The last thing I posted from the Who was "Who's for Tennis," a stray tracks album from 1968. For the Who, 1969 was consumed by the "Tommy" album, so that brings us to 1970. That year, the Who released the classic "Live at Leeds" live album, and the hit single "The Seeker." They also almost released a four-song EP as well, which probably was going to have the title "6 ft. Wide Garage, 7 ft. Wide Car" based on a joke by drummer Keith Moon. So that's why I've given this album that title. But ultimately, the group decided the EP wouldn't be an impressive enough follow-up to "Tommy."
In fact, just considering studio material, the Who had enough material for a solid album, not just an EP, so that's what I've made here. My challenge was to not include any songs from the group's next big concept album project, "Lifehouse," which eventually became the "Who's Next" album. The song "Naked Eye" was incorporated into some versions of "Lifehouse," but it actually was written by Pete Townshend in 1970 before he started to conceive of "Lifehouse," so I figure it's fair game here.
"I Don't Even Know Myself" is a 1970 B-side that also got retconned into "Lifehouse." But in this case there are two studio versions. So I've used the hard-to-find EP version here, allowing me to use the other version later. I also used the similarly rare EP version of "Postcard." But it doesn't actually matter much, since both of these versions are quite similar to their more well known versions (which can be found on the expanded version of "Odds and Sods.")
It turns out there's just enough material for a 36-minute long 1970 album, which is a decent album length for that year. In order to get that much, I had to use a couple of "Tommy" outtakes that didn't fit the plot. Luckily, the Who was firing on all cylinders in those years, so even their outtakes were quality songs.
01 The Seeker (Who)
02 Heaven and Hell (Who)
03 Here for More (Who)
04 Naked Eye (Who)
05 Young Man Blues (Who)
06 Trying to Get Through (Who)
07 I Don't Even Know Myself [EP Version] (Who)
08 Postcard [EP Version] (Who)
09 Now I'm a Farmer (Who)
10 Water (Who)
https://www.imagenetz.de/kKoVi
The music blogger "The Reconstructor" made the cover art for this album. It's not something the Who were actually considering using, but it looks good to me, so I've included it here. That blog also has a slightly different song list for this album, as well as a more detailed explanation of what the Who did that year. (I differed mainly in not wanting to include "Behind Blue Eyes" or "Drowned" on a 1970 album, even though they both were written in 1970.) I recommend you give it a read here:
http://the-reconstructor.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-who-7ft-wide-car-6ft-wide-garage.html
Hey, I just finished a site where I create three lost Who albums (one under the name the High Numbers) for which I designed covers and wrote (quasi-fictional) liner notes. It all draws from music on Spotify. Anyway, I used your site for some research - thanks! Please check these out - I think you'll enjoy them. https://the-who-lost-albums.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'll check it out. At first glance, I'll note that I like your album covers. They match the eras well. Also, why the double albums? I think making each of those into two single albums would work better. And you get to make more album covers that way. ;)
DeleteThanks! The problem is getting them into the actual Who timeline. I can’t imagine two full LPs between The Who Sell Out and Tommy, or between Who’s Next and Quadrophenia. Yes, I -love- designing record covers — but I’d also be drawing on whatever is available on the web unless I went really high concept. The Tommy cover art is so amazing. Never be able to match that unless I created my own paintings — no skill in that!
ReplyDelete<I can’t imagine two full LPs between The Who Sell Out and Tommy, or between Who’s Next and Quadrophenia.
DeleteWhy not? Artists put out albums very frequently in those years. Consider Creedence Clearwater Revival put out THREE studio albums in 1969! And two in 1970 after that.
The Jigsaw Puzzle double-LP is probably a bit of a mess, which is why I game up with the whole challenging Hendrix and the Beatles narrative, but the other one kind of makes sense. Not a lot of other tracks to draw on in that time.
ReplyDelete