Notwithstanding his devotion to the rock community at large, Pete Townshend has never hidden his disdain for the hippie movement. Yet he’s never made a more definitive (albeit implicit) statement on the matter than The Who Sell Out (released 12/15/67), the album the band released at the end of 1967, the year of the ‘Summer of Love’.
With over a half-century of hindsight now, it’s more clear than ever how the guitarist and chief composer for the Who relishes what he and his bandmates accomplished at that time. Pete’s devoted the energy and resources to not just one but two expanded reissues of this third Who album, each of which, in its own way, demonstrates that, while the ever-combustible group wasn’t having much truck with psychedelia as a lifestyle, the changing approach to rock arising from that cultural trend worked to their advantage.
Specifically, in the year the long-playing album began to take precedence over the 45-rpm single, the Who made a valiant effort to conceive and execute this LP as a cogent and cohesive piece of work. In retrospect, it matters little that the initial idea–to formulate a record that simulated commercial radio of the time–didn’t come to full fruition. There are still enough of the foursome’s satires of advertising jingles (“Rotosound Strings”) to cement the notion over the course of at least two-thirds of the album.
Meanwhile, the front and back covers of Sell Out indelibly reaffirm the premise. With lead vocalist Roger Daltrey sitting in a bathtub full of baked beans, even the most casual listener can then make the connection to “Odorono” and “Medac,” both of which represent Townshend honing his storytelling skills. But “Tattoo” is also firmly in a narrative songwriting tradition he established with “I’m A Boy” and “Happy Jack.”
At the same time, “Our Love Was” and “Sunrise” are personal expressions of emotion. Set to harmony-laden arrangements that sound like a template for ‘power pop,’ both sound decidedly understated compared to the absolutely explosive likes of “I Can See For Miles:” Townshend’s power-chording, in tandem with the fusillade of bass from the late John Entwistle’s plus Keith Moon’s drum cannonade remains as keen a definition as ever of the trademark elements of Who style.
That archetypal track is the high point of The Who Sell Out, its impact only further heightened by surroundings that link most but not all thirteen tracks. There is a nod to altered consciousness, “Armenia City In The Sky,” as well as a piece of self-analytic introspection titled “Relax,” between which are segues of both more and less humor (‘…Radio London reminds you: go to the church of your choice…’).
Much more important, however, is the final piece, “Rael 1&2.” A dramatic extension of a previous six-movement composition from 1966, “A Quick One, While He’s Away,” it is more significant by dint of its closing melodic motifs as a precursor to the rock opera Tommy. Twenty-seven bonus tracks on a 2009 double set plus the one-hundred-twelve total in the Super Deluxe Edition of 2021 not only ratify the deceptively humorous ingenuity of this effort overall but also strengthen the connection to the even more ambitious piece that followed, the now-famous tale of the deaf, dumb and blind boy.
And it’s more than just the climax. To actually hear “Glow Girl” (a/k/a/ “Glittering Girl”) is to comprehend how the band reiterates a readily-recognizable motif from early in the 1969 opera, sung there as “It’s A Boy.” As such, the final crescendos, familiar as they sound now as the “See Me, Feel Me” theme, provide continuity within the evolution of the Who and Townshend himself.
As such, Pete’s subsequent concept albums—the Lifehouse project (from which came 1971’s Who’s Next) plus the masterpiece that is Quadrophenia–represent logical extensions from this multi-faceted, prolific period. In recent years, the status of the Who has risen dramatically with more regular roadwork through which Daltrey, Townshend, and company foster further recognition of their past work, through considerable culls from those creative pinnacles.
In doing so, they are simultaneously solidifying long-term connections with their multi-demographic audience(s), bonds that recapitulate a mutual loyalty over the years. Up to a certain point in time, The Who Sell Out seemed little more than a curio in the foursome’s discography. At the fifty-five-year mark, however, it sounds ever more like a profound turning point in the group’s distinctive artistry, spearheaded by the sole bonafide genius of his generation.
One Response
As a chid of the ’60s, I became a HUGE Who fan after seeing them on the “Smother’s Brothers” TV show, blowing up the set during the finale of “My Generation”. The fact that Keith Moon more than doubled the explosive that was placed in his drum set, resulting in a smoke-filled stage, a stunned Tommy Smothers and a partially deaf Pete Townshend, added to my amazement of my new “fave” band. I ran downtown the next day and picked up the Who’s first 3 LP’s, spending all of my hard earned lawn-mowing money on these incredible discs that I soon found out were “mono” copies. Didn’t care though, and soon learned guitar chords and lyrics to all of my new favorite songs. I still have those LPs and have now added the new Super Deluxe copies. Long Live the WHO!