The official BBC album "BBC Sessions" mostly got things right, but it included a couple of BBC performances that were exactly the same as the studio records. It inexplicably missed a couple of BBC performance. But the biggest difference between that and this is that I stretched the concept to include other TV or radio performances the Who did when they were actively putting out new music (meaning from 1964 through 1982). In the time frame for this album, they did some actual live performances for "Shindig" and "Ready Steady Go," not lip-sync versions that were common at the time.
On top of that, I've included something that was recorded with the intention of being shown on TV, but apparently never was. In 1964, back when the Who was still known as "The High Numbers," the band's managers videotaped a short performance at the Railway Hotel in London. You can find the full video on YouTube, and it's fascinating. It's startlingly good quality considering the time period and the fact the band was barely known and playing to a small crowd.
Frankly, a lot of that 1964 footage isn't very good musically. For instance, Pete Townshend wasn't that adept at lead guitar yet. But I've chosen the three best songs that weren't done in better versions by the band at other times. The band actually did get to play on British TV in 1964, and they played one of these songs, "I Gotta Dance to Keep from Crying." But the recording is lost, apparently, so this will have to do instead. Note on these High Numbers songs how vocalist Roger Daltrey was going through a phase of trying to sound like blues legend Howlin' Wolf.
There are a few songs where the BBC DJ talked over the music. I've removed such talking with the X-Minus audio editing program. Those are the songs with "[Edit]" in their names.
I ordered the songs chronologically, except for the first one, which is a jingle the band made to promote themselves on the BBC, in 1967. It seems like a fitting way to start.
Oh, and there's one song played for "Ready Steady Go" that sounded rougher than the others, so I've only included it as a bonus track.
UPDATE: On November 28, 2022, I updated the mp3 download file. I found enough material to split Volume 2 in this series into Volumes 2 and 3. But in doing so, I moved a few songs from this one to the new Volume 2. I also redid this album using the versions of the songs favored by Prof. Stoned at his blog. In some cases, he's found better versions than those on the official album, or remastered them better.
01 My Generation [Radio 1 Jingle] (Who)
02 I Gotta Dance to Keep from Crying (Who [High Numbers])
03 Ooh Poo Pah Doo (Who [High Numbers])
04 Long Tall Shorty (Who [High Numbers])
05 Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (Who)
06 Good Lovin' [Edit] (Who)
07 Just You and Me, Darling (Who)
08 Leaving Here [Edit] (Who)
09 Shout and Shimmy (Who)
10 I Can't Explain (Who)
11 Daddy Rolling Stone (Who)
12 My Generation (Who)
13 The Good's Gone [Edit] (Who)
14 La La La Lies [Edit] (Who)
15 Man with Money (Who)
16 Dancing in the Street [Edit] (Who)
Baby Don't You Do It [Don't Do It] (Who)
https://www.imagenetz.de/e54du
For the cover art, I found a photo of the band playing on the "Ready Steady Go" TV show, which should be obvious from the sign in the background.
Thanks for sharing.
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