can't Explain." It is known that Shel Talmy used Jimmy Page on Kinks sessions preceding the recording of "Can't Explain," it is known that Page was at the "Can't Explain" session - I'd be surprised if he was there getting paid to do nothing.

 

I'm pretty sure there has been an interview conducted in recent history (last year or two) that cleared up whether or not Jimmy Page played on I Can't Explain, and the answer was "no." I believe it was on http://www.thewhoforum.co.uk, if that's even still around.

And with regards to the argument about Townshend playing similar guitar solos in 1965, check out the live performance of I Can't Explain at the Shindig featured in the Kids Are Alright movie; it's definitely an off-shoot of the studio version. Townshend by his own word didn't try very hard when it came to lead guitar in the studio; this may have just been one of those "magic" sessions.

 

The oft told story is Pete would not let Page (who didn't have one) play his 12-string so Page did not do the solo on Can't Explain. Page had a fuzz box and in return refused to let Pete use it on Bald Headed Woman, so Page played on the B-side. Also, at the session was Tornado's drummer Clem Cattini who obviously did not play. Perry Ford of The Ivy League also played piano on the session.

 

To hear Ray Davies talk about it, "I Can't Explain" sounds EXACTLY like the Kinks...but I've never heard it myself. Oh sure, I can appreciate that the riff is Dave Davies-like, but the overall sound of the single is so different that it never occurs to me when I listen to it. Maybe it's Moons drumming that keeps it separate for me.

Truly, one of the best first singles ever by anyone. Was there ever a tour where this wasn't played?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anyway,_Anyhow,_Anywhere

Total nonsense that Pete did not play the solo on "I Can't Explain" Listen to AAA, same inventive type of jangly sound from 1965.

 

A completely irrelevant counter-argument. You could just as easily argue that there are no "I Can't Explain"-like solos on any other early Who songs because Townshend didn't feel any of them called for that type of solo.

The style of music is completely immaterial. Your original argument was that Townshend lacked the skill to play the solo on "I Can't Explain," so therefore it must be Page.

Meanwhile, you've ignored all of the other points I've made to argue that it's Townshend. Your position, then, is that Townshend doesn't play at all on "I Can't Explain"? (If you say Page played the solo, then this HAS to be your position.)

Of course, if you say this, you also have to discount the rather detailed explanation, which has long circulated, of Townshend refusing to let Page play his 12-string. I guess that's a fabrication as well?

Just so you have one more thing to ignore, I'll add this: why, if Townshend readily admits that Page played the solo on "Bald Headed Woman," would he feel compelled to lie about who played on "I Can't Explain"?

In the course of Townshend's long career of considerable accomplishment, why would this be such a point of pride that he would want to claim ownership of this solo when it wasn't his to claim? If anything, he denigrates the solo by saying "It was so simple even I could play it."

???????????????

Deathless logic. Because SOME producers used session players on bands' debut singles, therefore ALL producers must have used session players on ALL bands' debut singles.

Which session players played on The Stones' debut session? The Hollies'? The Searchers'? The Beau Brummels'?

As is quite commonly known, he got paid to play on "Bald Headed Woman," which was recorded at the same session as "I Can't Explain."

 

I too really like the STEREO version. It is only available on the My Generation [Deluxe Edition]. It is missing the tambourine, but it just makes it all sound tighter, and as keifspoon pointed out, brings Keith even more to the front. I haven't compared the redbook/SACD/vinyl for that track, because I don't have an SACD player, but most people much prefer the SACD layer of this title to the redbook. The vinyl is excellent.

For digital MONO, most people prefer Steve's Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy, while others prefer The 1st Singles Box for that "I Can't Explain". The latter is louder, could possibly have some NR, but is very clear. I believe the same mastering is used on the Amazing Journey - The Story Of The Who CD.

For digital MONO "Bald Headed Woman", most go for Two's Missing. I thought I had that CD until I discovered it was an Israeli bootleg. The CD, while great (and still most people's preferred digital version of BHW), is not mastered by Steve, but the vinyl is, and that track sounds amazing. It kills The 1st Singles Box version.

The STEREO "Bald Headed Woman" on My Generation [Deluxe Edition] is nice, but not as dynamic as the MONO. It's quite a bit more laid back.

So, general consensus:

I Can't Explain - MONO: Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy
I Can't Explain - STEREO: My Generation [Deluxe Edition]
Bald Headed Woman - MONO: Two's Missing
Bald Headed Woman - STEREO: My Generation [Deluxe Edition]

 

Thanks for that info.

 

I don't know whether Townshend is lying about playing the solo or not. However, his canon of interviews is similar to the Bible, in that you can find quotes to support opposite positions on just about every subject under the sun. Here's Townshend on the subject of his guitar skills during the Who's early years, from a 1968 interview with Paul Nelson of Hullabaloo, as quoted in Dave Marsh's Before I Get Old:

You have taken what I said and exaggerated it. I didn't say that because some producers used session players on bands' debut singles, therefore all producers must have session players on all bands' debut singles. I said "If there was ever a moment when a session musician was likely to be used in 60s rock, it was at the session for a band's debut single." There is a difference.

 

"Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" is the Who's second single. On March 20, 1965, Pete Townshend told the Melody Maker that the band was considering his original song "You Don't Have To Jerk" as the follow-up to "I Can't Explain," since "the group all digs the jerk." This song appears to have been lost to history.

According to Dave Marsh's Before I Get Old, "Anway, Anyhow, Anywhere" was written while

I've always thought that this observation of Pete's concerning Charlie Parker applies equally to the way that Entwistle and Moon played in the Who. Daltrey gets a co-writing credit with Townshend on this song - the only one he ever received in the Who. It's never been clear to me what his exact contributions to the lyric were. Did he come up with all of the words besides Townshend's original stoned three-word scribble?

Musically, the record is most notable for use of feedback. According to Entwistle, again quoted from Dave Marsh's book,

In July 1965, Townshend told the Melody Maker "we play pop-art with standard group equipment. I get jet-plane sounds, morse code signals, howling wind effects." This manifesto is reminiscent of Roger (then Jim) McGuinn's observation in the liner notes of the Byrd's debut album that

I think there is a lot of truth to what Townshend and McGuinn were saying, although Pete could go off the deep end with his theorizing, telling the Observer Sunday magazine

.

Marsh cites a contemporary review from Nancy Lewis of Fabulous as support for his assertion that the feedback on "Anyway" was a weak song that was merely a vehicle for a "gimmick" (i.e., feedback): "The first time [I heard it], I didn't like it all, 'cause it was very unusual for its time. I remember there were things like explosive noises and feeback and things on it which were totally foreign elements then." On May 21, 1965, the NME reviewed the single, and also found it to be "gimmick"-laden:

40 years down the road, I don't find the feedback and auto-destruction to be a gimmick. Sure, Pete could talk himself up his own rear end, as when he stated in 1968,

I tend to agree with Pete - the destruction of the instruments and the feedback were a comment on the nature of the throwaway capitalist culture he lived in - and also just simply thrilling on a visceral level as the purest ever expression of the violence and aggression inherent in rock and roll since Elvis Presley's first appearance on the scene. The feedback on "Anyway" was shockingly ahead of its time - in 1965, the Who took into the U.K. top ten the same kind of "noise" that led the Velvet Underground's debut two years later to be relegated to the avant-garde ghetto.

Like many Who fans, I suspect, I remember as a child being obsessed with the opening Smothers Brothers auto-destruction clip of The Kids Are Alright. That a group would smash their instruments and blow up the drum kit like that was the most jaw-dropping thing I had ever seen. You can dress it up with theorizing like Townshend did, or you can simply get off on the mindless aggression of it, but there was never anything like it before or since, really.

 

You're theory is pathetic:

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevanc...eeb_the-who-i-cant-explain-at-jones-bea_music

 

It's certainly what you've been implying all along. And once again, you ignore a question that you have no answer for: WHY he would lie about this?

In fact, this statement supports the already considerable body of evidence that Townshend plays the "I Can't Explain" solo. Townshend's solo on this song is very much a chord-based affair -- there's none of the screaming, single-string sort of solo that Clapton and Beck were ripping out at the time. This was exactly the kind of contrast Townshend was pointing out between his playing and others'.

Sorry, but the absurdity of the statement you made immediately before this (which you've conveniently neglected to quote) just struck me: "On the subject of the Beatles, that Ringo was replaced by a session drummer on the Beatles' first single would seem to support the probability that Jimmy Page actually played on 'I Can't Explain.'"

Even if you had used the eminently more sensible word "possibility" instead of "probability," this statement would still not hold water -- for one could easily turn it around and say that since Andrew Loog Oldham, Ron Richards, Tony Hatch and Sly Stone did not use session players for their respective bands' debut recordings, that supports the "probability" that Shel Talmy didn't either.

What George Martin did with The Beatles does not affect the "probability" that Shel Talmy used a session player to replace Townshend. It has to be taken on a case-by-case basis.

As everyone else but you seems to grasp, Talmy used a session player for one side at that first Who session, and did not on the other side.

 

As much of a Who fan as I am, several of the early songs did not get on my radar until long after my life was changed by Who's Next and Quadrophenia in 1976. For example, when 'Kids are Alright' shows up on Quad, I was clueless about how it fit in until my mid-1990s immersion program began (it hasn't let up).

So, I didn't get into 'Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere' until they reintroduced it into the set ca. 1999. The version from Shepherd's Bush that year is killer, especially Zak's powerhouse drumming. In some ways I think the later live versions of it are more aggressive than the contemporaneous ones. Only since hanging around here did I finally really seek the studio version of this song out (on Steve's MBBB) and have been suitably blown away by it.

I tend to agree with Driver 8: Pete was first and foremost making a social statement with both the instrument destruction and the high volume. At the same time he didn't mind all the press it got the band.

 

I'm sorry I even started this discussion and this thread.

 

Unless you've put together a good album-by-album thread - which this has the potential to be - you can't appreciate the effort involved.

It's easy to snipe from the sidelines but can we leave the perjoratives aside?