Friday, September 5, 2014

The Who - Who's For Tennis?




The Who – Who’s For Tennis?
(soniclovenoize reconstruction)

Side A:
1.  Glow Girl
2.  Fortune Teller
3.  Girl’s Eyes
4.  Dogs
5.  Call Me Lightning
6.  Melancholia

Side B:
7.  Faith in Something Bigger
8.  Early Morning: Cold Taxi
9.  Little Billy
10.  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
11.  Shakin’ All Over
12.  Magic Bus


A long-desired blog-follower request, this is my reconstruction of the proposed and promptly withdrawn 1968 album Who’s For Tennis? by The Who.  Originally intend as a proper studio album (or live album, as some maintain) that would have been released in-between The Who Sell Out and Tommy, the idea for the album was scrapped and the recorded material instead came out as either single releases or remained in the vaults.  This reconstruction draws from numerous sources to create a completely stereo, cohesive album, utilizing the best mastering available and is volume-adjusted for aural continuity.  Also, a completely new and unique stereo mix of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was created, unavailable elsewhere and exclusive to this reconstruction.

Riding as high as they possibly could from 1967’s The Who Sell Out, a concept album recorded to emulate British pirate radio stations, The Who embarked on tours of Australia and the United States throughout 1968, biding their time until their next concept album.  During this time, Pete Townshend began composing what he believed could be his magnum opus, a rock opera that spanned an entire album-length (rather than a single-song ‘pocket-opera’ such as “A Quick One While He’s Away”) about a deaf, dumb and blind kid (who sure played a mean pinball).  Such a lofty project required time to compose and demo properly, and the album was set to be recorded that fall.  But in an attempt to keep up with their British rock contemporaries such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Kinks who could release an entire album of material every year, the question was proposed: what album would The Who release in 1968 to fill the stopgap until Townshend’s rock opera, which at best would be released in early 1969?

Thus The Who’s manager and producer Kit Lambert proposed an album entitled Who’s For Tennis? to be released that July of 1968, meant to capitalize on the upcoming Wimbledon Championships.  The album would have included all new recordings as well as any number of the relevant outtakes from the previous year’s Sell Out sessions, which had produced a wealth of non-LP material.  In January and February of 1968, The Who recorded Townshend’s “Faith in Something Bigger”, “Glow Girl” and “Little Billy”, the later written for the American Cancer Society for an anti-smoking campaign.  Also recorded during these initial sessions was a very old Who song originally dating from 1964 called “Call Me Lightning”, and bassist John Entwhistle’s own “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, yet another ‘scary’ children’s song.  After embarking on their spring tour of the US directly after the February recording sessions, The Who returned to the studio in May and June and recorded seven more tracks: Townshend originals “Dogs”, “Melancholia”, “Magic Bus”, “Joys” and “Facts of Life” as well as live staples of old blues covers “Fortune Teller” and “Shakin’ All Over”. 

With twelve new studio recordings in the can, the absurd idea of Who’s For Tennis? was eventually withdrawn as the summer drew upon The Who.  Instead of an entire album, just three of the tracks trickled out as single-releases: the US single “Call Me Lightning” b/w “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and it’s UK counterpart “Dogs” b/w “Call Me Lightning”.  Neither single charted particularly well, becoming long-forgotten Who singles.  There was also some discussion of a live album of The Who’s performance at The Fillmore East to be released in Who’s For Tennis?’s place (some sources claim the Who’s For Tennis? concept was this live album rather than a studio album of the 1968 recordings) but the performances were a bit too sloppy and were set aside.  The final decision was to instead release the single “Magic Bus” as well as two cash-grab compilations: The Magic Bus: The Who On Tour in the US, and Direct Hits in the UK.  The decision paid off, as “Magic Bus” became a long-time fan favorite and live staple for The Who for years to come.  This was enough to bide the band’s time until Townshend could see, feel, touch and heal his rock opera into fruition, even as much as pillaging the outro of the now-canned “Glow Girl” into Tommy’s “Overture/It’s A Boy”. 

The remaining tracks were left unheard for years, with each slowly trickling out on anthology collections: first on Odds and Sods in 1974; then on Rarities volumes 1 & 2 in 1983; and finally the Maximum R&B boxset in 1993.  Aside from the tracks that remain in the vault to this day (“Shakin’ All Over”, “Joys” and “Facts of Life”), Who fans have just enough material to reconstruct what this theoretical 1968 stopgap album would have been.  Various fans’ track sequences tend to utilize the same 12-or-so tracks recorded during this period but the actual track sequences fluctuate wildly, as there never was a finalized tracklist.  The only concrete information we have (beyond a title) is that it would have been a ‘preachy’ album (a reference to the inclusion of “Little Billy” and “Faith in Something Bigger”) and the album would have opened with “Glow Girl”.  Keep in mind that allegedly Sell Out outtakes and non-LP tracks would have been used as filler on Who’s For Tennis?, which could have included any of the following songs: “Pictures of Lily”, “Doctor, Doctor”, “Glittering Girl”, “Hall of the Mountain King”, “Sodding About”, “Early Morning: Cold Taxi”, “Girl’s Eyes”, “Summertime Blues”, “Someone’s Coming”.  What would have actually been on Who’s For Tennis?  While there is no possible answer, we can certainly know what is on this reconstruction!

Side A begins with the only clue Pete Townshend has left us: the album starts with “Glow Girl”, which would have also been a single, here sourced from the best-sounding version from the Sell Out remaster.  Following is “Fortune Teller” taken from the 30 Years of Maximum R&B boxset.  The first of my chosen Sell Out outtakes follows (using only the ones that seemed to stylistically and sonically match the rest of the 1968 material): Keith Moon’s “Girl’s Eyes”, again taken from Maximum R&B.  Mellowing down a bit, the unique stereo mix of “Dogs” taken from the Maximum R&B set is next, followed by mod-rocker “Call Me Lightning”, using the true stereo mix (albeit frustratingly narrow) again found on Maximum R&B.   Side A closes with the epic rocker “Melancholia”, once again taken from the Maximum R&B set.  

Side B opens with Townshend’s admittedly preachy “Faith in Something Bigger” from Odds and Sods, followed by a song that seemed a bit ahead of its time in terms to social acceptance to the health hazards of smoking: “Little Billy”, using the superior master from Odds and Sods.   Next is the second Sell Out outtake which fits in with the sound of The Who circa 1968, Roger Daltrey’s “Early Morning: Cold Taxi”, also taken from the Maximum R&B box set. 

Midway through side B we come upon the two truly unique mixes on my reconstruction.  First, a completely new stereo mix of the otherwise mono “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is created when syncing up the two different mono mixes.  Panned at 9 o’clock to the left is the mono mix found on the Rarities album that features prominent drums; panned at 3 o’clock to the right is the mono mix found on the vinyl-only release of Magic Bus: The Who On Tour that features prominent backing vocals and sound effects.  Because both versions are mixed differently enough, we are able to create an interesting stereo spectrum.   At some points, the two mixes fall out of sync, creating a sweeping phase effect; while this is usually unwanted, I thought the effect was particularly effective in the creepy psychedelic track, and I left it in!  While “Shakin’ All Over” was recorded during the May 1968 sessions, no recordings of the track have been released nor leaked.  Instead, I present here a soundboard recording of the song taken from their Fillmore East performance, a nod to the brief concept that Who’s For Tennis? might have been a live album from that date anyways.  Edited to a more modest length, I also personally remixed the crusty-sounding soundboard recording to emulate the mixing found during the ending of “Melancholia” by reducing the volume and high end of the guitar in the left channel, and raising the high end of the drums in the right channel as well as bringing them in a bit to about 3 o’clock.  Concluding the noisy  performance—and the album as a whole—is “Magic Bus”, the stereo mix taken from Odds and Sods, which featured the most natural mastering in my opinion.

With cover art brilliantly reimagined by Jon Hunt (thanks Jon!) as the icing on the cake, we have twelve songs evenly spread over two shorter sides, in tandem with their previous three albums.  And what of the quality of this audio tennis match?  The most points scored here is for the drastic change from mod-pop into full-blown rock icons.  Here we hear the band beefing up their sound and more importantly Roger Daltrey shifting from the slight, short-haired teen-pop singer of “I’m A Boy” and “Substitute” into the wailing, bare-chested, long-haired rock star of Tommy, Who’s Next and Quadrophenia.  Listening to the album, we now see how The Who went from Sell Out to Tommy.  But taking the album into a whole, we can understand why Who’s For Tennis? was left out: while there are some great songs here, the album as a whole is pretty weak, scatterbrained and honestly a bit corny.  Regardless, this reconstruction offers a missing piece of The Who’s history, an excellent addition to their album discography as it, at the very least, collects a number of non-LP songs that would be quite an annoyance to gather piecemeal.  Let the match begin!  


Sources used:
30 Years of Maximum R&B (1992 original CD master)
Fillmore East: 6 April 1968 (bootleg CD, Sunrise Records)
Magic Bus - The Who On Tour (1968 unknown vinyl rip)
Odds & Sods (1998 Polydor CD remaster)
Rarities vols I & II (2004 Polydor CD remaster)


flac --> wav --> editing in SONAR, Goldwave and Audacity --> flac encoding via TLH lv8
*md5, artwork and tracknotes included

78 comments:

  1. In many ways Tommy sounds like the work of a totally different band than any Who album that precedes it. It is therefore nice to have this album, which really does help to bridge the gap and creates a very authentic and believable 1968 album. Great job as always, it just needed Keith to be that glow girl on the cover though!

    Requests:

    Dennis Wilson - Bambu
    Gabriel / Hackett 1979 Genesis album
    Buffalo Springfield - Stampede
    Steely Dan - Second Arrangement
    'Single' / alternative White Album

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow its Christmas come early. Many thanks look forward to hearing this.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Got an idea,soniclovenoize!What about a Derek and the Dominoes 2nd album?
    Mine goes like This:
    Side A
    1.Got To Get Better In A Little While
    2.It's Hard To Find A Friend
    3.Snake Lake Blues
    4.Mean Old Frisco
    5.Roll It Over
    Side B
    1.Evil
    2.Country Life
    3.Moody
    4.One More Chance
    5.Mean Old World

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gotta say, the bonus tracks on the newest edition of 'Layla and other..' makes the main album sound like a POS.

      Delete
  4. Other Ideas:
    -Clash - Rat Patrol From From Fort Bragg
    -Jimi Hendrix - Black Gold
    -Dennis Wilson - Bambu

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I already have Rat Patrol completed, it's one of the upcoming uploads. I'll see about the others.

      Delete
    2. @ Duffy & soniclovenoize =

      DENNIS WILSON - Bambu [1978] is already complete.

      SIDE A
      01 Under The Moonlight
      02 Constant Companion
      03 Common
      04 Wild Situation
      05 I Love You
      06 Mexico

      SIDE B
      07 Love Surrounds Me
      08 Are You Real
      09 Tug Of Love
      10 Cocktails
      11 All Alone
      12 Love Remember Me

      * All tracks can be found on the Legacy Recordings special 30th anniversary, 2-disc edition of "Pacific Ocean Blue."
      ** This is the second disc from the 4CD box set "DENNIS WILSON - Dreamer: the Complete Collection"
      DISC 1 - Pacific Ocean Blue [1977]
      DISC 2 - Bambu [1978]
      DISC 3 - Wilson The Third [1979]
      DISC 4 - Forever (the Beach Boys collection) [Compilation]

      BTW, soniclovenoize... great job on "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"!

      Delete
  5. My Who '68 LP is called DOGS and it goes like this:
    1
    glow girl
    dogs
    now i'm a farmer
    heaven and hell
    melancholia
    call me lightning
    2
    magic bus
    faith in something bigger
    little billy
    dr. jekyll & mr. hyde
    dogs pt. II
    summertime blues

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pretty good though I'm not sure if now i'm a farmer was written in 1968

      Delete
  6. Don't think there is a version of Magic Bus on any edition of Odds And Sods.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yeah, that is a typo. That was taken from Meaty Beaty

      Delete
    2. SLN, can you clarify which version you used? According to Wikipedia, the original vinyl album featured a longer alternate studio take of "Magic Bus" in fake stereo which was not included on the original compact disc version. But Universal Japan reissued this version in 2007 (wiki has more details).

      Delete
    3. I used the "Magic Bus" from the 1990 CD pressing of Meaty Beaty, the short yet true stereo version. The long one, to my knowledge, only exists in fake stereo, so I unfortunately excluded it...

      Delete
  7. Got an idea,Soniclovenoize!What about a Pink Floyd 1969 album with best songs of the year?Mine goes like this:
    1.Country Song
    2.Ibiza Bar
    3.Daybreak
    4.Fingal's Cave
    5.The Narrow Way
    Side B
    1.Green Is The Colour
    2.Crumbling Land
    3.The Nile Song
    4.Cimbaline
    5.Daybreak (Reprise)
    6.Come In Number 51, Your Time Is Up

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think he should do Spare Bricks instead

      Delete
    2. He's way ahead of you....
      Part of the great Soniclovenoize re-imagining of a 68-70 Barrett Floyd:
      http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/pink-floyd-vantage-point-1969.html

      Delete
  8. Great collection soniclovenoize. I never heard half of the songs on this album. Thank you for broadening my library. As a suggestion for the next installment why don't you tackle la original pressing of "Blood on the Tracks" by Bob Dylan. He had the album done completely in New York City but after a criticism from his brother he chose to rerecord 5 of the 10 tracks. Again thank you for your work done here.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for this, but I almost hesitate to comment on this one for the simple reason that I recently spent an inordinate amount of time compiling my own version of this non-existent (but truly fascinating) album, so I’m kinda biased now!

    Putting aside the question of which tracks the band would 'most likely' have included on a 1968 studio album (see below for more on this though), I felt the best way to approach this was to select only material that felt cohesive when placed together on two sides of a (notional) album. After MUCH trial and tribulation, I settled on the following (sources in brackets):

    Side One:
    Glow Girl (Odds remaster)
    Glittering Girl (Sell remaster)
    Someone's Coming (Sell remaster)
    Girls Eyes (Sell remaster)
    Early Morning, Cold Taxi (Sell remaster)
    Melancholia (Sell remaster)

    Side Two:
    Magic Bus (Then & Now)
    Little Billy (Odds remaster)
    Jaguar (Sell remaster)
    Faith in Something Bigger (Odds remaster)
    Summertime Blues (version 1) (Sell deluxe)
    Hall of the Mountain King (Sell remaster)

    No doubt some of my selections will raise the odd eyebrow, but trust me, this plays through absolutely beautifully and actually FEELS like a proper album, IMHO. I’m especially pleased with the song sequence on side one.

    In compiling this, I actually looked to the bands previous UK albums and immediately felt that including too much singles material would be a mistake, hence I dropped ‘Call Me Lightning’ (anachronistic for the Who circa ’68 anyway), ‘Dogs’ and ‘Dr Jekyll’ (an odd pair of cuts from the period “when the Who went slightly mad” in Pete’s words). I found these three songs almost impossible to place in the tracklisting anyway – they just ruin the ‘flow’ for me and work far better on 45s. Conversely, I really felt the need to rescue ‘Someone’s Coming’ from being lost on a ‘B’ side simply because a) it’s great and b) it feels ‘of a piece’ with the likes of ‘Glow Girl’ and ‘Glittering Girl’ to my ears.

    I also felt it unlikely the band would have included more than one cover version on a 1968 album, what with the amount of original material they had available. Ideally, I would like to have included the studio version of ‘Shakin’ All Over’, but in it’s absence I felt the next best thing was ‘Summertime Blues’. This unfortunately means dropping ‘Fortune Teller’, but I can live with that. ‘Summertime Blues’ also works really well as a ‘climactic’ track for the end of side two before the jokey ‘kiss off’ of ‘Hall of the Mountain King’.

    I came to the same conclusion as you regarding having ‘Melancholia’ as the closer for side one, which is perfect placement, but I also feel strongly that ‘Magic Bus’ is the perfect opener for side two (the way it begins just screams ‘first cut, side two’ to me!)
    Having settled on these elements the rest of the track placements were pretty easy. Anyway, the upshot is that I now feel like I own a ‘new’ Who album instead of a bunch of stray tracks spread across a multitude of reissues. Which is the whole point.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Going back to the question of what a 1968 Who album would *really* have looked like, a well-respected poster on the Steve Hoffman forum recently put this forward as a ‘best guess’ as to which tracks would have made the cut:

    4 Jan. 1968 - CBS
    -Faith In Something Bigger

    5 Jan. 1968 - IBC
    -Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    13 Jan. 1968 - IBC
    -Glow Girl

    11 Feb. 1968 - IBC
    -Little Billy
    -Call Me Lighting

    22 May 1968 Advison
    -Dogs

    29 May 1968 Advison
    -Melancholia
    -Fortune Teller
    -Joys
    -Shakin' All Over (studio version)
    -Facts Of Life (possibly Do You Want Kids, Kids?)
    -Now I'm A Farmer (unheard '68 version, backing track)
    -Magic Bus (unheard early version)

    Personally, I think the guy’s ‘logic’ is a bit suspect as he’s working on the basis that the bands 1968 sessions actually represent an attempt to record a new LP, when in fact Pete had no intention of doing so until he’d come up with an idea for a true magnum opus. These sessions served one of three purposes:

    1) to come up with material for the singles market to keep the bands name in the charts while Pete gestated ‘Tommy’
    2) to work through various ideas Pete was having
    3) to keep Kit Lambert quiet!

    ‘Who’s For Tennis’ was a notion at best and had Kit Lambert got his way and pushed the band to complete an album at this time, it would almost certainly have been called something else and contained material which we can’t even begin to guess at. Accepting this, it’s still a lot of fun to put it together using the best of their recent ‘67/’68 output. I recently did a similar exercise for a post ‘Who’s Next’ LP which I dubbed ‘To The Naked Eye’, which also turned out incredibly well to my mind:

    Side One:
    01 Heaven & Hell
    02 Pure and Easy
    03 The Seeker
    04 Here For More
    05 Now I’m A Farmer
    06 Water

    Side Two:
    07 Let's See Action
    08 I Don't Even Know Myself
    09 When I Was A Boy
    10 Postcard
    11 Naked Eye

    Anyway, I digress. I look forward to your take on the Clash ‘Rat Patrol’ (another one I completed myself just recently, based purely on the rejected Mick Jones mix and tracklist).

    A few other suggestions for future projects (some of which I’ve already tried my hand at):

    The Small Faces – ‘1862’ (do-able with a bit of lateral thinking and skewed logic!)
    Jethro Tull – ‘Chateau Disaster’ (mostly released, but needs a fourth side and possibly some resequencing. My favoured title for this is ‘A Bomb in the Dressing Room’!)
    Adam and the Ants – unrealised 1978 debut album
    Frank Zappa – ‘Zoot Allures’ double album
    The Attack – Roman God of War (probably impossible, but you might be able to come up with something?!)
    Van Morrison – Mechanical Bliss

    I also second previous requests for the Kinks ‘Four More Respected Gentlemen’, Dave Davies ‘Lincoln County’, Pink Floyd’s ‘Spare Bricks’ and the Who’s ‘Rock is Dead’.

    Finally, I recently ‘did’ the unrealised second Derek and the Dominoes LP, which also worked surprisingly well:

    Derek & the Dominos 'Can't Sleep At Night' (the unreleased second LP)

    Side One:
    01 Evil
    02 Mean Old 'Frisco
    03 Hard To Find A Friend
    04 Snake Lake Blues
    05 Till I See You Again

    Side Two:
    06 Got To Get Better In A Little While
    07 One More Chance
    08 Gold Devil Road

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Anyway, I digress. I look forward to your take on the Clash ‘Rat Patrol’ (another one I completed myself just recently, based purely on the rejected Mick Jones mix and tracklist)."

      Say, where did you get the information of Mick Jones' actual rough sequence? The one listed on wikipedia doesn't have a citation to it that makes me suspect, and then I have like three other completely different orders from three different Rat Patrol bootleg LPs.

      Delete
    2. I think someone posted on the Steve Hoffman forum. I copied and pasted this for my records and followed it to the letter for my CD:

      "The actual running order and correct song titles of the masters mixed at Electric Lady is:

      Side One:
      Straight to Hell 6:49
      Know Your Rights 5:01
      Rock the Casbah 3:51
      Red Angel Dragnet 5:11

      Side Two:
      Should I Stay or Should I Go 3:06
      Ghetto Defendant 6:09
      Sean Flynn 7:22

      Side Three:
      Car Jamming 3:50
      The Fulham Connection 3:46 (aka "The Beautiful People...")
      Atom Tan 2:43
      First Night Back in London 3:00

      Side Four:
      Inoculated City 4:25
      Death is a Star 3:14
      Cool Confusion 3:13
      Idle in Kangaroo Court W1 4:47 (aka "Kill Time")

      Walk Evil Talk is an unfinished track without vocals, not earmarked for the album. Overpowered by Funk was not included by Mick in the proposed running order, but was completed and mixed. I also believe the bootleg runs just a bit slow, accounting for some of the time differences".

      Delete
    3. Thank you syd, just found the orignal post! I must have missed it in that thread, as I had read it a few times.

      Unlike Who's For Tennis, our Rat Patrols might be a similar!! ;)

      Delete
    4. The idea for a Frank Zappa Zoot Allures double album reconstruction can't, or at least shouldn't, be done in my opinion because one of the songs, as in the one that was also the name of the album's original working title, making it presumably important, I think has yet to surface.

      Delete
    5. As far as I'm aware, the 'known' tracklist for the double 'Zoot Allures' is as follows:

      Side One:
      1. Disco Boy 5:11
      2. Friendly Little Finger ["Friendly Little Fingers"] 4:17
      3. Wonderful Wino ["Wino Song"] [Zappa/Simmons] 3:38
      4. Night of the Iron Sausage (probably ‘Zoot Allures’) 4:12

      Side Two:
      5. Sleep Dirt 3:20
      6. Zoot Allures (aka ‘The Ocean Is The Ultimate Solution’) 13:20

      Side Three:
      7. Ms. Pinky ["Pinky"] 3:40
      8. Filthy Habits 7:33
      9. Find Her Finer ["Finder Finer"] 4:07

      Side Four:
      10. Black Napkins 4:15
      11. The Torture Never Stops 9:45

      Zappa changed song titles on a regular basis before release, which causes confusion for the likes of us!

      Delete
    6. I've been listening to your versions and like them also.

      Do you have a blog up with your recreations?

      Delete
  11. Ps I also recommend trying this track order, which possibly works even better in some ways, especially on side one (despite contradicting what I said earlier about 'Magic Bus'!)

    Side One:
    Glow Girl (Odds remaster)
    Jaguar (Sell remaster)
    Someone's Coming (Sell remaster)
    Girls Eyes (Sell remaster)
    Early Morning, Cold Taxi (Sell remaster)
    Magic Bus (Then & Now)

    Side Two:
    Glittering Girl (Sell remaster)
    Little Billy (Odds remaster)
    Melancholia (Sell remaster)
    Faith in Something Bigger (Odds remaster)
    Summertime Blues (version 1) (Sell deluxe)
    Hall of the Mountain King (Sell remaster)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Exemplary work as usual, good sir! Keep it up! and... THANK YOU.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Excellent work, excited for the next'un already.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What about this incredible Who Album? The "Naked Eye" album

    Tracks were recorded in mid 1970 for the follow-up to Tommy, although the band seemed uncertain what was going to happen to them. "Water", "Postcard", "Naked Eye", "Now I'm a Farmer" and possibly "Don't Know Myself" and "The Seeker" were all intended for an LP at one point -- Roger and Pete both make references to this in tapes of contemporary concerts -- but on Odds 'n' Sods Pete says they were in fact intended for an EP. As it happened, the songs -- some of their best! -- were lost in the shuffle as Pete moved on to Lifehouse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What About This:
      The Who - To The Naked Eye.
      Side A
      1.Heaven And Hell
      2.Naked Eye
      3.Now I’m A Farmer
      4.The Seeker
      5.Water
      Side B
      1.Postcard
      2.Here For More
      3.Leeds – Hull Medley
      -Baby Don’t You Do It
      -Fortune Teller
      -Young Man Blues
      -Summertime Blues
      Liked It?

      Delete
  15. HERE'S SOME POSSIBILITIES. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!

    • Beach Boys: Add Some Music
    • Beach Boys: California (1974)
    • Beach Boys: Holland Revisited
    • Beach Boys: Lei’d in Hawaii
    • Beach Boys: Oldies (Love You, 15 Big Ones & other oldies covers)
    • Beach Boys: Reverberation
    • Beach Boys: Wild Honey/Smiley Smile (combined & reimagined)
    • Beach Boys: Winds of Change
    • Beach Boys: Worst Of
    • Beatles: Bizarro World
    • Beatles: Great Lost Psychedelic Album
    • Beatles: Helter Skelter
    • Beatles: More post-Beatles reimaginings (continuous series)
    • Beatles: Revisions of classic work (other potential Beatles-era albums)
    • Beatles: The Real Last Album
    • Beatles: White Album (alternative or single version)
    • Beatles: Worst Of
    • Bee Gees: A Kick in the Head…(1972-73)
    • Bee Gees: Halloween
    • Big Star: Third (Revised)
    • Buffalo Springfield: Stampede
    • Derek & the Dominoes: Second Album
    • Dylan: & the Dead (Mix)
    • Dylan: Oh Mercy (revision & improved)
    • Dylan: Etc (80s & 90s albums reimagined & improved)
    • Dylan: Self Portrait #2 (revised as single or recreated as 4-CD set)
    • Hendrix: Band of Gypsys (studio recordings)
    • Hendrix: Black Gold
    • Kinks: Four More Respected Gentlemen
    • Kinks: Great Lost Kinks Album #2
    • Morrison (Van): Before Astral Weeks (lost album) [Bang material + studio demos]
    • Morrison (Van): Mechanical Bliss
    • Nilsson: Sings the Beatles
    • Rolling Stones: Could You Walk on the Water?
    • Rolling Stones: Necrophilia
    • Rolling Stones: Lost, unrealized albums from ‘70s & ‘80s
    • Small Faces: 4th -- 1862
    • Springsteen: Nebraska (electric)
    • Springsteen: Reconstruction of his classic albums w/ extra tracks
    • Stooges: 4th (post-Raw Power)
    • Brian Wilson: Brian Loves You
    • Brian Wilson: Sweet Insanity
    • The Who: Jigsaw Puzzle
    • The Who: Naked Eye
    • The Who: Rock Is Dead
    • The Who: Other potential lost ‘60s albums
    • Yardbirds: Last Album (1968)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some of these requests don't even sound that specific. How is he to know what it is you're talking about? And please, he only does one a month, so why so many requests?

      Delete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Re "Band of Gypsys" -- any way that I could hear that -- or at least get your list of songs/sources?

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  17. Will your version of "Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg" by The Clash include the version of Rock The Casbah that has Rankin Roger on vocals? That version is very special, and has an entirely different feel thanks to Rankin Roger's vocals. That version has never had a proper release, but Mick Jones had planned to do so.

    The best remaster so far seems to be this one;

    https://soundcloud.com/ludochem/rock-the-casbah-remastered-by

    but you've got magic fingers!

    Thanks for all you do!

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    1. I don't know if I'd upload on my blog, but I indeed did make something like this! Instead of having two albums, I combine the best (imo) of both the NGHFB and BE albums.

      I call the mock Oasis album "Nothing Lasts Forever" and the tracklist is:
      1. Four Letter Word
      2. Dream On
      3. Millionaire
      4. The Death of Me and You
      5. Wigwam
      6. For Anyone
      7. (Stranded on) The Wrong Side of The Beach
      8. Three Ring Circus
      9. Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks
      10. Broken Arrow
      11. The Beat Goes On
      12. Stop The Clocks

      Try it yourself! It's pretty good!

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    2. Oasis...
      Dear oh dear people. We'll be onto The Rutles before we know it.

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    3. Steve Worek (another blogger who does this kind of thing) has already done a Rutles album. But the links are dead.

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  19. You've answered the question "What if The Beatles never broke up?" You've answered the question "What if Pink Floyd never broke up?" Now I want a questioned answered that no one else has probably asked. What if the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band never broke up? 1971 doesn't have enough material to make an album out of, but a best-of compilation was released that year anyway, which would've also replaced the best-of from 1970 (which I thought making that was weird cause what's the point? There was no new material.) 1972 had LMUABF, so 1970 and then 1973 to early 80's maybe. Maybe you can find songs that I can't.

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    1. The only way I see a 1971 album being made is if you just took some of the unreleased stuff from before then.

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  20. This post just has become the most commented of the blog!

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  21. I always wondered: I get that you have a life outside of this website, but does it really take you about a month to make an album? If not, then why upload only one a month?

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  22. Frankly, I am just grateful that you post one per month. You're so diligent with your write-ups that I would imagine it takes longer than most folks realize to do this properly. THANK YOU!!!

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  24. Good re-creation. But why don't you try re-create the album that they were recording in 1970 before the 'Lifehouse'?

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  25. Could you go back to the Imagine Clouds Dripping album you made for the Beatles and reset the links please? I love these creations and would like to get that one as well

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    1. That sounds good. I need to put that album together.

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    2. Cardboard Cowboy is not on those collections?

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    4. I can't find it... Whould you mind linking? Is there a rule against sucha thing?

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  27. Hi! soniclovenoize! I made an alternative debut Grateful Dead album. All In stereo and made so that side A and B are both about 20min each. I would really like to share it with you and see what you think.
    And thank you blogboy for the tips!

    http://www.mediafire.com/download/frj5vvizb6h5vzb/On_a_Shakedown_Cruise.rar

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  29. Can you recreate the proposed Who Fillmore '68 live album like you've mixed "Shakin' All Over" here? Fantastic job! But seriously... is that a possibility?

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  30. Unreleased sixties Who albums I remember:

    1) The first album of R&B covers.
    2) Jigsaw Puzzle.
    3) Who's Lily?
    4) Who's For Tennis?
    5) The Who Live At The Fillmore.
    6) The Who's Greatest Flops.
    7) Sound And Picture City.

    Cheers,
    Mike Griffiths

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    1. Actually, Sound And Picture City was the name of the proposed 1968 Who TV series. Each show was to include a new song, which could have quickly become an album (after 12 episodes).

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    2. Actually Sound And Picture City was the name of the 1968 aborted Who TV series. Each show was to include a new song, which could have quickly become an album (after 12 episodes).

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  31. Actually Sound And Picture City was the name of the 1968 aborted Who TV series. Each show was to include a new song, which could have quickly become an album (after 12 episodes).

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  32. The links are dead, unfortunately. Can you repost, please? Thanks!

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  33. You probably didn't ask for this, but maybe made it happen ... 'Who's for Tennis?' is coming out on Record Store Day (04/18/15). I forget how many vinyl copies but it's limited. Will be interesting to compare your track list to it should I see one in person or on Discogs.

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    1. I can't find any info online about "Who's for Tennis?" for RSD but there is Dylan's Basement Tapes.

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  34. I think the '67 leftovers would probably have been passed over as too drippy for the new hard rock Who, except Jaguar and Cold Taxi, which should never have been dropped - perhaps a power struggle between Pete and Rog was the reason. I doubt Kids or Joys were ever recorded by the Who or they would have been disinterred by now. Lazy Fat People as a possible b-side! Therefore:
    Side One
    Glow Girl
    Little Billy
    Faith In Something Bigger
    Fortune Teller
    Early Morning Cold Taxi
    Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
    Jaguar

    Side Two
    Dogs
    Melancholia
    Politician
    Now I'm A Farmer
    Magic Bus

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    1. "Too drippy" is probably what most think of that "Magic Bus" LP which basically served the same purpose this would have done had it existed.

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  35. I've seen a few interesting configurations of this potential Who LP as a double that seem to be ideal, but this single LP version is pretty much its highlights. And just some thoughts on "Joys" and "Facts of Life": while most think the latter is a possible alternate title to "Do You Want Kids, Kids?", I've lately thought that "Joys" might have been a working title for "Faith in Something Bigger", given they both evoke spirituality.

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  37. How a about of version of "Magic Bus - The Who On Tour" without the repeated tracks. I propose:

    Side A

    Disguises
    Batman
    Dr, Jekyll And Mr Hyde
    Dogs
    Circles
    Call Me Lightning

    Side B

    Magic Bus
    Barbara Ann
    Someone's Coming
    Doctor, Doctor
    Bucket "T"
    Pictures of Lily

    Album of 12 songs released, but non-album tracks with no repeats. If one wants to create a 14 track version "The Last Time," "Under My Thumb," and the B-Side version of "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand(s)" are available and good choices to use. I just tried to the use the rest of the "Ready Steady Who" songs not included on the original release. All previous "Magic Bus" tracks stay in the same place except for "Someone's Coming." I moved it down one to fit in "Barbara Ann." I think "Circles" would been used, since the Decca (MCA) people were probably clueless (or just didn't care) that they released the aversion of this, but with a different name, "Instant Party"
    two years earlier.

    While not popular now, it was the first Who album to break the top 40 in America. It also kept them in the public eye as Tommy was being recorded.

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  38. Only thing wrong with this that I can see is the inclusion of the Magic Bus single instead of the full 4:30 version which until The Who Hits 50 cd set, was only available on the vinyl version of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy. I imagine during this time, such a release would have the longer version on the long player if only to help fill out the release in terms of time. That's how Townshend's first mini opera came into existence. A Quick One was written to fill out their 2nd album.

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  39. Here`s my take on this one,i think it makes a good heavy rock album for 1968.If You listen to the Fillmore East bootleg i think you can imagine what this might have sounded like if it had been recorded as one piece in the studio.

    Who`s For Tennis? (1968) Track Records

    1.Summertime Blues
    2.My Way
    3.Fortune Teller
    4.Sodding About
    5.Melancholia
    6.Jaguar
    7.Early Morning Cold Taxi
    8.Someone`s Coming
    9.Girls Eyes
    10.In The Hall Of The Mountain King
    11.Glittering Girl
    12.Young Man Blues

    Sources:-

    30 Years Of Maximum R&B
    The Who Sell Out Deluxe Edition
    Odds & Sods

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  40. I don't get it. Where
    s the link? where's the sound?

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  41. Never mind; I have collected and compiled the playlist in Apple Music. EXCEPT FOR THE ORIGINAL FLANGETASTIC MIX

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    1. http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-who-whos-for-tennis-upgrade.html

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  42. Huh. Thanks for the link to the update page, but I still can't hear anything. But I listened to my compilation from Apple Music and loved it :D I call this the sweet spot in the golden age of The Who.

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  43. Could someone please clarify the connection between The Who and tennis in 'Who's For Tennis? greeting Telkom University

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