The Yardbirds - "Solo Flights"

 

Happy New Year!

In 1966, the Yardbirds' management encouraged band members to bring attention to the group through success in solo projects. The first to do so was singer Keith Relf, who issued two singles, although the highest they appeared on the charts was #50. 

Guitarist Jeff Beck also recorded a track, although it was nearly a year before it was issued, and by that time he was out of the group.

Jimmy Page joined the Yardbirds in June 1966. Although he didn't release a solo single as a member of the Yardbirds, Page had issued a single the previous year. 

I can find no solo recordings by other members of the group. If there were plans for recordings by Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty or even soon-to-depart Paul Samwell-Smith, they may have been canceled after Relf's dismal showing on the charts. I mean, if the lead singer can't get a hit song, how do you expect any of the other members to do so?

I wondered if I took the solo material by Relf, Beck and Page, along with an added soundtrack cut by the band from '66, we could compile a new "Yardbirds" album.

SIDE A

1. Stroll On (The Yardbirds)

2. Knowing (Keith Relf)

3. She Just Satisfies (Jimmy Page)

4. Mr. Zero (Keith Relf)

SIDE B

1. Beck's Bolero (Jeff Beck)

2. Shapes in My Mind (Keith Relf)

3. Keep Movin' (Jimmy Page) 

4. Blue Sands (credited to Keith Relf)

We start the album with "Stroll On," a song the Yardbirds recorded for the film "Blow Out," in which they appear performing the song. Although the writing of the song is credited to the Yardbirds, it's actually a re-write of "Train Kept A-Rollin'," which the band had recorded the previous year.

The next track is "Knowing," one of four songs from Relf's two solo singles. This is followed by Page's "She Just Satisfies" and Relf's "Mr. Zero" which closes the album's first side.

Side B opens with "Beck's Bolero," which is based on Maurice Ravel's "Bolero." Also featured on the song are Page, Keith Moon, John Paul Jones and Nicky Hopkins. Beck would later say that two or three other songs were recorded at the same session. Sadly, they've apparently been lost, erased or misfiled.

This is followed by tracks by Relf and Page. The last track, "Blue Sands," is an instrumental that first appeared on the B-side of Relf's second single. Although credited to Relf, apparently he doesn't appear on the song at all. It was, in fact, recorded by a British group called The Outsiders. I included it only because it had been credited to Relf, so theoretically, it would have been included in an album if one had been issued at the time.

This compilation results in a very short album, actually more likely an EP. But it is a nice way to package up some loose ends of Yardbirds-related songs. If you want to expand it a bit, there are a couple of tracks by The All-Stars featuring Jeff Beck (that also include Page) that were recorded in 1965.

Three of the Relf tracks can be found on the album All the Falling Angels - Solo Recordings & Collaborations 1965-1976. As far as I've been able to find, the song "Blue Sands" appears to only be available on the original single. "Beck's Bolero" is available on Beck's Truth album. The two Page tracks can be found on the album Session Man: Vol. 1.

For the cover, I chose a stock image of five biplanes, added the band and record company logos, and added the title.

The Who -- "Who's for Tennis?"

Between the release of The Who Sell Out in December 1967 and the release of Tommy in March 1969 were 17 long months. The Who's management and record company wanted something to fill the gap. Although three singles were released during this time, there were also a couple of ideas thrown around about releasing a live album or a compilation album of various tracks that hadn’t made it onto albums yet. A working title for this compilation was Who’s for Tennis? Eventually, two best-of compilations were released: Direct Hits in Britain and the oddly named Magic Bus: The Who on Tour in the U.S.

For this exercise, I put together a Who’s for Tennis? compilation using what few songs we still have that we didn’t include on our previous re-imagined Who albums. The result was a tidy, 10-track album.

SIDE A

1. Glow Girl

2. Fortune Teller

3. Dogs

4. Call Me Lightning

5. Melancholia

SIDE B

1. Faith is Something Bigger

2. Little Billy

3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

4. Shakin' All Over

5. Magic Bus

"Glow Girl" was originally envisioned as an A-side of a single, and later to be the lead-off track to Who's for Tennis? Then it was considered for Tommy. Eventually, it ended up on 1974's Odds and Sods. While I'm not sure it's really worthy of being a single, it's a nice way to start Who's for Tennis? "Fortune Teller" was considered for an EP that was never released. "Dogs" was released as a single in June 1968, and didn't do very well. A song about domestic bliss probably wasn't something most Who fans were clamoring for in 1968. "Call Me Lightning" was the B-side to "Dogs." "Melancholia" is also a song originally planned for Who's for Tennis? but it didn't get released until the 1995 version of The Who Sell Out as a bonus track.

Side B begins with "Faith is Something Bigger," an attempt by Pete for The Who to preach to the fans. "Little Billy" is an anti-smoking song supposedly written for the American Cancer Society and considered as a possible single. But it too ended up in the vault until Odds and Sods. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is a John Entwistle tune written about Keith Moon and his alcohol-fueled mood swings. It was released as the B-Side to "Magic Bus." "Shakin' All Over" is a cover song originally recorded by Johnny Kidd and The Pirates, a rival band of The Who in the early days. The album concludes with the biggest hit here, "Magic Bus."

All these songs are easy to find on various Who compilations. The album cover comes from the great I Design Album Covers website: https://idesignalbumcovers.tumblr.com/

So if you're keeping track, we have the following for a revised 1960s discography for The Who:

• Introducing The Who - http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-who-introducing-who.html (soniclovenoize)
• My Generation - https://albumsbackfromthedead.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-who-my-generation.html 
• Jigsaw - http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-who-jigsaw-puzzle.html (soniclovenoize)
• Happy Jack - https://albumsbackfromthedead.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-who-happy-jack.html
• The Who Sell Out - https://albumsbackfromthedead.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-who-who-sell-out-double-album.html
• Who's for Tennis - This page, obviously.

To close out the '60s, you can also include my single disc version of Tommy if you'd like: https://albumsbackfromthedead.blogspot.com/2018/12/double-albums-made-single.html

The Who - "Happy Jack"

This is a follow-up to my previous blog entry about a revised version of The Who's My Generation album. Soniclovenoize recreated Jigsaw Puzzle (see http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-who-jigsaw-puzzle.html) a few years ago, an album that had been planned but eventually scrapped in favor of A Quick One.

Continuing in the vein of assuming Introducing the Who, my revised version of My Generation, as well as Jigsaw Puzzle, were released, here I give you a brand new disc: Happy Jack -- but a very different version from the Happy Jack album that was released in the U.S.

SIDE A
1. Disguises
2. Doctor, Doctor
3. Bucket T
4. My Generation/Land of Hope and Glory
5. (Love is Like a) Heat Wave
6. Happy Jack

SIDE B
1. So Sad About Us
2. Batman
3. I've Been Away
4. A Quick One, While He's Away

The release of The Who's A Quick One album was confusing. It started out as an album to be called Jigsaw Puzzle. In the U.S., the tracklist was reshuffled and released as Happy Jack due to the title track becoming a hit on the American singles charts.

Only three tracks from the original Happy Jack are included here: "Heat Wave," "Happy Jack" and "A Quick One...." It should be noted that although "Heat Wave" appears on soniclovenoize's Introducing The Who, this is a different version. It kind of goes along with the different version of "My Generation" that appears here and segues into "Land of Hope and Glory." "Happy Jack" was the only track on this version that was released as a single so I kept the album name.

This is a fairly short album, but so many albums in the 1960s were short that I don't think that's a problem. And if you're going to have the other three revised versions of Who albums, all these tracks become strays.

"Disguises," "Bucket T" and "Batman" were originally released on the EP Ready Steady Who in 1966, and both "Disguises" and "Bucket T" as well as "Doctor, Doctor" were on the 1968 LP Magic Bus: The Who on Tour. "So Sad About Us" and "A Quick One, While He's Away" were released on A Quick One in 1966 and Happy Jack in 1967. 

"Heat Wave" was also released on A Quick One. "My Generation/Land of Hope and Glory" was originally intended for the Ready Steady Who EP, but was not released until the 1995 remastered version of A Quick One. "Happy Jack" appeared, of course, on Happy Jack. And although "I've Been Away" was released as the B-side to "Happy Jack," I don't think it appeared on an album until the 1995 remastered version of A Quick One.

For cover art, I used the terrific single cover artwork for "Happy Jack" created by Ralph Steadman (probably best known for his association with Hunter S. Thompson).

The Who -- "My Generation"

This is the first in a series of three Who albums.

Over at soniclovenoize's "Albums That Never Were" blog site, he created what could have been The Who's debut album, Introducing The Who (http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-who-introducing-who.html).

For this blog entry, I tackled a revised version of the album My Generation, assuming that soniclovenoize's Introducing The Who had been released.

SIDE A

1. Substitute

2. Bald Headed Woman

3. The Good's Gone (full version)

4. La La La Lies

5. Much Too Much

6. My Generation

SIDE B

1. The Kids are Alright

2. Instant Party Mixture

3. It's Not True

4. The Ox

5. Legal Matter

6. Circles (Instant Party)

Two versions of My Generation were officially released, one in Britain and another in the U.S. (the American version is titled The Who Sings My Generation). Four of the songs from those versions were used on soniclovenoize's Introducing The Who, which required me to find replacements. 

Of those replacements, I kick off this version of My Generation with "Substitute," a classic Who song that the band has performed in nearly all of their concerts since it debuted. This is followed by "Bald Headed Woman," a blues song that was featured as the B-side of the "I Can't Explain" single. Then, I used the full-length version of "The Good's Gone." The rest of Side A is the same as the released versions of the album.

Side B begins the same as the released version with "The Kids are Alright." But then the second track is "Instant Party Mixture," which is a bit of filler originally intended as a B-side of a single. The rest of Side B is the same as the U.S. version of the album.

"Substitute" was originally a non-album single and I don't think it appeared on an album until Direct Hits was released in 1968. It can now be found on numerous compilations. "Bald Headed Woman," "The Good's Gone" and "Instant Party Mixture" can all be found on the 2014 deluxe version of My Generation.

I used the same cover as the British version of the album.

The Who -- "The Who Sell Out" double album version

Some people consider The Who’s The Who Sell Out to be the best concept album of the 1960s, better even than Tommy. Released just five months after The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, this album took The Who to a whole new level of creativity. The concept of The Who Sell Out is that of a pirate radio station, and the band recorded not only faux commercial jingles but also tried to record songs that didn’t sound like The Who. This was an attempt to make the album sound like you were listening to a radio station.

But The Who Sell Out might have been either a watershed moment in rock history or a complete financial disaster had it been released as a double album. In fact, the band recorded enough songs and jingles for an extra disc. Whether that had been the original plan, or if the band just didn’t know when to stop, I’m not sure.

In creating this re-imagined album, I took the same tack as I did with the expansion of Led Zeppelin III into a double album a few months ago. That is, I left the first two sides as is (except for inserting “Bag O’Nails” and “Rael 2 / Top Gear” on Side B), and simply created the third and fourth sides. Some may consider this lazy. And those some people may be right. However for my version, I add the commercial jingle titles as well, so there’s a bonus for you. Included are some actual commercials and PSAs recorded by band members.

SIDE A - 20:51

1. Armenia, City in the Sky / Radio London                                                
2. Heinz Baked Beans / More Music                                             
3. Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand / Premier Drums            
4. Odorono / Wonderful Radio London                                       
5. Tattoo / Church of Your Choice                                                 
6. Our Love Was / Rotosound Strings                                           
7. I Can See for Miles / Charles Atlas                                            

 SIDE B - 20:15

1. I Can’t Reach You                                                                            
2. Medac                                                                                                 
3. Relax / Rotosound Strings                                                            
4. Silas Stingy                                                                                          
5. Bag O’Nails                                                                                         
6. Sunrise                                                                                                 
7. Rael [full version]                                                                                                   
8. Top Gear                                                                            

SIDE C - 20:21

1. Glittering Girl / Coke After Coke                                                                
2. Someone’s Coming / John Mason                                            
3. Girl’s Eyes / Odorono                                                                     
4. Early Morning Cold Taxi / Things Go Better with Coke      
5. Jaguar / John Mason Cars                                                             
6. Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand (U.S. Mirasound version)              

SIDE D - 21:01

1. Smooth Sailing                                                                                
2. Summertime Blues                                                                        
3. Great Shakes!                                                                                   
4. Doctor Doctor                                                                                    
5. Hall of the Mountain King / Radio One                                    
6. Sodding About                                                                                 
7. Pictures of Lily                                                                                   
8. Air Force PSA                                                                                     
9. My Way                                                                                               
10. Track Records                                                                                    

Can you imagine what the impact might have been if this double album of wackiness had been released? The version that was released was crazy enough, but this would have been lunacy.

I tried to keep each side approximately the same length, which is why the addition of two tracks on Side B (it was actually too short to begin with!) And that's the studio version of "Summertime Blues" on Side D, by the way. The cover, of course, remains the same. Most of these tracks can be found on the deluxe edition of The Who Sell Out, while others are available on the band’s Thirty Years of Maximum R&B box set as well as other releases.

The Who's "Lifehouse" - Double Album Version

Back in January, I wrote about my idea of a triple album version of The Who's Lifehouse. By most accounts, Lifehouse was originally supposed to be a double album before it was scaled down to the single disc Who's Next in 1971. So this time around I've compiled a double album version that's significantly different, and not just because it's shorter.

The track list for Lifehouse is hotly debated by a lot of Who fans. Pete Townshend continued working on his Lifehouse concept long after Who's Next was completed. Later songs supposedly connected to the idea ended up on 1975's Who by Numbers and 1978's Who Are You. And Townshend has given conflicting information over the years regarding what tracks were originally part of the concept.

To come up with a track list for a double album version, I decided to look at the order the band performed the songs in concert in 1971. The Who had of course played Tommy songs in order on previous tours, so this made sense to me. Specifically, I used the setlist from the opening dates of the band's 1971 U.S. tour:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-who/1971/the-spectrum-philadelphia-pa-2bdf008e.html

This isn't a perfect solution as the set list mixed in some older songs, and some Lifehouse/Who's Next songs weren't performed at all. However, I felt the set list gave me a good outline to which I added other tracks to complete a track list for the album. The result is actually quite different from a lot of other attempts I've seen (including my own triple album version), but I think it works pretty well.

SIDE A
1. Baba O'Riley
2. Love Ain't for Keeping [electric version with Pete on lead vocals]
3. Pure and Easy [alternate version]
4. Time is Passing
5. Young Man Blues

SIDE B
1. Going Mobile
2. Behind Blue Eyes [alternate version]
3. I Don't Even Know Myself
4. Too Much of Anything
5. Getting in Tune [alternate version]

SIDE C
1. Bargain
2. Baby, Don't You Do It [alternate version featuring Leslie West on guitar]
3. Water
4. Naked Eye

SIDE D
1. Let's See Action
2. Won't Get Fooled Again [original New York sessions version]
3. The Song is Over

One thing of note is that this version only includes songs recorded by The Who. Most Lifehouse recreations include at least a couple of Townsend demos, specifically "Mary" and "Greyhound Girl," and sometimes "Teenage Wasteland." Not here -- this is all Who.

Also, since I've already presented most of these songs on the triple album version, a new double album version gives us an opportunity to use other versions of songs available on the 2003 Deluxe Edition of Who's Next -- see bracketed [ ] comments.

I should note that there are two versions of "Baby, Don't You Do It" featuring Leslie West on guitar. On the 1995 reissue of Who's Next, there's an edited 5:13 version. That better suits the time restrictions of a vinyl album. But if you're of the mind to say, "To hell with time restrictions," by all means use the full 8:21 version from the Deluxe Edition.

I like how the first three sides each kick off with a strong Who's Next track. The final side mirrors the last side of my triple-album version as I think these three songs perfectly end the album.

The cover is simply the original cover art of Who's Next, minus the title.

Here is a YouTube playlist of the album. Enjoy!

The Who's "Lifehouse" - Triple Album Version

The Who's Lifehouse is considered one of the great "lost albums" along with The Beach Boys' SMiLE. A ton of ink has been dedicated to it, including blogs, websites, chapters of books, etc. I won't go into the story concept of the Lifehouse rock opera—it's all rather convoluted if you ask me.

The general consensus is that Lifehouse was originally supposed to be a double album that was eventually whittled down to a single, Who's Next. The debate over what songs were cut has gone on for years, and Pete Townsend hasn't helped much as he's contradicted himself in several interviews.

I myself have constructed a double album version that I like. But one day I was considering what to do with the many leftovers that were still lying about and it dawned on me: What if the group decided, Fuck it! Let's put everything we've recorded on the album. "Tommy" was a double album. How do you top that? Put out a triple album! It was the '70s, a decade of excess, self-indulgence and overblown productions. Besides, if George Harrison could release a triple album the previous year, and both The Clash and Frank Sinatra could release one in 1980, why couldn't The Who in 1971?

SIDE A
1. Baba O'Riley
2. When I was a Boy
3. Now I'm a Farmer
4. Goin' Mobile
5. Time is Passing

SIDE B
1. Love Ain't for Keeping
2. My Wife
3. Water
4. Bargain
5. Greyhound Girl

SIDE C
1. Baba M1
2. Teenage Wasteland
3. Too Much of Anything
4. Young Man Blues

SIDE D
1. Mary
2. Baby Don't You Do It
3. Behind Blue Eyes
4. I Don't Even Know Myself

SIDE E
1. Baba M2
2. Pure and Easy
3. Naked Eye
4. Getting in Tune

SIDE F
1. Let's See Action
2. Won't Get Fooled Again
3. The Song is Over

Sides A, C and E each begin with the synthesizer pieces that originally all made up a 30-minute version of "Baba O'Riley." I think beginning every other side with this unifies the album. Likewise, "Teenage Wasteland" reprises "Baba O'Riley," and of course, "The Song is Over" reprises "Pure and Easy." These selections weave this album together, and they kind of go along with "The Grid" idea of the Lifehouse storyline.

Can you imagine the impact of this magnum opus on the rock music scene if it had been released in 1971? Would it be hailed as a masterwork, or derided as too much of a good thing?

Most of these tracks are available on the expanded version of Who's Next. Other tracks can be had on Townsend's Lifehouse Chronicles box set. The Who's expanded Odds and Sods compilation is another source.

The album cover is from www.idesignalbumcovers.com -- a great website to wander through.