Tommy is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Who, first released on 19 May 1969. Primarily written by guitarist Pete Townshend, Tommy is a double album and an early rock opera that tells the story of the fictional Tommy Walker.
Townshend came up with the concept of Tommy after being introduced to the work of Meher Baba, and he attempted to translate Baba’s teachings into music. Recording of the album began in September 1968, but took six months to complete as material needed to be arranged and re-recorded in the studio. The Who promoted the album’s release with an extensive tour, including a live version of Tommy, which lasted throughout 1969 and 1970. Key gigs from the tour included appearances at Woodstock, the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, the University of Leeds, the Metropolitan Opera House, and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. The live performances of Tommy drew critical praise and revitalised the band’s career.
Upon its release, Tommy was acclaimed by critics, who hailed it as the Who’s breakthrough. Its critical standing diminished slightly in later years; nonetheless, several writers view it as an important and influential album in the history of rock music. In 1998, Tommy was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Subsequently, the rock opera was developed into other media, including a Seattle Opera production in 1971, an orchestral version by Lou Reizner in 1972, a film in 1975, and a Broadway musical in 1992. Tommy has been reissued several times on CD, including a remix by Jon Astley in 1996, a deluxe Super Audio CD in 2003, and a super deluxe box set in 2013, including previously unreleased demos and live material. (wikipedia)
Ad from 1969:
And ..
… Tommy is a 1975 British musical fantasy drama film written and directed by Ken Russell and based on the Who’s 1969 rock opera album Tommy about a “psychosomatically deaf, mute, and blind” boy who becomes a pinball champion and religious leader.[5] The film featured a star-studded ensemble cast, including the band members themselves (most notably, lead singer Roger Daltrey, who plays the title role), Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Elton John, and Jack Nicholson.
An independent production by Russell and Robert Stigwood, Tommy was released by Columbia Pictures in the US on 19 March 1975 while in the UK it was released by Hemdale Film Corporation on 26 March 1975. Ann-Margret received a Golden Globe Award for her performance and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Pete Townshend was also nominated for an Oscar for his work in scoring and adapting the music for the film. The film was shown at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered into the main competition. In 1975, the film won the award for Rock Movie of the Year in the First Annual Rock Music Awards. (wikipedia)
And then
… this book was published in 1977 … It not only tells the story of this rock opera, but also the background to the Ken Ruselll film.
It became a full illustrated book with lots of information …
This book is a must for every The Who fan !
The book was written by Richard Barnes:
Richard Alan Barnes (born 3 October 1944) is an English author, best known for his association with the mod subculture and the rock group The Who, including his book on the group Maximum R&B. He gave The Who their name when he was roommates with Pete Townshend, after the group had originally been called The Detours.
Barnes started a course at Ealing Art College at the same time as Townshend and the two of them shared a flat together,[3] bonding over their mutual love for old R&B and soul records. Townshend subsequently said that Barnes was “very important to The Who’s thinking process in the early days. He and I used to sit around and talk about The Who as an installation, we wrote a manifesto for the group together.” When Townshend’s group, The Detours, needed a new name, the pair sat up all night suggesting joke names, until Barnes came up with The Who. The group’s singer, Roger Daltrey endorsed the new name the next day.
The High Numbers, accompanied by their friend Richard ‘Barney’ Barnes and their publicist Pete Meaden, dancing at the Scene Club in Soho in 1964.
The Scene Club was considered London’s key mod venue. Soon after this particular night the High Numbers were granted a residency at the Scene. An honour indeed.
In this photo from left to right are, John Entwistle, Keith Moon, Richard Barnes, Pete Townshend, Pete Meaden (looking sideways) and Roger Daltrey:
In early 1964, Barnes was working as a promoter for the Railway Hotel, Wealdstone. He removed all the lights in the pub apart from two pink ones, and turned up the heating to create a sweaty atmosphere. He managed to achieve average audience attendances of between 500 – 1000, including a weekly residency by The Who every Tuesday. Barnes believed The Who should have split up around the mid-1970s, and believes the only reason they stayed together was for the money.
In 1977, Barnes & Townshend collaborated on a book to coincide with the Ken Russell film of The Who’s rock-opera Tommy, entitled The Story Of Tommy.
1982 saw the first publication of The Who: Maximum R & B, an officially authorised biography of the band with photographs. After multiple pressings, the book is still in print.
In 1993 Barnes was listed as director and collaborator on Townshend’s “Psychoderelict solo album and theatrical American solo-tour that followed. Barnes was featured in the official and definitive documentary of the group: Amazing Journey – The Story Of The Who, directed by Murray Lerner and given a 2007 worldwide theatrical release.
Barnes was featured in the 2013 documentary on the making of the band’s 1973 Quadrophenia album: Quadrophenia: Can You See the Real Me, as well as many other documentaries focussed on the band’s and also specifically the members Pete Townshend and Keith Moon.
In 1979 Barnes wrote and compiled the book Mods!, in which he described the mod movement with particular emphasis in London.(wikipedia)
As a supplement to this presentation, I have included the official film book from 1975.
The back of the book:
More from The Who in this blog:
The olfficial website:
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to achieve international commercial success. They were headliners at the Monterey Pop Festival (1967), Woodstock (1969), Altamont Free Concert (1969), and the first Isle of Wight Festival (1968) in England. Their 1967 break-out album Surrealistic Pillow ranks on the short list of the most significant recordings of the Summer of Love. Two songs from that album, “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit”, are among Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a “horn-like” improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.
Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name “Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press” (a reference to a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and an acronymic play on the British TV show Top of the Pops). Its original scope was British bands and artists (early issues featured the slogan “America’s Only British Rock Magazine”). Initial issues contained occasional interviews with major artists like Brian Eno and Robert Fripp and extensive record reviews. After 14 issues, the title was shortened to simply Trouser Press, and it gradually transformed into a professional magazine with color covers and advertising.
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