The Who Sell Out

I've had The Who thrown in my face twice in my lifetime. The first time was back in 1970, when the know it all 13 year old I was in those days was talking music with one of my Dad's co-workers from the Air Force.

Rick was from Massachusetts if I remember correctly. He was probably in his mid-20s at the time I was telling him how cool Grand Funk Railroad was. Apparently he wasn't a big GFR fan, because he told me that if I really wanted to hear good rock and roll, I should listen to The Who. It was a couple more years before I believed him, but I came around.

Since those dreaded junior high days, I came to appreciate The Who, and although I didn't go nuts for them like I did for the Beatles and later on, for Springsteen, I felt like I qualified as a fan. Maybe not a rabid fan, but a fan nonetheless.

The most recent occurrence of having The Who thrown in my face was less direct. It happened yesterday during Dave Marsh's Kick Out the Jams radio show on Sirius.

Marsh declared that The Who had the album of 1967 with The Who Sell Out. In his opinion, The Who Sell Out was a more psychedelic album than Pepper. Now, I happen to like Dave Marsh as a critic and a writer of several great books on rock and roll. I can't agree with him on this one I'm afraid.

Don't get me wrong, The Who Sell Out is a fine album. I admit I had forgotten about it, but I've been listening to it quite a bit since yesterday morning. For me it's no Pepper, but it doesn't need to be.

Pete Townshend could do more with three minutes than most groups at the time. On The Who Sell Out, he created the concept album that Pepper never was.

The Who Sell Out was Townshend's tribute to the pirate radio stations of the day. The cleverly assembled album featured mock commercials in between some of Townshend's best work to date. In the middle of John Entwistle's ode to Heinz Baked Beans and Townshend's mini-opera Rael, was a little tune called I Can See For Miles.

This was the first Who song I can remember being aware of growing up. There was more going on here than what I was used to from The Beatles, that's for sure. The Who was rock and roll with attitude. Attitude was something that The Beatles traded in for suits when Brian Epstein came aboard.

The Who Sell Out belongs in the discussion about the music of 1967. Sgt. Pepper still holds up today, a testimonial to what the rock album could be. The Who Sell Out holds up today too, a testimonial to the work that Townshend and The Who had done and would continue to do until Keith Moon's death.

They Say It's Your Birthday, Reprise

The Beatles had come off the road in August, 1966, took some well-deserved time off, and entered the studio in November, 1966. This time there was no rush to assemble the tracks for the new record. There was no more touring. The studio was the group's new stage.

After being on a regimented schedule of touring and recording since 1962, being able to record at a more relaxed pace must have been incredible. With George Martin's help, the Beatles were about to embark on a period in their recording history just as important as those first years in the studio. Given the time to express the ideas in their heads, Lennon and McCartney were clicking on all cylinders. Harrison's time would come, but for now, his songs would still be secondary to what was taking place at EMI's studios on Abbey Road.

Once the Beatles began recording in November, 1966, they didn't stop until February, 1968. Sure there were days off, and of course, the group had to deal with the sudden death of Brian Epstein in August, 1967. While Sgt. Pepper gets all the attention, even more with today's 40th anniversary, the entire 15-month period is worthy of praise.

The leap from a very cool guitar-driven pop band to an experimental, risk taking sound-driven pop band (there was never a drop in melodic magic) was huge. Once the Beatles stopped recording in February, 1968, made the trips to India, and came back to resume recording what would become The White Album (May 30, 1968), the Pepper era was over.

In 15 months the Beatles created the singles Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane, All You Need Is Love/Baby, You're A Rich Man, Hello Goodbye/I Am The Walrus, and Lady Madonna/The Inner Light.

At the same time, along with Sgt. Pepper, new songs were recorded for Magical Mystery Tour (an EP in the UK, but Capitol being Capitol in the US added the other previously issued singles to the MMT songs to make an LP) and Yellow Submarine. If the quantity of tunes wasn't impressive, the quality certainly was.

In addition to the singles already mentioned, the album tunes, Magical Mystery Tour, The Fool On the Hill, Your Mother Should Know, Flying, Blue Jay Way, Only A Northern Song, All Together Now, It's All Too Much, and Hey Bulldog all stand up well today as the mark of an excellent body of work. Two other songs recorded during this time, Across the Universe and You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) were also solid tracks.

I know, people probably don't consider All Together Now and You Know My Name as examples of great Beatles songs. For me, it's all about context. The group was working so far outside the box for Pepper, there was no way they were going to stay out there for the recordings that followed. The tracks recorded after Pepper was assembled are much simpler in structure, and only dabble in the kind of sounds that made it onto Sgt. Pepper. All Together Now and You Know My Name fit in very nicely with the post-Pepper recordings the Beatles made.

Clearly the Pepper-era was not as prolific a time for the group. Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison wrote and recorded up a storm during and following the trips to India. But, that's another story altogether.

For now, I'm going to continue to enjoy the Pepper period. A time when the Beatles were still working together, stretching the boundaries of pop music.

They Say it's Your Birthday!

It's been awhile since I felt compelled to write, but a birthday, an album's birthday, has inspired me to start writing again.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band turns 40 tomorrow. The album has aged well, because despite being very much of its time, it still sounds as exciting today as it did 40 years ago. There aren't many albums for which that can be said.

Why are we making such a big deal about an album that is 40 years old? Well, you can't deny it changed the way we viewed albums. The unique sounds that came from using the recording studio as an instrument also contributed to the importance of Pepper's place in rock music history.

In 1967, albums were still, as Keith Richards so gracefully described, "one or two singles and ten tracks of shit." Sgt. Pepper changed that. For one, there were no singles and there was no filler. The Beatles had the time to create an album that cried out to be listened to from beginning to end. Not because of any theme running through the songs. Not because of any secret message that would be interrupted if you skipped a song. No, it was simply because each song was great.

Sure, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," appeared again toward the end of the record, and "A Day in the Life," as an album closer, is as good as it gets. It's easy to draw from the distinct opening and closing pieces of the album, that everything between was somehow connected. It wasn't.

Pepper raised the bar for what an album could be and it inspired other artists to stretch beyond their limits. I don't think you can talk about Pepper without mentioning Brian Wilson. Wilson and the Beach Boys had released Pet Sounds in 1966, an album that had a big influence on Paul McCartney.

With Pepper, the Beatles did the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson one better. The Beatles filled Pepper with waves of sounds normally not found on a pop record. The standard foundation of guitar, bass, piano/organ, and drums were enhanced by the sounds of a calliope, courtesy of George Martin's ingenuity, orchestras, a harpsichord, a tamboura, crowd noise, and animal sounds (pet sounds?).

Overdubbing, which had always been a part of the group's recording process, was becoming more and more important to the creation of the layers of sound. There was so much overdubbing going on that Ringo, once the basic tracks were recorded, became very good at playing chess!

Pepper's importance to rock and roll can't be overstated, but for the Beatles, Pepper was also an important statement.

Although most of the Fab Four and lovable mop top nonsense had started to fade by 1966, Pepper confirmed that "the boys" had become men. With touring over, the Beatles were settling into a period of studio work that produced some of their best songs.

Pepper was also the first Beatles album to be released in the same fashion in both the UK and in the States. In the UK, Pepper was the group's eighth album of new material. In the US, Capitol Records was able to squeeze out eleven records before Pepper was released.

This nonsense ended with Pepper, and with the exception of Magical Mystery Tour, the remaining Beatles albums were released with the same covers and songs in both countries.

Sadly, Pepper was also the last album released while Brian Epstein was alive. It's easy to ponder all the what-ifs, but Brian Epstein's death was the beginning of the end for the group.

So, if timing is everything, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was born at the right time. Rock and roll would never be the same after Pepper's release, nor would the Beatles. Both would get along for a few more years, with rock and roll actually making it into the 70s before being pushed into the underground.

If you don't own this, find it and buy it. Listen to it from start to finish and revel in the magic that is Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.