sábado, 30 de septiembre de 2023

The Who - "Who´s Next" .(Glyn Johns 1st Cut).

 

Who's Next was the fifth studio album published by the British rock band The Who, in August 1971, although it is considered one of the best works of the group, it is actually a residual album of the truncated rock opera "lifehouse"  an ambitious project with touches of science fiction, fruit of the mystical experiences that Pete Townshend had during the promotional tour of "Tommy" in 1969.

Where there were moments ion stage in a permanent state of levitation, with extra corporeal sensations, and the deja vu was something that seemed to be the order of the day. Moments that began to translate into new songs that did not begin to materialize until Who's Right ? was abandoned. 
Previous to the start of the new world tour,that would start on July 3 in Shefield. In March, the group moved to the Record Plant studios in New York, to start a series of preliminary recordings related to the "lifehouse" project, these sessions began on March 16 with "Baby don't you do it" and " Won't get fooled again "; followed on the 17 of "Pure and easy"; "Love ain't for keeping" and the 18 concluded with "Getting in tune" and "Behind blue eyes".

Between the end of April and next month, the group combined new recording dates, in the studios of Stargroves and Olympic in London, with a series of concerts, destined to be part of "lifehouse". So, on April 24 at the London theater: "Young Vic" and two more in May, at the University of Liverpool and at the Caird Hall in Dundee. Where the group intended to experiment and interact with the public the first line-ups of this opera. 

The songs were flowing at such a speed that Pete Townshend already had more than thirty to build a double album, but the plot became so complex that it could not materialize and that took the musician to a degree of psychological and nervous exhaustion it was to end his mental stability, fruit of it began to see the first serious problems within the formation and even with the producer Kit Lambert. 
After abandoning the project, and starting new sessions that extended from May to June of 1971 in the Olympic studios, the producer in charge of taking forward the new album, Glyn Johns, as soon as they concluded with the record of "My Wife", and the mixes, compiled a series of topics, 
which he considered best for the achievement of "Who's next"; and made with them a series of assemblies or combinations, prior to the commercial version, of which I present here one, which was about to be the final. In the side A appears as it should have been, small tribute to "Lifehouse", since they were all part of the project and in that same order, but with some other song interspersed. On the B side, except for the theme that closed "Lifehouse" - "The song is over", the rest was put following the same order that they played in, approximately, live during April and May, since the abandoned plan, I was going to see a place for some live themes, which was not the case here, although everything is studio recordings. 

Side A: (22:54)

1. Baba O´Riley.(5:09)
2. Bargain.(5:34)
3. Behind Blues Eyes.(3:42)
4. Won´t Get Fooled Again.(8:33)
  
Side B: (22:44) 

1. Baby Don´t You Do It.(5:14)
2. Love Ain´t For Keeping.(4:02)
3. My Wife.(3:41)
4. Time Waits For No Man.(3:34)
5. The Song Is Over.(6:14)

As it could not be less, the last word was the group and its leader Pete Townshend, who after listening to the version of Glyn Johns, made last minute changes, leaving the album to your liking. 
This was distributing the original order of the songs from Face A to B and replacing some songs with others. 
While all this was happening, different covers were made for the album. The first, shown here at the base of the CD box, without comments, women of proven opulence in sado plan, as referring to the title .. Who is next to the What am I going to shake?. Bit.ly/wN71At   Leaving the alternative photos of the urinated monolith, I have chosen the original alternative cover, with Mr. Keith Moon dressed as a dominant prostitute. 
Here it appears as it was going to be if design, with two of the selected photos that the friend made. Finally inside the booklet or diptico, as you want to call it, the cover of the censorship, the photograph that replaced the one of the urinations in all those countries in which the final proposal was declared indecorous, today chosen as one of the best of all times, it goes without saying if Keith Moon's whip and wig had been carried out. 
To enjoy friends.

Photo Original alternate cover for "Who´s Next!". 1971.