The Who's 1973 had many musical problems. Most of them related to the use of prerecorded tapes in order to capture the full complexity of the music from the "Quadrophenia" album. But playing along to prerecorded tapes hadn't been done much before, and they kept having technical problems. But luckily, the second to last show of the tour, in Philadelphia, is considered of the best shows of the tour, if not the best. And that one happened to be professionally recorded for a radio station broadcast. The last night of the tour, in Landover, Maryland, was also recorded for the same reason, but that performance isn't considered as good, and it had technical issues. Also, the Philadelphia concert has an extra encore of "Naked Eye" that the Landover show doesn't have.
At first, only parts of both shows were broadcast, combined into one highlights show for the "King Biscuit Flower Hour." But eventually, bootlegs of all of both shows appeared. However, the Philadelphia one is missing the key song "Love Reign O'er Me." So I've used the Landover version to fill in that gap.
There also were some mixing issues with the Philadelphia recording. Specifically, some of the vocals weren't prominent enough. This was especially the case when John Entwistle or Pete Townshend were singing. It seems their microphones weren't set to the same volume as the band's usual lead singer, Roger Daltrey. So for a few songs, I used the X-Minus audio editing program to boost some of the vocals (the ones with "[Edit]" in their names). This recording is a soundboard, which is great, but one could hear so little of the audience that the reaction after each song seemed muted. So I boosted the applause after each song. I also think there's some missing bits between a few of the songs, especially towards the end. One could tell for instance when loud applause was suddenly cut to near total silence. I made some more edits to make those transitions sound natural.
I think "Quadrophenia" was one of the band's best albums, and this live version is excellent. If you're a Who fan, you should get this.
This album is an hour and 51 minutes long.
01 I Can't Explain (Who)
02 Summertime Blues (Who)
03 talk (Who)
04 My Wife [Edit] (Who)
05 My Generation (Who)
06 talk (Who)
07 I Am the Sea (Who)
08 The Real Me (Who)
09 The Punk and the Godfather [Edit] (Who)
10 talk (Who)
11 I'm One (Who)
12 talk (Who)
13 5;15 (Who)
14 talk (Who)
15 Sea and Sand [Edit] (Who)
16 talk (Who)
17 Drowned (Who)
18 Bell Boy [Edit] (Who)
19 talk (Who)
20 Doctor Jimmy [Edit] (Who)
21 Love Reign O'er Me (Who)
22 Won't Get Fooled Again (Who)
23 Pinball Wizard (Who)
24 See Me, Feel Me (Who)
25 Naked Eye (Who)
https://www.imagenetz.de/a4mBz
The cover photo was taken in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 27, 1973.
Hot damn. I've been looking for a complete show from the original Quadro run for a while. If this is anything like your pervious works I know I will enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, great idea for an Album That Should Exist, can't wait to hear your improvements!
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I saw them only once, in Brighton, just a few days before the show in Cincinnati, and this is what I remember them sounding like.
ReplyDeleteThanx for posting this. EXCELLENT show from the true Who.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, maximum gratitude to whoever posted this. I have not seen this particular set anywhere else. Keith Moon made it a little speedy and uneven, but I guess that's what folks love about him. Kudos to Daltry, Townsend, and Entwhistle for keeping it together for as long as they did. It all falls apart when they launch into Quadrophenia, but whatever. I've definitely heard worse performances.
ReplyDeleteI had an idea for new addition to you site under The Who, if you will indulge me.....the most recent live album by The Who ('Live at Wembley) was disappointing to me because it cut out the first set featuring selections from 'Tommy' with the orchestra. I saw the show in Boston in 2019 and thought the opening set was a highlight. I can't understand why they would only release a partial show. Anyway, to fix this mistake, one could stitch together the complete show by using 'Live at Wembley' set + the missing Tommy tracks from the previously released 'The Who's Tommy Orchestral' released by Roger Daltrey. I'm pretty sure the previous tour by Roger used the same orchestral arrangements for the Tommy tracks. I tried it myself but can't quite get the transitions or volume correct between the two releases. I thought this would be something perfect for your site seeing how you are a big fan of The Who. Thanks for reading! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteIs it obnoxious to reply to your own comment in hopes that it will get noticed? Wait, don't answer that. :) I still think my suggestion is a cool idea and a fine addition to this blog. Your milage my vary...thanks!
DeleteLove Your website and Also a big fan of Pete Townshend / The Who...I'm asking you to check the above file...I keep getting an error message saying unspecified error 0X80004005..for I can't explain...
ReplyDeleteThanks again and I love your site..
This Who 1973 show is legendary because the Quadrophenia performances are so RARE. My King Biscuit version has 10 fewer songs. Love Reign O'er Me sounds like an [edit].
ReplyDeleteDaltrey's voice breaks on the high notes, but his voice is the original -- better than old gravely Daltrey. I love hearing this fresh take without the overproduction that took the life out of Who's Last. I'm not interested in anniversary performances of Tommy/Quad because they are too distant and overblown.
Thanks for making all the corrections! I eagerly read the details. Thanks for burning mp3s @ 256kbps and the cover art.