The Who - Tommy [SACD – Deluxe Edition]

The Who - Tommy [SACD - Deluxe Edition]

The Album Notes
When Tommy was released, critics were split between those who thought the album was a masterpiece, the beginnings of a new genre, and those that felt it was “sick” and exploitative because of its dark theme. The album was banned by the BBC and certain U.S. radio stations. Ultimately, the album became a huge commercial success, as did The Who’s frequent live performances of the rock opera in the following years, elevating The Who to a new level of prestige and international stardom.

Although Tommy is conventionally described as a rock opera, author and Who historian Richard Barnes points out that this definition is not strictly correct, since Tommy does not utilise the classic operatic formulae of staging, scenery, acting and recitative. According to Barnes, Tommy could be more accurately described as a “rock cantata” or a “rock song cycle”.

Musically, the original album is a complex set of pop-rock arrangements, generally based upon Townshend’s acoustic guitar and built up with many overdubs by the four members of the band using many instruments, including bass, electric and acoustic guitars, piano, organ, drum kit, gong, timpani, trumpet, French horn, three-part vocal harmonies and occasional doubling on vocal solos. Despite this instrumental richness the sound tends to be very “stark”, especially in comparison to the band’s later work. Many of the instruments only appear intermittently — the ten-minute “Underture” features a single toot on the horn — and when overdubbed many of the instruments are mixed at low levels that require careful listening to notice. Townshend mixes fingerpicking in with his trademark power chords and fat riffs, and in some delicate moments his guitar sounds almost like a harpsichord. Moon’s drumming is controlled with a few dramatic moments; Entwistle’s bass provides support and effectively takes the instrumental lead in several cuts. Daltrey swaggers as lead vocalist, but shares that role with the others on a surprising number of tracks. Townshend’s later interest in synthesizers is foreshadowed by the use of taped sounds played in reverse to give a whistling, chirping sound on “Amazing Journey.”

“Amazing Journey” can be interpreted as the central pivot of Tommy, since its lyrics are essential to understanding what the opera is about (beyond the facile story line). “Go to the Mirror” is the climax of the opera both musically and dramatically; tradition holds that when the band were touring the show live the audiences would spontaneously stand up during “Go to the Mirror” and remain standing until the end—listening in silence, unlike the customary behavior of Who fans. “We’re Not Gonna Take It / See Me, Feel Me / Listening to You” is the denouement, with its ambiguous return to the earlier state of the story reinforced in concert by returning to the riff from “Overture” and “Go to the Mirror” at the very end rather than the long fade from the studio recording. Various themes are repeated in different songs in order to give the opera a coherent feel.

The tracks “Overture”, “Pinball Wizard”, “I’m Free”, and the “See Me, Feel Me / Listening to You” reprise were released as singles and got a decent amount of airplay. “Pinball Wizard” reached the top twenty in the U.S. and the top five in the UK, and was a hit for Elton John in 1975/76. “See Me, Feel Me / Listening To You” landed high in the top twenty in the U.S. and “I’m Free” reached the top forty. The tracks “Overture”, “Christmas”, “I’m Free”, and “See Me Feel Me” were released on an EP in late 1970. The “Overture” was also covered by a band called The Assembled Multitude and received a lot of airplay. Tommy was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.

The child abuse that features so prominently in the story caused a good deal of outcry when it was first released. It has often been claimed that the basic idea of the Tommy story was lifted from The Pretty Things’ 1968 concept album S.F. Sorrow, and Townshend himself later admitted that he listened to the Pretty Things LP extensively and that it was a major inspiration for Tommy. Steve Marriott also claimed that some musical elements in Tommy were “borrowed” from the music of The Small Faces. Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman, in his official biography, states that “Pete Townshend credited Larry’s own rock-opera, The Epic, for inspiring the rock-opera, Tommy, recorded by The Who”. Notwithstanding the numerous outside influences, several structural precedents for Tommy exist in Townshend’s own work, including “Glow Girl” (196, “Rael” (1967), and the sectional work “A Quick One While He’s Away” (1966).

A couple of years before the album came out Pete Townshend explained his ideas and apparently actually thought out some of the structure of the opera during a famous Rolling Stone interview. John Entwistle claimed years after the release that he had never actually listened to the album because he was so sick of it after the endless takes and re-takes. • Wikipedia •

"Various stories surround what happened to the final mixed stereo master tapes of Tommy. One story is that Kit Lambert destroyed the final master leaving only a 'sweetened' version. However, Pete Townshend says that these stories turned out to be untrue, and whilst researching for this new 5.1 surround sound version the original stereo masters were discovered, still intact, residing in the record company's vault. So, for the first time, the stereo version contained in this package is taken from the original masters, as originally heard by the band in March 1969. For the 5.1 mix Townshend used the original eight-track tapes. During the work he also unearthed quite a few out­ takes from the IBC sessions. Some of those have been included in this package and again they reflect the fun that was going on in the studio during the recording process." • Matt Kent, August 2003 

EC0927	The Who - Tommy [Deluxe Edition DTS 5.1 + Stereo]
Label:	Polydor Records
Catalog#:	9861011
Format:	DTS CD 5.1
Source:	Hybrid SACD
Released:	2003
Barcode:	6 02498 61011 4
Style:	Rock Opera

============================================================================
The Who - Tommy [SACD to DTS 5.1 - Deluxe Edition] (CD1)
============================================================================
01. Overture
02. It’s a boy
03. 1921
04. Amazing Journey
05. Sparks
06. Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker)
07. Christmas
08. Cousin Kevin
09. Acid Queen, The
10. Underture
11. Do You Think It’s Alright
12. Fiddle About
13. Pinball Wizard
14. There’s A Doctor
15. Go To The Mirror Boy
16. Tommy Can You Hear Me?
17. Smash The Mirror
18. Sensation
19. Miracle Cure
20. Sally Simpson
21. I’m Free
22. Welcome
23. Tommy’s Holiday Camp
24. We’re Not Gonna Take It
25. See Me Feel Me / Listening To You
Total Time: 01:15:08

============================================================================
The Who - Tommy [SACD Stereo - Deluxe Edition] (CD1)
============================================================================
01. “Overture” – 5:21
02. “It’s a Boy” – 0:38
03. “1921? – 2:49
04. “Amazing Journey” – 3:25
05. “Sparks” – 3:46
06. “Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker)” (Williamson) – 2:13
07. “Christmas” – 4:34
08. “Cousin Kevin” (Entwistle) – 4:07
09. “Acid Queen” – 3:34
10. “Underture” – 10:09
11. “Do You Think It’s Alright?” – 0:24
12. “Fiddle About” (Entwistle) – 1:26
13. “Pinball Wizard” – 3:01
14. “There’s a Doctor” – 0:23
15. “Go to the Mirror!” – 3:49
16. “Tommy, Can You Hear Me?” – 1:36
17. “Smash the Mirror” – 1:35
18. “Sensation” – 2:27
19. “Miracle Cure” – 0:12
20. “Sally Simpson” – 4:12
21. “I’m Free” – 2:40
22. “Welcome” – 4:34
23. “Tommy’s Holiday Camp” (Moon) – 0:57
24. “We’re Not Gonna Take It” – 3:38
25. “See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You” – 3:41
Total Time: 01:15:00

============================================================================
Out-takes and demos (CD2)
============================================================================
01. “I Was” (previously unreleased) – 0:17
02. “Christmas” (Out-take 3) (previously unreleased) – 4:43
03. “Cousin Kevin Model Child” – 1:25
04. “Young Man Blues” (Version 1) (Allison) – 2:51
05. “Tommy Can You Hear Me?” (alternate version, previously unreleased) – 1:59
06. “Trying to Get Through” (previously unreleased) – 2:51
07. “Sally Simpson” (Out-takes) (previously unreleased) – 4:09
08. “Miss Simpson” (previously unreleased) – 4:18
09. “Welcome” (Take 2) (previously unreleased) – 3:44
10. “Tommy’s Holiday Camp” (band’s version, previously unreleased) – 1:07
11. “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (alternate version, previously unreleased) – 6:08
12. “Dogs, Part Two” (Moon) – 2:26
Stereo only demos
13. “It’s a Boy” (previously unreleased) – 0:43
14. “Amazing Journey” (previously unreleased) – 3:41
15. “Christmas” – 1:55
16. “Do You Think It’s Alright?” (previously unreleased) – 0:28
17. “Pinball Wizard” – 3:46
Total Time: 00:47:04

Companies, etc.▼
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Polydor Ltd. (UK)
Copyright © – Polydor Ltd. (UK)
Mastered At – Close To The Edge
Recorded At – I.B.C. Studios

Credits▼
Art Direction – Tim Drury, Vartan)
Bass Guitar [Bass], French Horn, Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Vocals – John Entwistle
Consultant [Pre And Post 5.1 Production] – David Pelletier, Elliot Mazer
Coordinator [Production] – Monique McGuffin
Design [Original], Cover [Original], Painting [Original Cover Paintings] – Michael McInnerney
Design [Outer Slip Sleeve] – Meire Murakami
Drums, Timpani [Tympani], Gong, Tambourine, Vocals – Keith Moon
Engineer – Damon Lyon-Shaw
Executive-Producer – Chris Stamp
Executive-Producer [Reissue] – Bill Curbishley, Robert Rosenberg
Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals – Pete Townshend
Liner Notes – Matt Kent
Mastered By – Jon Astley
Mixed By [5.1 Remixing] – Pete Townshend
Other [Avatar] – Meher Baba
Photography By – Baron Wolman, Barrie Wentzell
Producer [Original Recording] – Kit Lambert
Reissue Producer – Pete Townshend
Vocals – Roger Daltrey

Notes▼
Tommy was originally released as Track 613 013/4 on May 23rd 1969. It reached #2 in the U.K. The original U.K. first pressing was a limited edition and each libretto was individually numbered.
Released in the U.S. as Decca 7205 on May 17th 1969, it reached #4.

Original 2xLP release: 1969
This is a Hybrid SACD reissue remastered and remixed by Pete Townshend in stereo and 5.1.

Barcode and Other Identifiers▼
Barcode (Text): 6 02498 61011 4
Barcode (Scanned): 602498610114
Label Code: LC 00309