Posted on

The Who — 37, 36, 35

ALBUMS: Odds and Sods (1974); Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy (1971); The Who By Numbers (1975)

MVC Ratings: Odds 4.0/$$$$; Meaty 5.0/$$$$$; Numbers 4.0/$$$

I’m kind of surprised I don’t have more Who records. I was a fan of their rock operas: ‘Tommy’ and ‘Quadrophenia,’ but I guess I listened to them so much with friends who were Who fanatics, I just never bought them. (How I don’t have ‘Who’s Next’ is unforgiveable though.)

I do have Tommy as performed by the London Philharmonic but I obtained that just recently so I’m not counting it in my Countdown.

For my money Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy is one of the top greatest hits compilations of all time. It captures all the early stuff like ‘My Generation,’ ‘I Can See for Miles,’ ‘Substitute,’ ‘Pinball Wizard,’ and even ‘Magic Bus.’

These early song reveal a quartet of great musicians playing original songs (mostly by guitarist Pete Townshend).

Re-listening to the songs again after all these years had me focusing on the rhythm section — one of the best in rock music. John Entwistle on bass had few peers. Go put a Who song put it on and try to focus on the bass. He died several years ago. And Keith Moon — also deceased — was a maniac on the drums. Add lead sing Roger Daltrey and guitarist extraordinaire Pete Townshend and you had nearly the perfect band.

I think I sort of burned out on the Who after seeing them in concert in the 80’s and they were loud to the point of distortion and hearing loss. ‘Who Are You’ was an album I decided not to buy. The presage to this moving away from the Who was the movie version of Tommy. Roger Daltrey movie star and overexposure was starting to creep.

In 1975, I bought The Who by Numbers, which was low key and really good (probably one of their most underrated.) But radio picked up on ‘Squeeze Box, a novelty tune, and played it to death.

My wildcard in all of this is ‘Odds and Sods,’ a collection of early outtakes, alternate takes and just lost-in-the-vault songs.

The surprising thing was it had some real strong songs such as ‘Pure and Easy,’ ‘Too Much of Something,’ and ‘Put the Money Down,’ and ‘Faith in Something Bigger.’ My wife, then girlfriend, Catherine’s favorite ‘Now I’m A Farmer’ (And I’m digging, digging, digging, digging). The song is about getting out of the city and growing vegetables, even gourds. This was the Who’s back-to-nature song akin to the Kinks‘ ‘I’m an Apeman.’

Posted on

Roger Daltrey — 544

ALBUM: One of the Boys (1977)

MVC Rating: 3.0/$$

These albums by members of supergroup bands going solo come to me with low expectations. They are usually forced  at least in the musical sense by the artist working out of his role. That’s part of the appeal to the artist and part of the ego-driven decision.

Look at Diana Ross, they think. She didn’t need no Supremes.

Look at Mick Jagger’s solo work. He DOES need the Stones.

ROGER: Uh, Pete, it’s just a little side project  like you did with Ronnie Lane.

But that side project — Rough Mix — was good! One of my favorite albums. One of the best songs in that Townshend-Lane creation is the song ‘Annie.’

Daltrey, who never learned to button his own shirt, put it all out there on “One of the Boys’ — ballads, rockers, a little country. Hoping something would stick.

Daltrey is a great rock vocalist and quintessential front man for one of rock’s greatest rock bands, The Who. But this album is  fair at best. But not without ambition.

Best song (ironically): Avenging Annie.

I have Andy Pratt’s version of Avenging Annie — he wrote it. And you could certainly argue that Daltry’s is better.

Daltrey is a singer, an interpreter of other’s songs. Townshend did the lion’s share of writing of the Who’s classics not the chiseled, shirtless frontman  with flowing blond hair.

Funny side note: In my album, which is a cutout has an advertisement sheet offering “RogerDaltrey Hologram’ pendant that makes Daltrey look like a cross between Andre the Giant and Thor.

Oh, it’s $9.95 plus $1 shipping.