Popular Culture (Music) 20111007. The Who. Odds and Sods part II of II

(9 PM – promoted by TheMomCat)

We had a really good time with Part I last week!  I very much appreciated all of the comments and suggestions that folks sent.  Now we are ready for Part II, and it gets even better!

This week we shall look at the bonus tracks that were included on the 1998 remastered CD, some of them previously unavailable except as bootlegs.  Some of them are quite good, by the way.  Of course, there are several stories to go along with them so we had better get started.

Unless otherwise noted, all songs are written by Peter Townshend.

The first one is a song by Lamont Dozier and Brian and Eddie Holland, originally written in 1963 called “Leaving Here”.  The Who used to perform it live and you can see that this was during their R and B period.  Here is the studio version:

Here is a live version from The BBC Sessions, but alas no video:

The next song is also a Dozier, Holland, and Holland number called “Baby Don’t You do IT”, most famously performed by James Brown.  Here is the studio version:

Here is an audio only live version from Young Vic, which indicates to me that this song at least considered to be included in Lifehouse:

Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart wrote the third tune, “Summertime Blues” that we have previously considered when we studied Live at Leeds.  Here is the studio version:

Even though we have heard it before, here is the marvelous Live at Leeds version:

Here is a live TeeVee appearance by Cochran performing the song.  Generally I like original better than covers, but I must say that The Who did a much better job:

The forth song was written by two obscure British musicians, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, called “Under My Thumb”.  There is a story behind this one that is quite interesting.  The Rolling Stones had just gotten busted for Cannabis and The Who recorded this as the B side of a single (the A side was “This Could be the Last Time”, and we shall get it another time) to raise money for their defense.

If you detect that the bass is not quite up to Entwistle’s usual standards, you are correct.  It turns out that he was on his honeymoon when they recorded the two songs, and Townshend played bass on them.  Now, I have often said that Townshend was a better bass player than most bands could hope to get, and I stand by that statement.  However, Entwistle was amongst the top three of four bass players ever.  Here is the studio version:

Here is a better mix of the same take, from the original vinyl.  It sounds more complete to me, and the bass is clearer:

The fifth song is an alternate version of “Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand”, which originally was featured on The Who Sell Out:

Here is the version from The Who Sell Out, which I like better:

However, my favorite version is from the US release of the single “I Can See for Miles” for which it was the B side (but I am a sucker for Hammond organ):

Please note that I have conflicting information about which version was actually the B side of “I Can See for Miles”, but they are all wonderful.  As a matter of fact, from a purely pop standpoint it may have been one of their best.

The sixth bonus track is another Cochran and Capehart song, “My Way”, not to be confused with “See My Way” from the A Quick One album.

Here is the version from the album:

Here is an excellent live version from 1968:

Here is the original Eddie Cochran version:

Mose Alison wrote the seventh bonus track with his “Young Man Blues”.  We discussed it as well during our treatment of Live at Leeds.  Here is the Odds and Sods version:

I like the Live at Leeds version so well that I repeat it here:

The eighth bonus track is usually attributed to Entwistle, but it actually seems to be the case that Townshend wrote it.  Called “Cousin Kevin, Model Child”, it was originally meant for Tommy and never made it.  That is a shame, because it is one of the longer songs in which Moon sings most of the material.  Only at the very end do Daltrey and Townshend join in the singing.  This is the only version that I could find:

“Love Ain’t for Keeping” is the ninth bonus track and is noteworthy in that Leslie West, from Mountain, is playing with the band.  Townshend sings, unlike the Who’s Next version with Daltrey singing.  It sounds sort of like Townshend’s demo, but there is no mistake that Entwistle is playing bass.

Here is the Who’s Next version:

Here is Townshend’s demo:

The tenth bonus track is “Time is Passing”, a Lifehouse song and obviously heavily imbued with Townshend’s fascination of Meyer Baba.  Daltrey sings.

I think that I like Townshend’s demo better, at the singing part.  To me his voice fits the song better than Daltrey:

For those of you not that familiar with vinyl, note the album cover in the video. It has two “cut” marks in it, one the left corner being clipped and another, on the right, with a small hole punched through the cover.  This means that the record has been sent back from the retail store to the distributor or manufacturer because it did not sell.  Records like that were then redistributed to stores for sale at deep discounts.  I have several cut albums, amongst them Magic Bus: The Who on Tour, that I got for a dollar.

“WE Close Tonight” is the eleventh bonus track.  It is sung by both Townshend and Moon, the second example on this album with a significant amount of singing by Moon.  This is the only version that I could find:

The twelfth and final bonus track on the record is “Water”, likely a Lifehouse song since we will also hear a Young Vic live recording.  Here is the studio version:

Here is the Young Vic version:

I finally found a real video!  Here is “Water” live from the marvelous Tanglewood concert:

Since we were a little thin on videos, here is the Live at the Isle of Wight version:

Whew!  There were more bonus tracks on the 1998 version than there were total tracks on the 1974 one!  Some of this material is really good and some quite obscure.  I apologize for not having a lot of live video, but because of the obscurity of much of the material there just were not tons to find.  If you happen on to live video for songs where I did provide any, please add it to the comments.

Likewise, if I got anything wrong (likely in a long piece), please correct it in the comments.  Next week we shall look at a different aspect of Popular Culture, and return to The Who in a couple of weeks so that we do not get in a rut.

Warmest regards,

Doc, aka Dr. David W. Smith

Crossposted at The Stars Hollow Gazette,

Docudharma, and

firefly-dreaming