WHO SELL OUT (LP)

This 1995 reissue of THE WHO SELL OUT includes songs and jingles not available on the original version. The Who: Pete Townshend (vocals, guitar, piano); John Entwistle (vocals, bass); Roger Daltrey (vocals); Keith Moon (drums). Additional personnel: Al Kooper (organ). Producer: Kit Lambert. Reissue producer: Jon Astley. Recorded in 1967 & 1968. Originally released on Track (612002/613002). Released in the U.S. on Decca (4950/74950) in 1968. Includes liner notes by Dave Marsh. Only three albums into its recording career, the Who had already begun to distance itself from its proletarian R&B beginnings. Here, songwriter Pete Townshend follows up on the rock-opera idea he had introduced on A QUICK ONE with the extended, multi-part composition "Rael" and would later expand upon with TOMMY. The band had also begun exploring the form of the concept album. The songs are connected by bits of fake radio commercials and brass fanfares, and there's a little of everything thrown into the mix. All-out rockers like the vengeful "I Can See For Miles" vie for the listener's attention with the romantic declarations of "Our Love Was" and the soft, folky "Maryanne With The Shaky Hand" on this impressively eclectic album.