(9 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
Our last installment in this series appeared on 201111. This took us up to about the middle of 1967, and we shall pick up where we stopped.
They had been recording material for what ended up being The Who Sell Out, and some singles from that effort appeared beginning in September. However, they also did a tour in the US and Canada.
Oddly, they were opening for Herman’s Hermit’s, one of the most awful bands that ever existed. I would add a couple of tracks of theirs, but my ears would bleed picking them out. During a break in the tour, they recorded several songs at a couple of studios in New York, then went back on the road. On 19670814 the aeroplane on which they were flying had to land in foam when they had engine failure, and that probably gave Townshend the idea for “Glow Girl”, which finally was released on Odds and Sods.
It was during this tour that the famous (and much exaggerated) 21st birthday party for Moon. It was at the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan (they did not play Detroit because of racial unrest) on 19670823 that Moon supposedly drove a Rolls-Royce (some accounts say a Cadillac) into the swimming pool. That never happened. It was a pretty wild party, with lots of room wrecking, TeeVees in the pool, and so forth, and the police were called.
Keith threw a piece of birthday cake at someone, who ducked quickly enough for the cake to miss him. Unfortunately, it hit on officer instead. Moon figured that they would haul him in for that, so he ran away. He was so loaded that just as he got up to speed, he tripped and fell, smashing his front teeth in the process. Instead of a cell, the officer took him to a dentist to get his teeth repaired.
They did some more recording whilst they were in California, then did the final appearance for the tour in Hawaii. Then they returned to California to do a spot for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on 19670915. This is a classic piece of their history, and most hardcore fans have seen it, but what the heck! Here it is:
This is the full version of their spot on the show, and it all synched. Note that Moon us “playing” his “Pictures of Lily” kit, put together especially for the North American tour. If you watch carefully, Townshend was standing directly in front of the bass drum in which Moon had placed way too much flash powder. When it deflagrated, it took some of his hearing with it. Moon suffered a bad cut on his arm, and the entire event was wildly popular on TeeVee.
The US Decca release of “I Can See for Miles” came on 19670918, the day after this show aired. The flip side was “Mary-Anne with the Shaky Hand”, and it charted at #9 in the US.
This is one of few exceptions for a US release to precede the UK one. The record was released 19671013 on Track, and it charted at #10 there. The UK version had a different flip side, “Someone’s Coming”, an Entwistle composition sung by Daltrey. It is not often heard, so here it is:
Townshend was always disappointed that “Miles” did not chart higher, as he considered it one of his “sure fire” hits. I think that it was a little ahead of its time, because they only had five songs to chart at all in the US, and never higher than #24. Decca just did not promote them like they could have, making their US success slower to materialize than their UK was.
The North American tour was rather successful, since they lost only around $5000. Coincidentally, that was just about the cost to pay for damages for Moon’s birthday party! Entwistle was so cash strapped that he borrowed $100 to pay for his ticket upgrade to first class, free drink and all, you know.
They got back to the UK in the middle of September, and recorded more material for the upcoming album, developed a new stage show, and finished up production work for The Who Sell Out
The rest of 1967 was fairly uneventful, with some live work after finishing the detail work for Sell Out. However, they still were not making any money.
When 1968 rolled around, a new tour was on its way. They arrived in Australia in mid-January, and things were just terrible. Jet lag, venue equipment problems, and police investigations plagued the tour. The incident on the aeroplane 19680128 topped them all, after their last concert in Australia. They were supposed to make connexions at Melbourne to head to New Zealand for more gigs, but after a flight attendant (a stewardess at the time) refused to serve them alcohol claiming that they were already drunk (which was probably not true) and accused them of using obscene language.
When they got to Melbourne, the police accused them of being a danger to the aircraft but let them go, the pilot of the connexion would not fly them. They finally chartered another flight, and under police escort finally made it to Sydney where they connected with the flight to Auckland. Townshend swore that he would NEVER go to Australia again, and as far as I know he never has, after almost 44 years. Entwistle wrote “Postcard” about, in part, that experience.
In late February they started another North American tour, and ended up grossing a lot of money. After expenses, each band member only ended up with around $3500, but they were making money. Adjusting for inflation, that would amount to around $15,000 for six weeks worth of work. To correspond with the North American tour, Decca released “Call Me Lighting” and the Entwistle song “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. Entwistle later said that his song was about being Moon’s roommate during a previous tour. It charted to #40 in the US after a 19680316 release. These songs are not well known, so here they are:
They spent the rest of April and May playing live in the UK and recording new material. Of particular note is the date 19680520, when Townshend and Karen Astley were married in a civil ceremony. At that moment, all four band members were married. There was no honeymoon as Lambert urged Townshend to finish up a new single for the UK. He thought that he had another sure hit, but “Dogs” only charted at #25 after its 19680614 release on Track. It was not released in the US. I really like the song, both for the music and the clever lyrics. I particularly like the line, “There was nothing in my life bigger than beer…except you, little darling,…now it’s you, little darling, now it’s you!” However, everyone that reads my pieces know that I am a hopeless romantic. By the way, the “B” side was “Call Me Lightning”. Here it is:
They started yet another North American tour in late June, lasting until the end of September. It was pretty successful, and the US audience was beginning to recognize that The Who were not just another act. The tour was originally planned for three weeks, but was extended to nine!
Decca was catching onto their popularity and released “Magic Bus” (the flip was “Someone’s Coming”) on 19680727. It charted at #25. That was the last original material released in 1968, because the only other single from that year was a UK release of “Magic Bus” and “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. It charted at #26. Townshend was also disappointed that “Magic Bus” did not do as well as he would have liked.
There were albums released in both the UK and the US that were compilations of other material, and we discussed them here.
Townshend was livid at Decca for releasing the Magic Bus The Who on Tour album because it was deceptively labeled. There was no live material at all on it, and it actually was a compilation of other work. It did chart in the US at #39 after a September release, and the similar Direct Hits, released by Track for the UK failed to chart after its 19681018 release.
Most of the rest of 1968 was devoted to mostly local performances (and not great venues for the most part) and working on what was at the time called The Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Boy. The latter would prove to be the most significant achievement of the band’s careers and in particular for Townshend on a personal level. After what he perceived to be dismal failures in his last three singles, he was betting all of his chips on this last one.
There was one final significant event in 1968, and that was the taping on 19681210 and 11 their set for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. They did a number that was familiar to everyone, A Quick One While He’s Away
This was not just any performance, it was a masterful performance. As a matter of fact, most critics agree that it was by far the best performance of the Circus, and the Rolling Stones were very unhappy at being upstaged. So unhappy, that the entire show was not released until 1996! Jagger did allow the piece by The Who to be shown in the 1978 documentary The Kids are Alright.
None of this is synched. The entire sound was produced by just the four band members, no backing tapes, no nothing except for them. I find this an incredibly wonderful piece of music, and the romantic in me loves the story of final forgiveness and reconciliation.
Next time we will start with 1969, the watershed year for the band. Tonight it may be that I am late taking comments because if things go as planned I shall be somewhere else for a while.
Warmest regards,
Doc
Crossposted at
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“just friends” speech from The Girl?
Sadly,
Doc
Author
My life just fell apart an hour ago.
Sadly,
Doc