Hot Trax '71: George Harrison, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, Derek and the Dominos
New songs on the charts 50 years ago this week. Listen to the Hot Trax '71 playlist on Spotify.
"The Who Sell Out" Super Deluxe anniversary edition box set out April 23
So cool: One of my favorite Who LPs with lots of extras.
From the news release:
Initially released in December 1967 and described latterly by Rolling Stone as ‘The Who’s finest album’ The Who Sell Out reflected a remarkable year in popular culture. As well as being forever immortalised as the moment when the counterculture and the ‘Love Generation’ became a global phenomenon and ‘pop’ began metamorphosing into ‘rock’.
Order The Who Sell out HERE
The new Super Deluxe Edition features 112 tracks, 46 of which are unreleased, an 80-page, hard-back full-colour book, including rare period photos, memorabilia, track by track annotation and new sleeve notes by Pete Townshend with comments from the likes of Pete Drummond (Radio Caroline DJ), Richard Evans (designer) & Roy Flynn (the Speakeasy Club manager).
The Super Deluxe package also includes nine posters & inserts.
As a taster for the set an EP of Pete Townshend’s previously unreleased demos has today been released on all streaming services including ‘Pictures Of Lily’ (New remix, previously unreleased)’ Kids! Do You Want Kids?’ (AKA Do You Want Kids, Kids?) (Previously unreleased) & ‘Odorono’ (Previously unreleased).
Listen to Pete Townshend's Demo "Pictures of Lily" HERE
The Who Sell Out was originally planned by Pete Townshend and the band’s managers Kit Lambert & Chris Stamp, as a loose concept album including jingles and commercials linking the songs stylised as a pirate radio broadcast. This concept was born out of necessity as their label and management wanted a new album and Townshend felt that he didn’t have enough songs.
The ground-breaking original plan for Sell Out was to sell advertising space on the album but instead the band opted for writing their own jingles paying tribute to pirate radio stations and to parody an increasingly consumerist society.
The homage to pop-art is evident in both the advertising jingles and the iconic sleeve design created by David King who was the art director at the Sunday Times, and Roger Law who invented the Spitting Image TV show. The sleeve features four advertising images, taken by the renowned photographer David Montgomery, of each band member Odorono deodorant (Pete Townshend), Medac spot cream (Keith Moon), Charles Atlas (John Entwistle) and Roger Daltrey & Heinz baked beans. The story goes that Roger Daltrey caught pneumonia from sitting in the cold beans for too long.
The Who Sell Out is a bold depiction of the period in which it was made, the tail-end of the ‘swinging-60s’ meets pop-art mixed with psychedelia and straight-ahead pop. It’s a glorious blend of classic powerful Who instrumentation, melodic harmonies, satirical lyrical imagery crystallised for what was only the group’s third album. The album’s ambition and scope is unrivalled by the Who, or any other act from that period.
Within the bold concept, were a batch of fabulous and diverse songs. I Can See for Miles, a top ten hit at the time, is a Who classic. Rael, a Townshend ‘mini-opera’ with musical motifs that reappeared in Tommy and the psychedelic blast of Armenia City In The Sky and Relax are among the very best material Townshend or anyone else wrote during the 1960s.
One of the most extraordinary albums of any era, The Who Sell Out is The Who’s last ‘pop’ album. Two years later came ‘Tommy’ – a double concept album about a deaf, dumb and blind kid.
THE WHO SELL OUT SUPER DELUXE EDITION
- Disc 1 - Original mono mix, mono As & Bs and unreleased mono mixes
- Disc 2 - Original stereo mix and stereo bonus tracks
- Disc 3 - Studio out-takes, ‘fly-on-the-wall’ versions of early takes of songs from the album sessions, ‘studio chat’ etc.
- Disc 4 - ‘The Road to Tommy’ will contain stereo mixes of the studio tracks recorded in 1968 - some previously unreleased - plus 1968 As and Bs mono mixes (all tracks remixed from original 4 and 8-track session tapes in The Who vault)
- Disc 5 - 14 of Pete Townshend’s original demos, previously unreleased & exclusive to this set
BONUS 7” DISCS:
- Track UK 45 repro I Can See for Miles (early mono mix with single-tracked vocal) & Someone’s Coming (original UK Track single mix with single-tracked vocal)
- Decca USA 45 repro Magic Bus (US/UK mono) & Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde (original US Decca single mix)
80-page, hard-back full-colour book, including rare period photos, memorabilia & track annotation and new liner notes by Pete Townshend with comments from from Pete Drummond (Radio Caroline DJ), Chris Huston (Talentmasters Studio), Richard Evans (designer), Roy Flynn (Speakeasy Club manager), Arnold Schwartzman (designer) & Andy Neill (Who biographer)
MEMORABILIA:
Nine posters & inserts, including replicas of;
- 20” x 30” original Adrian George poster
- Gig poster - City Hall, Newcastle: The Who, Traffic & The Tremeloes
- Saville Theatre 8-page programme.
- Business card for the Bag o’ Nails club, Kingly Street.
- Fan Club photo of group.
- Flyer for Bath Pavilion concerts including The Who.
- Crack-back bumper sticker for Wonderful Radio London.
- Keith Moon’s Speakeasy Club membership card
- Who Fan Club newsletter.
OTHER THE WHO SELL OUT FORMATS;
- 2 LP deluxe (stereo) vinyl version, featuring the original album and extras highlights from box set.
- D2C 2-LP deluxe (mono) vinyl version featuring the original album and extras highlights from box set pressed on coloured vinyl; disc 1 ‘Odorono’ red / disc 2 ‘Baked Bean’ orange.
- 2-CD edition 6-panel digi-pak with a 16-page booklet.
- Also available in a variety of Digital formats
THE WHO SELL OUT TRACK LISTINGS
SUPER DELUXE BOX SET
CD ONE: THE WHO SELL OUT - MONO ALBUM
- Armenia City in The Sky
- Heinz Baked Beans
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
- Odorono
- Tattoo
- Our Love Was
- I Can See for Miles
- I Can’t Reach You
- Medac
- Relax
- Silas Stingy
- Sunrise
- Rael / Track Records run-off groove
- Pictures of Lily
- Doctor, Doctor
- The Last Time
- Under My Thumb
- I Can See for Miles
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
- Someone’s Coming
- Unused Radio London ad / Early Morning…
- Unused Radio London bulletin link /Jaguar
- Unused Radio London ad /Tattoo
- Rael
- Sunn Amps promo spots
- Great Shakes ad
CD TWO: THE WHO SELL OUT - STEREO ALBUM
- Armenia City in The Sky
- Heinz Baked Beans
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
- Odorono
- Tattoo
- Our Love Was
- I Can See for Miles
- I Can’t Reach You
- Medac
- Relax
- Silas Stingy
- Sunrise
- Rael
- Rael Naïve (complete with organ coda ending)
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand (US single version)
- Someone’s Coming
- Summertime Blues
- Glittering Girl
- Early Morning Cold Taxi
- Girl’s Eyes
- Coke After Coke
- Sodding About
- Things Go Better with Coke
- Hall of The Mountain King
- Jaguar
- Rael (remake; IBC version) / Track Records outro
CD THREE: STUDIO SESSIONS 1967 / 68
- Glittering Girl
- Girl's Eye
- The Last Time (Take 8)
- Under My Thumb (Take 3)
- Our Love Was (Take 2)
- Relax (4-track to 4-track mix with Pete vocal)
- Relax (Takes 1 and 2)
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand (Takes 1 & 9)
- Relax (Remake Take 4)
- I Can See for Miles (full version)
- Medac (Take 11)
- Odorono (Take 3) (2018 remix)
- Heinz Baked Beans (Takes 1 & 3) (2018 remix)
- Top Gear (Takes 1 & 2) (2018 remix)
- Premier Drums (Takes 1 & 3) (2018 remix)
- Charles Atlas (Take 1)
- Rotosound Strings (Take 1) (2018 remix)
- Track Records (2018 remix)
- John Mason Cars (Takes 1 - 3) / Speakeasy / Rotosound Strings / Bag O’ Nails (2018 remixes)
- It’s A Girl (aka ‘Glow Girl’) (Takes 1 & 3)
- Mr Hyde (1st stage mix Take 1)
- Little Billy (Takes 1 & 3)
- Mrs Walker (aka ‘Glow Girl’) (4-track to 4-track mix, take 7)
- Call Me Lightning (Take 1 backing track, stereo mix & jam)
- Dogs (Take 3)
- Melancholia (Take 1)
- Shakin’ All Over (Take 3)
- Magic Bus (Take 6)
*Most tracks on CD 3 include studio chat, all tracks previously unreleased in this form.
CD FOUR: THE 1968 RECORDINGS (‘THE ROAD TO TOMMY’)
- Glow Girl
- Faith in Something Bigger
- Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde
- Call Me Lightning
- Little Billy’s Doing Fine
- Dogs
- Melancholia
- Fortune Teller
- Facts Of Life (aka ‘Birds And Bees’, backing track)
- Magic Bus (single version)
- Call Me Lightning (US/UK mono single mix)
- Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde (UK mono single mix)
- Dogs (UK mono single mix)
- Magic Bus (mono, longer version)
*Track 9 previously unreleased
CD FIVE: PETE TOWNSHEND ORIGINAL DEMOS
- Kids? Do You Want Kids
- Relax
- Glow Girl
- Glow Girl (Version 2)
- Inside Outside USA
- Jaguar
- Little Billy
- Odorono
- Pictures of Lily
- Relax (Version 2)
- Melancholia (2018 remix)
- Thinking of You All the While (‘Sunrise’ Version 2)
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hands
- I Can See for Miles
BONUS 7” DISCS:
Track UK 45:
- I Can See for Miles
- Someone's Coming
Decca USA 45:
- Magic Bus
- Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde
THE WHO SELL OUT TWO-CD EDITION
CD ONE THE WHO SELL OUT - MONO ALBUM and bonus tracks:
- Armenia City in The Sky
- Heinz Baked Beans
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
- Odorono
- Tattoo
- Our Love Was
- I Can See for Miles
- I Can’t Reach You
- Medac
- Relax
- Silas Stingy
- Sunrise
- Rael (+ Track Records run-off groove)
- Pictures of Lily
- Doctor, Doctor
- The Last Time
- Under My Thumb
- I Can See for Miles
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
- Someone’s Coming
- Unused Radio London ad / Early Morning Cold Taxi
- Unused Radio London bulletin link /Jaguar
- 23. Unused Radio London ad /Tattoo
- Rael
- Sunn Amps promo spots
- Great Shakes ad
*Tracks 21, 24 & 25 previously unreleased
CD TWO THE WHO SELL OUT - STEREO ALBUM and bonus tracks
- Armenia City in The Sky
- Heinz Baked Beans
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
- Odorono
- Tattoo
- Our Love Was
- I Can See for Miles
- I Can’t Reach You
- Medac
- Relax
- Silas Stingy
- Sunrise
- Rael
- Rael Naïve
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
- Someone’s Coming
- Summertime Blues
- Glittering Girl
- Early Morning Cold Taxi
- Girl’s Eyes
- Coke After Coke
- Sodding About
- Things Go Better with Coke
- Hall of The Mountain King
- Jaguar
- Rael (remake; IBC version)
2-LP STEREO VINYL EDITION
DISC ONE (ORIGINAL LP - STEREO)
DISC TWO (BONUS TRACKS - STEREO)
Side 1
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand (US single version)
- Someone’s Coming
- Summertime Blues
- Glittering Girl
- Early Morning Cold Taxi
- Girl’s Eyes
Side 2
- Coke After Coke
- Sodding About
- Things Go Better with Coke
- Hall of The Mountain King
- Jaguar
- Rael (remake; IBC version)
2-LP MONO VINYL EDITION D2C EXCLUSIVE
DISC 1 ‘ODORONO’ RED / DISC 2 ‘BAKED BEAN’ ORANGE
DISC ONE - ORIGINAL LP - MONO
DISC TWO - MONO BONUS TRACKS:
Side 1
- Pictures of Lily
- Doctor, Doctor
- The Last Time
- Under My Thumb
- I Can See for Miles (
- Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
- Someone’s Coming
Side 2
- Unused Radio London ad / Early Morning Cold Taxi
- Unused Radio London bulletin link /Jaguar
- Unused Radio London ad /Tattoo
- Rael
- Sunn promo spots
- Great Shakes ad
Watch: Beach Boys members and friends sing new version of "Add Some Music to Your Day" for Feeding America
Beach Boys Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnson and David Marks, along with many family members and friends have recorded a new version of the band's song "Add Some Music to Your Day" to benefit the Feeding America hunger charity.
The tune is featured on a new album titled California Music Presents Add Some Music, which is out from from Omnivore Recordings on April 23. The LP also will include an unreleased
According to Rolling Stone:
The album is the brainchild of David Beard, the editor and publisher of the long-running Beach Boys fanzine Endless Summer Quarterly. He brought the various factions of the Beach Boys, minus Brian Wilson, back together for the new version of “Add Some Music to Your Day,” which also includes contributions from Brian Wilson’s daughters Wendy and Carnie Wilson; Al Jardine’s son Matt Jardine; and Mike Love’s children Christian, Hayleigh, and Ambha Love. It was produced by Rob Bonfiglio, who is married to Carnie Wilson and plays guitar in Brian Wilson’s touring band. A portion of the profits will benefit Feeding America.
...The album is rounded out by a previously unreleased version of the 1968 Beach Boys song “Friends,” created by the band members’ kids, and various solo tracks by members of the group and their associates, including Mike Love’s “Ram Raj,” Al Jardine’s “Jenny Clover,” David Marks’ “Long Promised Road,” Bruce Johnson’s “She Believes in Love Again,” and Rob Bonfiglio’s “Golden State.”
New music out today: Bob Dylan; Willie Nelson; Neil Young; PJ Harvey; Jackie DeShannon and more
Click the link to order items from Amazon.
Former Marvel editor/writer Roy Thomas reacts to new Stan Lee bio
I have a lot of respect for Roy Thomas and am a longtime fan of comic book writing and his magazine, Alter-Ego. I also recognize that he's very much a Stan Lee partisan in the arguments over whether Stan or Jack Kirby should get the most credit for creating the Marvel Universe. So, I'm not surprised to see him penning this piece in the Hollywood Reporter giving us his take on the new biography "True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee" by Abraham Riesman.
Not having known either Stan or Jack, I don't have a dog in the fight. But I do believe that Kirby deserves the same household name status that Stan enjoyed. I believe his character designs and plotting (or co-plotting) of classic Marvel tales earns him full co-creator status. But I also think it's wrong to diminish Stan's contributions in giving Marvel's characters personality and pathos via his dialogue, and for promoting the Marvel Universe as a thing. The plain truth is, none of it would've happened without both of them. Not to mention Steve Ditko...
At any rate, Roy's piece is certainly worth a read if you are a fan at all of Marvel's comic book past. (And, if you aren't, why are you here?!)
Snippet:
If you slice and dice the more-than-occasional bits of unhealthy fat off Riesman's book — the places where he goes off on unsupported flights of fancy to declare on his own recognizance that "Kirby … may well have been the sole creator of the whole kit and caboodle" of Marvel concepts and characters — you wind up with a book that could be a welcome, even major addition to the handful of Stan Lee biographies written to date.
But, no matter how well the Random House publicity machine manages to hype this book, as long as it stands as currently published, with Stan all but written off as an inveterate liar whose most important creation was his public persona (when it was actually the concept and direction of the Marvel Universe, an idea that was anathema to Jack Kirby, as per in-book quotes), it will remain undeserving of the high praise heaped upon it by people who, for the most part, don't really know what the hell they're talking about.
New comics collected editions: Bronze-Age Swamp-Thing; Crisis on Multiple Earths Book 1
Pop Culture Roundup: Gil Kane, Austin Briggs, Paul Norris, Courageous Cat
A look at what the neighbors are up to...
Cap'n's Comics shares a selection of Wonder Woman covers by the great Gil Kane. I love this one in particular.
Down the Tubes shines a spotlight on master illustrator Austin Briggs, who ghosted for Alex Raymond on the Flash Gordon comic strip for a time, in addition to doing magazine illustration work.
Davy Crockett shares another Wally Wood story - this time a Western from 1951 featured a masked villainess.
So long, James Burke of the Five Fairsteps
James Burke, who sang the hit "O-o-h Child" along with his siblings in the Five Stairsteps, died at age 70 this week, Variety reports.
The Five Stairsteps are often thought of as a one-hit-wonder band because of the outsize popularity of “O-o-h Child,” which continues to rack up cover versions today, including one that was released just last month by KISS member Paul Stanley. But the group had 19 singles that charted on either the R&B or pop charts — usually both — between the years of 1966-80. “O-o-h Child” was their only song to crack the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 8. But 11 of the Stairsteps’ singles made it into the top 20 of the R&B chart.
Here's the group performing its best-known hit: