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On this day, August 14, 1971, fifty years ago, the Who released "Who's Next."
{edited from "The Who" to "the Who" to conform to Wikipedia standards}
Who's Next
Studio album by the Who
Released 14 August 1971
Recorded April–June 1971
Studios
Olympic, London, England
Stargroves, East Woodhay, England (Rolling Stones Mobile Studio)
Singles from Who's Next
"Won't Get Fooled Again"; Released: 25 June 1971
"Baba O'Riley"; Released: 23 October 1971 (Europe)
"Behind Blue Eyes"; Released: 6 November 1971
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Who. It developed from the aborted Lifehouse project, a multi-media rock opera written by the group's guitarist Pete Townshend as a follow-up to the band's 1969 album Tommy. The project was cancelled owing to its complexity and to conflicts with Kit Lambert, the band's manager, but the group salvaged some of the songs, without the connecting story elements, to release as their next album. Eight of the nine songs on Who's Next were from Lifehouse, the lone exception being the John Entwistle-penned "My Wife". Ultimately, the remaining Lifehouse tracks would all be released on other albums throughout the next decade.
The Who recorded Who's Next with assistance from recording engineer Glyn Johns. After producing the song "Won't Get Fooled Again" in the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, they relocated to Olympic Studios to record and mix most of the album's remaining songs. They made prominent use of synthesizer on the album, particularly on "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Baba O'Riley", which were both released as singles. The cover photo was shot by Ethan Russell; it made reference to the monolith in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, as it featured group members standing by a concrete piling protruding from a slag heap, apparently having urinated against it.
Who's Next was an immediate success when it was released on 14 August 1971. It has since been viewed by many critics as the Who's best album and one of the greatest albums of all time. It was reissued on CD several times, with additional songs originally intended for Lifehouse.
{snip}
Cover art
The cover artwork shows a photograph, taken at Easington Colliery, of the band apparently having just urinated on a large concrete piling protruding from a slag heap. The decision to shoot the picture came from Entwistle and Moon discussing Stanley Kubrick and the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. According to photographer Ethan Russell, only Townshend actually urinated against the piling, so rainwater was tipped from an empty film canister to achieve the desired effect. The sky in the background was added later to give the image what Russell called "this other worldly quality." The rear cover showed the band backstage at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, amongst a debris of furniture. In 2003, the television channel VH1 named Who's Next's cover one of the greatest album covers of all time.
Other suggestions for the cover included the group urinating against a Marshall Stack and an overweight nude woman with the Who's faces in place of her genitalia. An alternative cover featuring Moon dressed in black lingerie and a brown wig, holding a whip, was later used for the inside art for the 1995 and 2003 CD releases. Some of the photographs taken during these sessions were later used as part of Decca's United States promotion of the album.
Release and promotion
The Who playing in Charlotte, North Carolina, shortly after Who's Next was released
The lead single, "Won't Get Fooled Again" (edited down to three and a half minutes), was released on 25 June 1971 in the UK and in July in the US ahead of the album. It reached #9 and #15 in the charts respectively.[42] The album was released on 14 August in the US and on 27 August in the UK. It became the only album by the Who to top the UK charts.
The Who started touring the US just before the album was released. The group used the Lifehouse PA, though soundman Bob Pridden found the technical requirements of the equipment to be over-complicated. The set list was revamped, and while it included a smaller selection of numbers from Tommy, several new numbers from the new album such as "My Wife", "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" became live favourites. The latter two songs involved the band playing to a backing track containing the synthesizer parts. The tour moved to the UK in September, including a show at The Oval, Kennington in front of 35,000 fans, and the opening gig at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, before going back to the US, ending in Seattle on 15 December. The group then took eight months off touring, the longest break of their career at that point.
{snip}
Studio album by the Who
Released 14 August 1971
Recorded April–June 1971
Studios
Olympic, London, England
Stargroves, East Woodhay, England (Rolling Stones Mobile Studio)
Singles from Who's Next
"Won't Get Fooled Again"; Released: 25 June 1971
"Baba O'Riley"; Released: 23 October 1971 (Europe)
"Behind Blue Eyes"; Released: 6 November 1971
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Who. It developed from the aborted Lifehouse project, a multi-media rock opera written by the group's guitarist Pete Townshend as a follow-up to the band's 1969 album Tommy. The project was cancelled owing to its complexity and to conflicts with Kit Lambert, the band's manager, but the group salvaged some of the songs, without the connecting story elements, to release as their next album. Eight of the nine songs on Who's Next were from Lifehouse, the lone exception being the John Entwistle-penned "My Wife". Ultimately, the remaining Lifehouse tracks would all be released on other albums throughout the next decade.
The Who recorded Who's Next with assistance from recording engineer Glyn Johns. After producing the song "Won't Get Fooled Again" in the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, they relocated to Olympic Studios to record and mix most of the album's remaining songs. They made prominent use of synthesizer on the album, particularly on "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Baba O'Riley", which were both released as singles. The cover photo was shot by Ethan Russell; it made reference to the monolith in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, as it featured group members standing by a concrete piling protruding from a slag heap, apparently having urinated against it.
Who's Next was an immediate success when it was released on 14 August 1971. It has since been viewed by many critics as the Who's best album and one of the greatest albums of all time. It was reissued on CD several times, with additional songs originally intended for Lifehouse.
{snip}
Cover art
The cover artwork shows a photograph, taken at Easington Colliery, of the band apparently having just urinated on a large concrete piling protruding from a slag heap. The decision to shoot the picture came from Entwistle and Moon discussing Stanley Kubrick and the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. According to photographer Ethan Russell, only Townshend actually urinated against the piling, so rainwater was tipped from an empty film canister to achieve the desired effect. The sky in the background was added later to give the image what Russell called "this other worldly quality." The rear cover showed the band backstage at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, amongst a debris of furniture. In 2003, the television channel VH1 named Who's Next's cover one of the greatest album covers of all time.
Other suggestions for the cover included the group urinating against a Marshall Stack and an overweight nude woman with the Who's faces in place of her genitalia. An alternative cover featuring Moon dressed in black lingerie and a brown wig, holding a whip, was later used for the inside art for the 1995 and 2003 CD releases. Some of the photographs taken during these sessions were later used as part of Decca's United States promotion of the album.
Release and promotion
The Who playing in Charlotte, North Carolina, shortly after Who's Next was released
The lead single, "Won't Get Fooled Again" (edited down to three and a half minutes), was released on 25 June 1971 in the UK and in July in the US ahead of the album. It reached #9 and #15 in the charts respectively.[42] The album was released on 14 August in the US and on 27 August in the UK. It became the only album by the Who to top the UK charts.
The Who started touring the US just before the album was released. The group used the Lifehouse PA, though soundman Bob Pridden found the technical requirements of the equipment to be over-complicated. The set list was revamped, and while it included a smaller selection of numbers from Tommy, several new numbers from the new album such as "My Wife", "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" became live favourites. The latter two songs involved the band playing to a backing track containing the synthesizer parts. The tour moved to the UK in September, including a show at The Oval, Kennington in front of 35,000 fans, and the opening gig at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, before going back to the US, ending in Seattle on 15 December. The group then took eight months off touring, the longest break of their career at that point.
{snip}
CSI: Miami is always running on the TV, so I think I've heard "Won't Get Fooled Again" enough times to last.
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Man. I'm getting old, but then again we didn't really mean it when we sang, " I hope I die before get old ".
The Who. One of the GOAT. 
