The Who Sell Out

by

The Who

Edit

I became a Who fan in early 1967 when I first heard "Happy Jack" and rushed out and bought the album. But nothing on that album prepared me for The Who Sell Out, which came out later that year. The whole premise of the album is that it is presented as if it were a British pirate radio station program complete with fake commercials connecting the songs. In fact, some of the commercials become full-fledged songs, such as the two minute-plus "Odorono."

What makes this recording especially refreshing is that while it seemed as if the entire pop culture was taking itself much too seriously during the Summer of Love, The Who were willing to inject a bit of whimsy into the proceedings. In the process they produced some of their most enduring songs: the acoustic charm of "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hands," the tongue-in-cheek "Tattoo," the lovely "Our Love Was" with its razor sharp electric guitar break coupled with Townsend's beautiful acoustic playing and Entwistle's French horn accents, and then there's the ultimate Who single "I Can See for Miles." [It would be the first and only time The Who would reach the top ten in America!]

Other standout tracks include "Relax," "Sunrise" and "Rael," which was a mini-opera along the lines of "A Quick One While He's Away." Since much of the material was more subdued than earlier songs like "My Generation" or "I'm a Boy" little of this album other than "I Can See for Miles" found its way into the band's live shows. That is not, however, meant to diminish the power of these songs.

Like the other remastered Who albums in this series, there is an abundance of bonus tracks. In addition to several previously unreleased commercials, there's the Entwistle-penned "Someone's Coming" (sung by Roger Daltry!), the instrumental guitar workout "Hall of the Mountain King" (based on Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite") and an alternate version of "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hands" featuring Al Kooper on organ. Several other bonus tracks first appeared on The Who's Thirty Years of Maximum R&B. I have a minor quarrel with this duplication, but it is nice to hear these bonus tracks in conjunction with the original album. Plus, if you didn't spring for the TYOMR&B box set, these are all truly bonus tracks. ESSENTIAL

I love this album, it's one of the best albums of the 1960's. BUT, this remaster has many noticable differences from the original album! The biggest offender is that Pete's lead vocal on "I Can't Reach You" is single-tracked here rather than double-tracked like on the original. Also, the vocals on the intro of "Rael" are mixed up too high, drowning out the music.

So, if you've known and loved this album for years, you may want to hang on to the original CD. The sound quality isn't as good, but at least you'll hear the album the way it was heard in '68. Even better, seek out a Mono copy of the original album on Decca. It contains the DEFINITIVE mix of "I Can See For Miles".