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The Who - Direct Hits (1968)

Track listing:
  1. Bucket T 2:12
  2. I'm a Boy 2:42
  3. Pictures of Lily 2:47
  4. Doctor Doctor 3:02
  5. I Can See for Miles 4:06
  6. Substitute 3:50
  7. Happy Jack 2:14
  8. Last Time 2:56
  9. In the City 2:26
  10. Call Me Lightning 2:24
  11. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand 2:13
  12. Dogs 3:05

Notes

Size: 65.1 MB
Bitrate: 256
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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Incuded
Japan 24-Bit Remaster

The first band that could be considered a parent of The Who was a dixieland band started by Pete Townshend and John Entwistle called The Confederates. Townshend played the banjo and Entwistle the French horn (which he would continue to use in The Who and in his solo career). Roger Daltrey, a senior that year, asked Entwistle to join his band. Entwistle agreed and suggested Townshend as an additional guitarist.

In their early days the band was known as The Detours. Like many of their British peers, the group was heavily influenced by American blues and country music, initially playing mostly rhythm and blues. Daltrey was initially the lead guitarist, but he soon moved to lead vocals and Townshend became sole guitarist. The Detours changed their name to "The Who" in 1964 and, with the arrival of Keith Moon that year, their line-up was complete. However, for a short period during 1964, under the management of Peter Meaden, they changed their name to The High Numbers, during which time they released "Zoot Suit/I'm The Face", a single designed to appeal to their mostly mod fans. When it failed to chart, the band fired Meaden and quickly reverted to The Who. They became one of the most popular bands among the British mods, a 1960s subculture involving cutting-edge fashions, scooters and music genres such as rhythm and blues, soul, and beat music.

The band crystallised around Townshend as the primary songwriter and creative force (though Entwistle would also make notable songwriting contributions). Townshend was at the centre of the band's tensions, as he strove to write challenging and thoughtful music, while Daltrey preferred energetic and macho material (Daltrey would occasionally refuse to sing a Townshend composition and Townshend would thus sing it himself). Moon, not really a songwriter (although he contributed a handful of songs in the 60s), was a fan of American surf music.

In September 1964, at the Railway Tavern in Harrow and Wealdstone, England, Pete Townshend smashed his first guitar. Playing on a high stage, Townshend's physical style of performance resulted in him accidentally breaking off the head of his guitar when it collided with the ceiling. Angered by snickers from the audience, he proceeded to smash the instrument to pieces on the stage. He then picked up a Rickenbacker twelve-string guitar and continued the concert. A large crowd attended their next concert, but Townshend declined to smash another guitar. Instead, Keith Moon wrecked his drumkit. Instrument destruction became a staple of The Who's live shows for the next several years. The incident at the Railway Tavern is one of Rolling Stone magazine's "50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock 'n' Roll".

The Who's first release, and first hit, was January 1965's "I Can't Explain", influenced by the early Kinks hits (with whom they shared American producer Shel Talmy). This top ten UK hit was followed by "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", which was the only song credited as being composed in a joint effort by Townshend and Daltrey, though Townshend implied Daltrey assisted in songwriting without credit in the liner notes to Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.

Their debut album My Generation (The Who Sings My Generation in the U.S.) was released the same year. The album included such mod anthems as "The Kids Are Alright" and the title track "My Generation". Subsequent hits, such as the 1966 singles "Substitute", about a young man who feels like a fraud, "I'm a Boy" about a young boy dressed as a young girl, "Happy Jack" about a mentally disturbed young man, and 1967's "Pictures of Lily", a tribute to masturbation, all show Townshend's growing use of stories of sexual tension and teenage angst. More hits followed, including "I Can See for Miles" and the 1968 single "Magic Bus".

Although they had success as a singles band, Townshend had more ambitious goals. He wanted to treat The Who's albums as unified works, rather than collections of unconnected songs. Although Townshend later said that the song "I'm A Boy" was from a projected opus, the first sign of this ambition came in their 1966 album A Quick One, which included the storytelling medley "A Quick One While He's Away", which they later referred to as a "mini opera," and which has been called the first prog epic.

A Quick One was followed by The Who Sell Out in 1967, a concept album which played like an offshore radio station, complete with humorous jingles and commercials, and which also included a mini rock opera, called "Rael" (whose closing theme ended up on "Tommy"), as well as The Who's biggest USA single, "I Can See for Miles". The Who famously destroyed their equipment onstage at the Monterey Pop Festival that year and subsequently repeated the routine on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour with literally explosive results as Keith Moon detonated his drum kit. In 1968 The Who were the headliner of the first Schaefer Music Festival in New York City's Central Park. Also that year, Pete Townshend became the subject of the first Rolling Stone interview. Townshend revealed in that interview that he was working on a full-length rock opera. This was Tommy, the first work billed as a rock opera and a major landmark in modern music.

UK singles (1964-68)

1964 - "I'm the Face" / "Zoot Suit" / (Released under the name The High Numbers. A & B sides flipped on later pressings.)
1965 - "I Can't Explain" / "Bald Headed Woman"
1965 - "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" / "Daddy Rolling Stone" (UK B-Side) / "Anytime You Want Me" (US B-Side)
1965 - "My Generation" / "Shout and Shimmy"
1966 - "Circles" / "Instant Party" (Unreleased single)
1966 - "Substitute" / "Circles" (UK B-Side) / "Waltz for a Pig" (US B-Side)
1966 - "A Legal Matter" / "Instant Party"
1966 - "The Kids Are Alright" / "The Ox"
1966 - "I'm a Boy" / "In the City"
1966 - "La La La Lies" / "The Good's Gone"
1966 - "Happy Jack" / "I've Been Away" (UK B-Side) / "Whiskey Man" (US B-Side)
1967 - "Pictures of Lily" / "Doctor, Doctor"
1967 - "The Last Time" / "Under My Thumb"
1967 - "I Can See For Miles" / "Someone's Coming" (UK B-Side) / "Mary-Anne with Shakey Hands" (US B-Side)
1968 - "Dogs" / "Call Me Lightning"

01. "Bucket T"
02. "I'm a Boy"
03. "Pictures of Lily"
04. "Doctor Doctor"
05. "I Can See for Miles"
06. "Substitute"
07. "Happy Jack"
08. "Last Time"
09. "In the City"
10. "Call Me Lightning"
11. "Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand"
12. "Dogs"