The Who - Alternate Timeline (1965-1969) [Part 1]

 When talking about the greatest/biggest rock bands of the 1960's and 70's, the Who is bound to be brought up some time or another. Even if they never hit the same commercial peaks that the Beatles and the Stones did, they carved out their own unique path. Starting out as simply a group made for mods to listen to, they would evolve musically into a group that was not afraid of being experimental and yet staying conventional enough to keep a mainstream fanbase, thanks in part to the genius of guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend. Tommy may very well be the first rock album with a story, and it influenced many other artists to write rock operas of their own.

But if you're a deeper Who fan like I am, you'll know all about the history of their classic albums/songs and, more interestingly, their discarded projects. Lifehouse, a second attempt at a rock opera that would evolve into the released Who's Next, has cemented itself into rock legend by this point, but many fans don't know about the other dozen albums and concepts that the band toyed with at some point. Townshend, while incredibly creative, was an often scatterbrained individual, jumping from one interesting idea to the next and eventually completely discarding what he had left behind for the rest of time (unless the project is named Lifehouse of course). This alternate timeline of the Who's career is dedicated to those unused ideas, some of which are revived here. Of course, the idea here is to present a narrative for all of these albums to fall into, so that will remain the priority here over the more extravagant ideas that I could've made as well.

Shout and Shimmy! (1965)

Side A (16:39)

1. I Can't Explain - 2:05 [1]

2. Bald Headed Woman - 2:34 [1]

3. I Don't Mind - 2:36 [1]

4. Lubie (Come Back Home) - 3:42 [1]

5. Daddy Rolling Stone - 2:59 [1]

6. Please, Please, Please - 2:43 [1]

Side B (17:27)

1. Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere - 2:43 [1]

2. (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave - 2:41 [1]

3. I'm a Man - 3:20 [1]

4. Anytime You Want Me - 2:37 [1]

5. Motoring - 2:47 [1]

6. Shout and Shimmy - 3:19 [1]

[1] The Who - My Generation [50th Anniversary Edition]

After personnel changes, name changes and a series of failed singles meant to exploit the mod subculture, The Who came into contact with Kit Lambert, who was impressed by how much power they managed to put in to their live shows. Their first single with them, "I Can't Explain", became a huge success, and recording a full-length album became the #1 priority. Lambert saw the self-contained success coming from similar bands like the Kinks and the Zombies and persuaded Pete Townshend to write some songs of his own, secretly hoping to replicate the success of "I Can't Explain". But this came in direct opposition of lead singer Roger Daltrey's vision of the band; he wanted to start out slower with a covers-heavy record, leaning into their image of "Maximum R&B". After recording a series of covers that they had experience playing live, producer Shel Talmy put the songs on an acetate and marketed it to music journalists. Against all odds, journalists returned with mostly positive reviews, giving them the confidence to record to finish what they had started; in the end, only two songs (being the two singles) would be written by Townshend. Upon release in mid 1965, most critics saw the material as good enough. but there was some potential within them that hadn't yet revealed itself.

As stated above, this primitive version of My Generation is the result of Daltrey's vision for the band coming to fruition instead of Townshend's. Because most of the material here was recorded around the same time as My Generation (about half of the songs here were originally from that album), it has the same general sound as any of the originals, and we'll get into those with the next album. Frankly, this album is pretty lackluster, and the Who made the right choice IOTL to go with an album of mostly original songs. This timeline isn't supposed to be a better Who discography, it's more so just different which I still think is pretty interesting. The "I Can't Explain" single would've been over half a year old at this point and realistically probably wouldn't have been on this album had it existed, but I only have so much material available to me; plus, it makes for one hell of an opener.

My Generation (1965)

Side A (17:56)

1. Out in the Street - 2:30 [1]

2. The Good's Gone - 4:05 [1]

3. La-La-La-Lies - 2:15 [1]

4. Much Too Much - 2:43 [1]

5. The Kids Are Alright - 3:05 [1]

6. My Generation - 3:18 [1]

Side B (19:24)

1. Substitute - 3:51 [2]

2. Instant Party Mixture - 3:29 [1]

3. It's Not True - 2:30 [1]

4. A Legal Matter - 2:49 [1]

5. The Ox - 3:56 [1]

6. Leaving Here - 2:49 [1]

[1] The Who - My Generation [50th Anniversary Edition]

[2] The Who - The 1st Singles Box

My Generation, the Who's sophomore album, is the result of confidence gained from their previous slump of an album. With Daltrey's vision clearly not being as feasible as first imagined, Townshend promised that he'd write an album's worth of material for a second attempt at a hit record. And he delivered beyond anyone's bet. Giving off the same general sound as the first record, the difference was that Townshend's originals gave the Who some of their best known hits, such as the title track, "The Kids Are Alright" and "Substitute". Also unlike Shout and Shimmy!, My Generation climbed up the charts rapidly, and critics praised the album as that lost potential that they had referred to after the release of the first album. To this day, Shout and Shimmy! isn't talked about nearly as much as My Generation, and it has almost retroactively become their debut album.

With so much material recorded during the My Generation sessions, it wasn't very hard to imagine a world where Daltrey and Townshend both got the album they wanted, even if one is clearly better than the other. There isn't too much to say about this one that wasn't said for the first one, honestly. "Leaving Here" is the only cover here, similar to how there were a few originals on the first album. Lastly, "Substitute", one of their most well-known non-album singles, finds a home on this record, although it had to be timebended by two months to meet the December 1965 release date; I'm usually not a huge fan of timebending, but it's such a miniscule shift here that I don't really mind it.

Jigsaw Puzzle (1966)

Side A (17:13)

1. Run Run Run - 2:42 [1]

2. Boris the Spider - 2:28 [1]

3. Don't Look Away - 2:51 [1]

4. See My Way - 1:52 [1]

5. Circles - 2:27 [2]

6. I Need You (Like I Need a Hole in Me Head) - 2:24 [1]

7. Showbiz Sonata - 2:29 [1]

Side B (16:17)

1. Happy Jack - 2:11 [3]

2. Whiskey Man - 2:57 [1]

3. Barbara Ann - 1:59 [2]

4. A Quick One, While He's Away - 9:10 [1]

[1] The Who - A Quick One

[2] The Who - Ready Steady Who

[3] The Who - The 1st Singles Box

This is where the legend of The Who really starts to take off, even if it doesn't seem like it at first. Jigsaw Puzzle has always been an oft overlooked album from the group, most likely due to the lack of hit singles and its less raucous production compared to the previous two albums. But it was with this record that they started to get a little weird. Townshend's first ever "concept for an album, tentatively titled Quads, was created during these sessions, but nothing would come to pass for the time being. But something similar would coalesce in "A Quick One, While He's Away", a 9-minute song that would tell a complete story created by Townshend, arguable more impressive than a concept album. The album's title refers to the original idea of the album, that being a more democratic effort where all four members brought songs to the table. While most of the album would still be written by Townshend, Entwistle and Moon would put forward 2 songs each and Daltrey wrote 1, "See My Way". Moon, a huge Beach Boys fan, would also convince the band to cover "Barbara Ann".

This was actually a pretty easy album to put together. Jigsaw Puzzle was the original title for A Quick One, and this tracklist is based off of the working tracklist for it, with some tweaks here and there to make for a more complete album. I may even say that this is as definitive as A Quick One could possibly get; it really does feel like a stronger album than what we got IOTL even if not much was changed. "Circles" was originally recorded during the My Generation sessions, and that version of the song appeared on the US version of the album under the title "Instant Party (Circles)", but the version used here is the re-recorded version that ended up on the Ready Steady Who EP. "Showbiz Sonata" was the working name for "Cobwebs & Strange", and that name still appears on the front cover.

Rael (1967)

Side A (17:37)

1. The Facts of Life - 3:23 [1]

2. Doctor, Doctor - 3:01 [2]

3. I'm a Boy - 2:38 [2]

4. In the City - 2:24 [2]

5. Disguises - 3:10 [3]

6. So Sad About Us - 3:01 [4]

Side B (17:50)

1. Ode to a Toad - 2:27 [5]

2. Call Me Lightning - 2:25 [1]

3. Man with Money - 2:46 [4]

4. I've Been Away - 2:08 [2]

5. Rael (International Anthem) - 6:35 [1]

6. Rael 2 - 1:29 [1] [hidden track]

[1] The Who - The Who Sell Out [Super Deluxe Edition]

[2] The Who - The 1st Singles Box

[3] The Who - Ready Steady Who

[4] The Who - A Quick One [Expanded Edition]

[5] The Who - Maximum A's & B's

The Who's first rock opera, or at least their first serious attempt at one. Glowing from the positive reception of "A Quick One, While He's Away", Pete Townshend was restless to form an entire album around one concept/story. The first concept he toyed with was Quads, the very same concept he had come up with during the Jigsaw Puzzle sessions. It revolved around a future where parents could choose the sex of their children, a dull yet somewhat revolutionary concept for 1966. The centerpiece of this concept was the song "I'm a Boy", originally a non-album single recorded and released before Jigsaw Puzzle. None of the other songs Townshend wrote around this time had as much to do with the concept as "I'm a Boy" did.

Eventually, Townshend realized how dull the concept really was and dropped it entirely, shifting focus to something else entirely. His new play-thing for the time being was Rael, an even more outlandish concept that revolved a future where China is a world power that holds power over the entire world, yet another terribly revolutionary concept by Townshend. The album would tell the story of an Israeli boy with a lisp who goes on an adventure to save the world from its totalitarian rulers. Or at least it would if the album got made this way. It became clear after a while that Townshend couldn't keep still; his creativity was applauded, but the band had an album to make, and they couldn't make it if the ideas kept changing every minute. And so, feeling defeated, Townshend came to an ultimatum with the band; they would simply combine all of the songs that Townshend had envisioned for his concepts and throw them all onto the album. This pretty much killed the rock opera Townshend had in his mind and turned the album into a glorified leftovers album. Still titled Rael, it would be released in mid-1967 to generally okay-ish reviews. The band had won out this time, but Townshend would revisit themes he'd created here for more ambitious future projects down the line.

A lot of writing here, but it's only because this is the first album in the timeline with no basis IOTL, other than the unused concepts that were never considered for an actual project. This is pretty much Lifehouse before Lifehouse, an ambitious rock opera that's cancelled and replaced with an album of songs from those sessions but with no story. However, this one would be less impressive, with a majority of songs feeling like leftovers from previous albums (probably because they were). Two instrumentals and an Everly Brothers cover being here pretty much says everything you need to know about this one; a grand-scale effort with minimal engagement overall. "Ode to a Toad" is OTL's "Waltz for a Pig" performed by the Graham Bond Organization, credited here to "The Who Orchestra".

Who's Lily? (1967)

Side A (19:06)

1. Armenia City in the Sky - 3:13 [1]

2. Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand - 2:06 [1]

3. Glittering Girl - 2:59 [1]

4. Girl's Eyes - 3:21 [1]

5. Our Love Was - 3:09 [1]

6. I Can See for Miles - 4:18 [1]

Side B (18:13)

1. Can't Reach You - 3:04 [1]

2. Someone's Coming - 2:32 [1]

3. Relax - 2:38 [1]

4. Early Morning Cold Taxi - 2:56 [1]

5. In the Hall of the Mountain King - 4:16 [1]

6. Pictures of Lily - 2:47 [1]

[1] The Who - The Who Sell Out [Super Deluxe Edition]

The Who had done some recording here and there in between the release of Rael and the first sessions for their next record. The car company Jaguar approached Townshend for a potential sponsor deal, and he, in standard Townshend fashion, told them to fuck off. But he'd write a song about the Jaguar cars anyway, not meant for the band but just because he liked the cars. Following Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' imprisonment on drug charges, the band released covers of Stones songs "The Last Time" and "Under My Thumb" to spread awareness, but the two had already been released by the time the single released. As time went on, Townshend started to realize that he was slowly burning out when it came to writing. The constant touring and publicity and their readily increasing "bad boy" image in the media was all starting to wear down on him. So for their next album, due for release at the end of 1967, Townshend decided to lean off of the experimental concepts and stories and whatnot and just release a straightforward Who album. This album, hyped from and named after their newest single "Pictures of Lily", would feature much more grounded and commercial psychedelic pop songs, very much of the era. The album would receive very positive reviews, with many calling it their best work up to that point, but some detractors, citing the schmaltz of some of the material, called them "sell-outs".

This is pretty much The Who Sell Out if The Who decided to not sell out. Who's Lily? was what the album was supposed to be called, and the tracklist is probably what it would've looked like. The album as a whole is still very good, but without the advertisements, it loses a bit of cohesiveness that the original album certainly had. Unlike the previous albums, I've made my own custom mix for this one that pretty much just gets rid of the advertisements so you can see how it all plays out without them. You can view and listen to that here.

Who's for Tennis? (1968)

Side A (16:48)

1. Glow Girl - 2:25 [1]

2. Faith in Something Bigger - 3:08 [1]

3. Odorono - 2:43 [1]

4. Tattoo - 2:48 [1]

5. Fortune Teller - 2:23 [1]

6. Melancholia - 3:21 [1]

Side B (17:21)

1. Little Billy - 2:17 [1]

2. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde - 2:37 [1]

3. Jaguar - 2:54 [1]

4. Silas Stingy - 3:05 [1]

5. Sunrise - 3:05 [1]

6. Magic Bus - 3:23 [1]

[1] The Who - The Who Sell Out [Super Deluxe Edition]

If Rael was classified as a glorified leftovers album, then Who's for Tennis? was as well; no one even bothered to hide that fact. Throughout 1968, Pete Townshend had finally stuck to a concept that he thought was both enjoyable and accessible, tentatively titled The Brain Opera. Townshend would spend the year expanding on the concept he had created whenever he had the chance. He still had his commitments to the Who, and with them he recorded a few new songs that could be used for a potential album and/or single. These songs would unknowingly form the basis of their next album Who's for Tennis?, a title that the band would later say was a last minute idea and that it meant nothing. Townshend became so engaged with building his conceptual world in his head that he became hard to get into the studio, and the decision was made to let him keep dreaming. The band figured that they could fall back on the few songs they had recorded in the beginning of 1968 plus any Who's Lily outtakes they had laying around. Who's for Tennis? would release in October 1968, but only in the UK (probably its greatest distinction in the Who's discography). This was because a similar compilation, Magic Bus: The Who on Tour, was released by Decca in the US a month prior, and the label didn't want to confuse American buyers.

God bless the Super Deluxe Edition of The Who Sell Out. I had heard most of this material before, but it's very nice to have it all in one place. All of the songs from this album and the last are from that release. Really not much else to say here. Even though this is a compilation through and through, the album is still very enjoyable as a whole; it'd probably be considered the Magical Mystery Tour to Who's Lily's Sgt. Pepper's. Like Who's Lily, this album also has a custom mix removing any advertisements that can be listened to here.

Tommy (1969)

Side A (22:56)

1. Overture - 3:50 [1]

2. It's a Boy - 2:07 [1]

3. 1921 - 2:49 [1]

4. Amazing Journey - 3:25 [1]

5. Sparks - 2:05 [1]

6. Christmas - 4:34 [1]

7. Cousin Kevin - 4:06 [1]

Side B (17:46)

1. Do You Think It's Alright? - 0:24[1]

2. Fiddle About - 1:31 [1]

3. The Hawker (Eyesight to the Blind) - 2:13 [1]

4. The Acid Queen - 3:34 [1]

5. Underture - 10:04 [1]

Side C (12:58)

1. Pinball Wizard - 3:00 [1]

2. There's a Doctor - 0:23 [1]

3. Go to the Mirror! - 3:47 [1]

4. Tommy Can You Hear Me? - 1:35 [1]

5. Smash the Mirror - 1:34 [1]

6. I'm Free - 2:39 [1]

Side D (19:24)

1. Miracle Cure - 0:12 [1]

2. Sensation - 2:27 [1]

3. Sally Simpson - 4:10 [1]

4. Welcome - 4:32 [1]

5. Tommy's Holiday Camp - 0:57 [1]

6. We're Not Gonna Take It - 7:06 [1]

[1] The Who - Tommy

The culmination of Pete Townshend's failed concepts and stories dating back to 1966, the burnout and the regaining of confidence and his secret project through 1968 all finally culminated in the 1969 double-album rock opera Tommy, often considered one of, if not the, greatest album the Who ever made.

I don't think I really have to say much about Tommy. Even if you're just a casual listener, there's a good chance you've either heard the album, listened to the singles, watched the film or even seen the musical or the orchestral version. Tommy is universal, and that's exactly how Townshend designed it. I've decided to not take out or put in any songs; every song from the original album is still here. The only thing I've touched (other than the now purple album cover) is the sequencing, which I've changed ever so slightly to better fit the narrative in more linear way. Tommy as it is is brilliant, but I think these tiny little changes make it just a little bit better. 'Nuff said.

This was just Part 1 of this timeline. We start off in 1970 next time around, when the Who follow up Tommy with something somehow even bigger...