The Who: Who's For Tennis?

Well, Concert File claims they do.

 

the contemporary story was that they burned all the tapes 'cause they didn't like 'em. That acetate is all that seems to have survived. Some fans have suggested that the tapes do still exist. Too bad, a full length live version of Relax would be nice. I've heard a tape that has a long jammed version of Run, Run, Run!

I'd never heard about this Tennis album. For a while Pete was talking about "Who's Greatest Flops". This could just been what he thought about the performance of their early material in the US. My pal took it serious and MADE me buy his UK copy of Substitute from him, for $1... He is still mad about that.

I imagine there we lots of ideas tossed around. That is the Townshend way. I might have to put together a comp of these songs to see if it works. I don't really see it.

BTW, who ever it was that suggested Faith In Something Bigger and Call Me LIghtning were less than splendid should be taken out and flogged, then made to listen to all the American Idol albums...

 

That was the story behind the live '69 tapes, which is at least partially (if not fully) untrue. I've never heard that said about the '68 Fillmore shows.

 

I take that back. It's on the Classic Direct Hits LP.

 

Also Two's Missing.

 

I think "Call Me Lightning" is hillarious... even better if you can watch the promo film with it. Of course the stereo mix is atrocious... what an embarrassment that they used it on that "Ultimate Collection" cd (obviously assembled by someone with hearing difficulties).

On the subject of "Relax"... every time I here that song, I wonder if John Lennon got the riff for "Polythene Pam" from that. Who knows...

 

That version is fake stereo.

The only true stereo version I'm aware of is on the box set, where it's *very* narrow.

 

I do remember that they taped the '68 tour... and didn't like it. Hadn't heard that story about '69. I'm sure in one of the old rock mags I have around here, it is the '68 tour that is most definitly discussed. Since I can't back up my info right now, all I can say is that it is a shame none of the 68 OR 69 US tour was properly recorded.

 

No! I take it all back!!

I dug up this interesting post from a Who mailing list in 1996:

-----------------------------------------------
Subj: "Who's For Tennis?" (part 2)
Date: Tue, Jul 23, 1996 7:56 AM EDT
From: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

(BTW, this is the aborted 1968 Who album) I listened to the mid section on
(From "Kill My Appetite")... This tape seems to be derrived from acetates and
apparently been put aside for many, many years. Here's the track listing as
per the tape:

Early Morning Cold Taxi, Glow Girl, Can't Tell A Note From A Symphony (Girls
Eyes), Now I'm A Farmer, Call Me Lightning, To Kill My Appetite (D), Little
Billy, The Jaguar (not, Jaguar, but one of the instrumentals that appears on
the boot, "Who The *****"), Someone's Coming, Faith In Something Bigger, Dr
Jekyll & Mr Hyde, That Glittering Girl, Melancholia (D) , Naked Eye. (D) =
seem to be Pete Demos

Now, the parts that I listened to vary in sound quality, but the songs all
seem to be in true stereo (varying separation--ie "Someone's Coming" is NOT
as wide as say on the new "Sell Out") except for "Call Me Lightning", which
seems to be in mono...

I didn't have a lot of time to fool with the tape yet, but it seems as if it
can be cleaned up a bit and re-EQed, fairly easily. While some of you have
songs like "Kill My Appetite" on a boot, currently, this version is in
stereo, longer and pretty clean. Dr Jekyll is a stereo mix that is a cross
between the version on "Magic Bus" LP and the "rarity" version. The other
songs I listened to seem to be earlier versions of different mixes.

What I've agreed to do with the owner of the tape, is to listen to it, record
it for myself, review it and send it back to him, post his information, so
that YOU may get a copy from him at a fairly reasonable price.

I hope to have this whole thing semi-analyzed within a week for you guys (and
gals)...

-wf
-----------------------------------------------

Did this ever pan out? It sounds more like a bootleg than a rejected LP, especially with all those demos thrown in.

- John

 

No, you're thinking of the US '69 tour.

The story goes the '69 tour was recorded (directly to stereo, apparently) for a possible live album. At the end of the tour, though, Pete didn't want to listen to everything, and the story goes he ordered the tapes burned. Since some shows have surfaced, though, that seems unlikely.

With that idea behind them, Leeds and Hull (February 1970) were recorded for the album.

I had assumed the '68 Fillmore shows were recorded directly to stereo, but Anyway Anyhow Anywhere claims they were 4-track recordings.

 

All or part of a good six or eight pre-Leeds Tommy shows are floating around, so the tapes are out there, regardless of what or wasn't supposedly burned.

 

Man, you are gonna make me dig out some old copies of Hit Parader or Crawdaddy to back up my memories. I've heard bits of the "Leeds Out Takes" which I assume may be from Hull, or around that time. I didn't get any details.

There is a very famous recording from the Fillmore West that was done by two of my High School friends. A bit ends the Box Set. I'd kill to hear a real recording of a gig played this well. Thing of it is, I went the first night only. They played TWO sets that night. So, I got Heaven and Hell and Amazing Journey twice for my $3.50... That memory is still very clear...

 

FYI...:

Maximum R&B p98 (1996 edition)

Anyway Anyhow Anywhere p 176

p179

 

The way the drums are recorded on the Fillmore '68 stuff bugs me. On some tracks it sounds like they only mic'd part of Moon's kit. Some of the between song talk puts me in stitches. Piss'ole!

 

That's a great insight about Daltry's voice. Amazing that something that good was not released and passed over for Odds and Sods. Some great Moon drumming but the drum sound is so wimpy. Biscuit Tins indeed.

 

Pretty sure Sodding About aka Signal 30 was a Sell Out outtake. I think there was a plan to do an instrumental EP and that and Hall Of The Mountain King were 2 of the tracks.

 

Sounds like a bootleg to me as well.

 

Well there you go... You must forgive the gaps in the memory, but there are some things that seem certain to me all these years later... I guess the live music has stuck with me better than the printed word.

 

That is really neat! Is that the show that opens the 30 Years box? I wish we had some more pro recorded '71 shows. It's a crying shame the 12/71 San Francisco show hasn't been released. There are lots of rumours about some '71 shows that were filmed but nothing has turned up.

 

Me three!

 

Yeah, it's kind of kick-snare-cymbals, isn't it? I think there are some spots you can tell Moon must be hitting the toms, but you can't really hear them.

 

My pal's tape is heard at the end, the "No Way Speach"...SF Civic should come out. It is a good one. The bits that have escaped: Baby Don't Do It, Bargain, My Wife are all keepers. They might have also recorded other shows.

 

Very informative thread for this Who fan....what is apparent is that there are still unreleased tracks still in the vault that need to come out.....and "Who's For Tennis?" is as good a title as any(and "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" should be on this set as well).


Evan

 

One thing to keep in mind is that the song's release as the follow-up single to "I Can See for Miles" may have been a very deliberate 'screw you' to the record-buying public. I remember reading (though I can't recall the source) that Pete was very hurt by how poorly the public received the "I Can See for Miles" single - he was very proud and had high hopes for it. When it didn't perform as he hoped, I wouldn't put it past him to say "well, fine then - here's something simple. shurrup and enjoy." Personally, I love the song.


Also, if you're considering using "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde", keep in mind that there's two different mixes in circulation - one mix lacks sound effects, while one retains them. One mix is very bassy while one is thin. One has the drums almost absent form the mix. Both felt out of balance...
...but since each is a mono mix, I constructed a really excellent stereo mix by running each version of the mono mix side by side (took a little bit of time-compression to get them both at exactly the same speed, but suddenly the song came alive).

Here's part of that stereo mix, if you're interested in checking it out (it's the first 50-something seconds): http://www.glorifieddemos.com/misc/Who_Jekyll-Hyde-1.mp3

 

Thanks for that, Steve! What are the two sources for those mixes - "Magic Bus" and "Rarities"?

- John