THE WHO ? TOMMY ? NM archive 1969 Decca 2LP with pristine book ? heavy UK psych

$

40

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Stunning original issue of their fourth album, a double LP set released in May 1969. Mostly composed by guitarist Pete Townshend, it is a rock opera portraying the story of a deaf, dumb and blind boy, including his experiences with life and the relationship with his family. By 1968, Townshend was unsure about how the Who should progress musically. His friend, International Times art director Mike McInnerney, told him about the Indian spiritual mentor Meher Baba, and Townshend became fascinated with Baba's values of compassion, love and introspection. The Who's commercial success was on the wane after the single "Dogs" failed to make the top 20, and there was a genuine risk of the band breaking up. Live performances remained strong, and the group spent most of the spring and summer touring the US and Canada, but their stage act relied on Townshend smashing his guitar or Moon demolishing his drums, which kept the group in debt. Townshend and manager/producer Kit Lambert realised they needed a larger vehicle for their music than hit singles, and a new stage show, and Townshend hoped to incorporate his love of Baba into this concept. He decided that the Who should record a series of songs that stood well in isolation, but formed a cohesive whole on the album. The recording started at IBC on 19 September 1968 with Lambert in charge of the production, and Damon Lyon-Shaw as engineer. Sessions were block booked from 2pm – 10pm, but recording often spilled over into the early morning. The album was recorded on eight tracks, with Townshend making particular use of the Gibson J-200 acoustic and the SG, as well as piano and organ. Bassist John Entwistle doubled on french horn, and Keith Moon used a new double bass drum kit owned by roadie Tony Haslam, after Premier had refused to loan him any more equipment due to continual abuse. Though Townshend wrote the majority of the material, the arrangements came from the entire band. Townshend asked Entwistle to write two songs ("Cousin Kevin" and "Fiddle About") that covered the darker themes of bullying and abuse. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" was Moon's suggestion of what religious movement Tommy could lead, though the music was composed by Townshend. A significant amount of material had a lighter style than earlier recordings, with greater prominence put on the vocals. Some of the material had already been written for other projects: "Sensation" was about a girl Townshend had met on the Who's tour of Australia in early 1968, "Welcome" and "I'm Free" were about peace found through Meher Baba, and "Sally Simpson" was based on a gig with the Doors which was marred by violence. Other songs had been previously recorded by the Who and were recycled; "It's A Boy" was derived from "Glow Girl", an out-take from Sell Out, while "Sparks" and "Underture" re-used and expanded one of the instrumental themes in "Rael". "Amazing Journey" was, according to Townshend, "the absolute beginning" of the opera and summarised the entire plot. "The Hawker" was a cover of Mose Allison's "Eyesight to the Blind". Recording at IBC was slow, due to a lack of a full plot and a full selection of songs. The group hoped that the album would be ready by Christmas, but sessions dragged on. The Who's US record company got so impatient waiting for new product that they released the compilation Magic Bus: The Who On Tour which received scathing reviews due to its poor selection of material and misleading name (the album was not live). The Who took a break from recording at the end of 1968 to tour, including a well received appearance at The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus on 10 December. They resumed sessions at IBC in January 1969, block booking Monday to Thursday, but had to do gigs every weekend to stop going further into debt. A major tour was booked for the end of April, and the group's management insisted that the album would have to be finished by then. Lambert wrote a script which he professionally printed, helping the band focus the storyline, and also decided to make the album a double. The group were still coming up with new material; Lambert insisted that the piece should have a proper overture, while Townshend wrote "Pinball Wizard" so that Nik Cohn, a pinball fan, would give the album a favourable review in the New York Times. Lambert wanted an orchestra to appear on the album, but Townshend was strongly against the idea, and time and budget constraints meant it could not happen anyway. By March 1969, some songs had been recorded several times, yet Townshend still thought there were missing pieces. The final session took place on 7 March, the same day that "Pinball Wizard" was released as a single. The group started tour rehearsals and promotional activities for the single and Lambert went on holiday in Cairo. The mixing was left to Lyon-Shaw and assistant engineer Ted Sharp, who did not think IBC was well suited for the task. The album overshot its April deadline, as stereo mastering continued into the end of the month. It was finally released on 17 May in the US, and 23 May in the UK, due to delays with the cover, which was designed by McInnerney to include a booklet featuring lyrics and images to illustrate parts of the story. One of the greatest epic albums of all-time, which secured the band's rightful place as ambassadors of conceptual, heavy rock.



Artist: THE WHO

Year: 1969

Label: Decca

Catalog Number: DXSW 7205

Mono/Stereo/Quadro: stereo

Country: USA

Weight: 121 grams / 115 grams

Cover Format: thick triple-gatefold

Cover Condition: VG+ (sharp, crisp, vivid & tight, pristine book, mild ring/shelf wear but perfect edges, close to NM if not for a crease in the bottom right that also affects the inside but is still not distracting at all, super clean overall and honestly apart from the crease it is one of the nicest copies we've ever seen)

Vinyl Condition:

Label Condition: s1 & s2 each have one spindle mark, s3 & s4 are like new

We clean every record on a VPI HW-17F using Audio Intelligent Vinyl Solutions multi-step process (every disc goes into a brand-new poly-lined inner sleeve).

Everything is strictly graded using the classic Goldmine Standards that we have been applying since 1983: 

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We visually grade all records using the classic Goldmine Standard, to which we have added EX (as have many others), but we do not use any other variant from the classic scale.  No NM- or EX+ (which are both EX), EX- VG+++ or Near Excellent (which are all VG+), or any such other nebulous grades here!  We feel that nearly every collector will be more than pleased with anything listed EX or above in our auctions; they will all be top-shelf, archive quality items which will play M- throughout.  A VG+ record will truly satisfy all but the most critical curator.  On the very rare occasion we actually grade an opened LP as straight MINT, we can guarantee you’ll never find a nicer copy anywhere!

We will play-grade any LP if there is any reason to do so; any questionable mark, scuff or noteworthy artifact of any kind will be sampled to determine its true significance (which may obviously impact the grade ).  We will also gladly play-grade anything upon request; if you are curious about the actual pressing characteristics or any have other questions about its actual performance please feel free to ask.

MINT :  Absolutely perfect.

This record looks like it has just left the plant, with no flaws whatsoever.  It appears unhandled and unplayed, with no marks of any sort.  Usually only sealed or (sometimes) unplayed LPs will warrant this grade.

The cover does not appear to have had a record inside it; there is no wear or distraction of any kind.

 NM : Virtually flawless, top copy.

The record is virtually identical to the moment it was opened, but may have a few faint paper, packaging or pressing scuffs which will produce no sound whatsoever and are very hard to see without critical inspection.  It was very carefully handled and played, likely only once or twice.

The cover is as close to perfect as can be expected given its age.  There may be minor impressions due to the outer edge of the vinyl (no ring wear), the lightest possible corner bumps, or a few tiny laminate creases (mainly on imports), but no wear or whitening of any kind whatsoever.

EX : A beautiful specimen, which will please most critical collectors and not need to be upgraded.

The record has no scratches or significant blemishes, and will play NM throughout.  It retains 100% of the gloss, sheen and luster, but may have a handful of faint superficial scuffs, hairlines or light spindle marks which will not produce any sound whatsoever.

The cover is nearly perfect.  There may be the absolute faintest suggestion of ring wear or possibly a light touch of dulling on the corners (nothing wrinkled or obtrusive in any way), but no notable seam or spine wear, writing or sign of tape anywhere.

 VG+ : Plays perfectly nearly all of the time, with only a few minor distractions.

The record still retains nearly all of the gloss, sheen and luster, but there may be a handful of inaudible superficial marks or scuffs, a mild scattering of light hairlines (which would only be faintly audible between tracks or in some very quiet passages), or a few stray marks which may mildly sound for a few revolutions. Each flaw is very minor, barely noticeable to the naked eye, and will not detract from the enjoyment in any way.

The cover is still very clean and crisp, but may look slightly more aged and have a few minor flaws such as small unobtrusive writing, minor wear to the seams and spine (no splits), slightly worn corners, very light ring wear or minor creasing.  No flaw is at all distracting in and of itself.

 VG : A nice play copy, which will perform without much significant distraction.

The record appears well played, but still has the majority of the luster.  It will not have been abused, though there will be some audible sound defects which will not overpower the dynamics of the music, such as mild surface noise in the quietest sections, a handful of stray isolated pops and clicks (which are brief and occasional), or possibly some very mild groove wear; still no skips, repeats, or anything deep or seriously pronounced.  It will play through quite nicely most of the time, with very minimal distraction.

The cover looks somewhat used and shows some mild wear.  There may be some minor seam splitting, ring wear (which still doesn’t overwhelm the cover), discreet writing (not large magic marker), or mild yellowing due to air contaminants. It is still nice, just a few notable flaws away from VG+.

We will never sell anything less than VG, so the rest of the scale is unnecessary.  We absolutely detest groove wear, so we will almost never list anything lacking the overwhelming majority of the luster, sheen and gloss.  Anything of significance will always be noted. 

THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING!

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