The ‘orrible Ooo have revisited their 1965 debut album and uncovered a trio of unheard gems along the way…
The Who’s thrilling debut album, My Generation, which was produced by Shel Talmy and issued by Brunswick in 1965, is the very epitome of their early slogan, ‘Maximum R&B’.
Strangely unheralded, compared to the rest of their enviable catalogue, the album will make a very welcome returns to vinyl on 10 February, as both a three-disc set in gloriously punchy mono and a double stereo version, both featuring unheard songs alongside unreleased demos and alternate mixes.
Particularly fascinating are three never-before-heard demo songs from Pete Townshend’s home studio: The Girls I Could Have Had, As Children We Grew and My Own Love. He discovered these tapes in his audio archive during a break from their 50th anniversary tour in 2015.
“Gathering these demos for this collection has been enjoyable,” he explains, “it’s wonderful for me to have these tapes made 52 years ago to listen to. I hope you enjoy them.
They have a naiveté and innocence, a simplicity and directness, and an ingenuousness that reveals me as a young man struggling to keep up with the more mature and developed men around me. What an incredible group of strong, talented, young and engaging men they were!”
As with many albums of the period, the mono and stereo versions featured different guitar and vocal parts. The studio technology of the day was quite basic, which meant that artists sometimes had to overdub different parts to suit each format, usually live and straight to the master tape while it was being mixed!
Unfortunately, the mono master for the album is long gone, so Townshend and Roger Daltrey used their original gear to recreate the missing parts for the new monophonic edition.
The Who are also set to return to the stage for a UK tour, starting with two Teenage Cancer Trust shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall on 30 March and 1 April 2017 – for ticket details, visit royalalberthall.com