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.
Which version of Pure and Easy would you recc?
ReplyDeleteYou mean Record Plant vs. Stargroves? I like both versions. But I prefer the Record Plant version a bit more.
DeleteI've put this together for myself and will be listening to it before I go to sleep tonight. I had to do a minor bit of editing on both Baba M1 & M2 as the ones I've got just sort of come to a very abrupt end where it feels like there should be a lot more to the song (of course if it got edited done from 30 minutes... then there should be).
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to giving it a good listen, it looks like it should hold together pretty well in the order you suggest. Thanks for the idea & the cover.
Hi. Interested in your thoughts. Let us know. Thanks
Deletehey would you lend your mix of lifehouse
DeletePiecing this together now. Would love for future posts to include which album or bootleg each track is sourced from.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
The Who releasing a triple album to try and beat Tommy; I can almost see it happening! Some would probably beg to differ, but still. Here's a few questions I've been wondering:
ReplyDelete1. What if Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello released a duet album together around 1989? (Containing their collaborations from Flowers in the Dirt, Spike, Off the Ground, Mighty Like a Rose, Shallow Grave, as well as the B-side "Back on My Feet" and outtakes like "Tommy's Coming Home".)
2. What if Queen's The Works had been a double album? I mean, Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor wrote more than enough material that could probably be a double album instead of a single.
3. How would the Rolling Stones' albums have looked if they was more organized by recording sessions? (A bit like your reconstruction of Chuck Berry's 1956-1959 discography.)
Those are just a few ideas from the top of my head. I'm also working on a timeline of my own where Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band actually included the "Strawberry Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane" single and how it impacted the music world.
Thanks for the ideas. I've actually been tinkering with the Costello/McCartney album. Maybe sometime in the near future. And I do have one Stones album coming up soon.
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