The Who - "Lifehouse" - (The Final Cut - June 1971).

 

What can be said about "Lifehouse"?.Little that we don´t know today, because there´re very accurate reconstructions to what would have been the final double album and almost all of you know its history, as experts or understoods in the matter.

So let me do a little introduction: “Lifehouse” project, the missing link between "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia", was the great lost album of The Who, as: "Smile" for the Beach Boys, both with something in common, ended up breaking the psychology and the nerves of their creators, considered “damned works” for many years. Brian Wilson was able to conclude "Smile" over the years, but Pete Townshend has not yet, because there is no definitive version recorded entirely by The Who.

Along the times, there were different attempts to get something out of this schizophrenic project, but no luck. This new reconstruction that I bring you, apart from being the prologue to the promised album: "Rock is dead, Long live Rock!", available within a few days; shows you the last attempt to save "Lifehouse",  during this first stage.

After the unsuccessfully New York´s sessions at Record Plant studios during the month of March, The Who returned to England to Olympic studios; “Lifehouse” every day it became more complicated and this made Pete felt inside a mental loop with no exit. Although the project is officially abandoned after this american sessions, had become an personal obsession and Pete made more compilations, work, day and night in parallel; one of last, reducing the double acetate it to a single Lp.

This last cut from early June 1971.had practically the same order of songs, although many of them in extended version, and some absence. Next I put the order of this acetate of two discs, in case you want to reconstruct it and have the two final versions. The double...

Side A: (17:10)

1. The Note.(5:21)
(A.k.a: "Pure & Easy")
2. Behind Blue Eyes.(3:29)
3. Love Ain´t For Keeping.(4:03)
4. Mary (Rmk-2).(4:17)

Side B: (18:36)

1. I´m In Tune.(7:04)
(A.k.a: "Getting In Tune")
2. Going Mobile.(3:42)
3. Too Much.(4:21)
(A.k.a: "Too Much Of Anything")
4. Time Is Passing.(3:29)

Side C: (17:33)

1. Baby, don´t you do it.(8:37)
2. Won´t Get Fooled Again.(8:56)

Side d: (19:37)

1. Song Is Over.(6:14)
(A.k.a: "The Song Is Over")
2. Baba O´Riley.(13:23)

Outtakes from "Lifehouse":
Olympic Studios, London, England. April to June 1971.

"Time Waits For No Man. "A.k.a: "When I Was a Boy".
"Bargain"."My Wife" & "Let´s See Action".

After doing this new cut of the disk, seeing that Pete continued to dislike it, the sound engineer and producer Glyn Jones advised to him to leave it definitely, due to its enormous complexity in constructing a coherent and understandable plot for the mentality of then, the better solution: to make made a powerful rock album, not t necessarily with a specific storyline, only good music: "Who's Next" was born.

Side A: (22:05) 

 
1.The Note.(5:20)
2.Behind Blue Eyes.(3:40)
3.Love Ain´t For Keeping.(2:10)
4.Mary (Rmk-2).(2:20)
5.I´m In Tune.(4:50)
6.Going Mobile.(3:42)

Side B: (21:53) 

1.Too Much Of Anything.(3:04)
2.Time Is Passing.(3:29)
3.Won´t Get Fooled Again.(5:52)
4.The Song Is Over.(6:14)
5.Baba O´Riley.(3:12).

I want to explain some changes of this new work that I bring you, but begining by the end: 

The instrumental version of: "Baba O'Riley", edited to 3:12 minutes, because the full length version of 13:23 is a succession, rather monotonous, chaining the three main fragments of its structure, again and again at different scales, for which its synthesis is appreciated, because it can get boring a bit. 

"Won't get fooled again", intended to be, as happened after, a single, and the needed to make space on the B side, was edited from 8:33 to 5:52, but how “Lifehouse” was unpublished, This edit was ruled out and Glyn Jones make a new for the single being reduced even more to 3:40, Leaving the original in "Who's next" Lp.  

"Too much of anything", went from 4:24 to 3: 04, but It happened the same as with "Won't get fooled again", how "Lifehouse" was not published, This version was left out. The rest of the songs are basically the same mixes as in "Who's next"; some of them with the original titles. 

So, this version, it was closest to see the light in the summer of 1971 as "Lifehouse". It was a project that was never left, it was always there, with new ideas. Day to day...  

On booklet, you find the “labels” of the acetate´s copy that I have. I reproduced not only the order of the songs, the versions too, as it´s appear on this acetate, because the quality isn´t entirely good for me.

Except “Mary”, song that I re-worked, over the best version that I found of this Pete´s demo, so that it sounds more integrated in the final result of this reconstruction Bit.ly/71WlH and don´t look like what it really is, a demo or an unfinished song. 

... the single version:

Side A:  (22:05)
 
1.The Note.(5:20)
   (A.k.A: "Pure & Easy")
2.Behind Blue Eyes.(3:40)
3.Love Ain´t For Keeping.(2:10)
   (acustic version)
4.Mary (Rmk-2).(2:20)
  (Unreleased)
5.I´m In Tune.(4:50)
  (A.k.a: "Getting In Tune")
6.Going Mobile.(3:42)

Side B: (21:53)

1.Too Much Of Anything.(3:04)
    (Unreleased version)
2.Time Is Passing.(3:29)
3.Won´t Get Fooled Again.(5:52)
   (Unreleased single version)
4.The Song Is Over.(6:14)
5.Baba O´Riley.(3:12)
   (Unreleased Instrumental edit version).

The artwork, images taken in Manchester 1971, some selected as one more option  to be part of the album, as cover photo. 
Ok! That´s all.., and what´s next?
"Rock is dead, Long Live Rock!"..  The Who version,in a few weeks, before the end of June. 
Meanwhile, enjoy it.