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The Who - The Tommy Demos (1969)

Track listing:
  1. Overture 4:44
  2. It's a Boy! 0:41
  3. 1921 3:13
  4. Amazing Journey 7:48
  5. Sparks 1:48
  6. Christmas 4:43
  7. Cousin Kevin 4:02
  8. The Acid Queen 3:35
  9. Underture 1:48
  10. Do You Think It's Alright?
  11. Fiddle About 1:21
  12. Pinball Wizard 3:43
  13. There's a Doctor 0:24
  14. Go to the Mirror 4:33
  15. Success 0:10
  16. Tommy, Can You Hear Me? 1:15
  17. Smash The Mirror 1:38
  18. Sensation 2:51
  19. Miracle Cure 0:11
  20. Sally Simpson 4:51
  21. I'm Free 2:27
  22. Tommy's Holiday Camp 0:57
  23. Welcome 3:25
  24. We're Not Gonna Take It 5:04

Notes


Superb quality demos for the famous rock opera, including working versions of almost all of the songs that ended up on the album. Townshend takes lead vocals on a lot of these, which are, more often than not, extremely similar in arrangement and delivery to the versions that ended up on the finished product; one assumes that most of these may be Pete's own recordings, on which he played most or all of the instruments. It's low on extraordinary revelations, but it's an interesting document of the creative process for this hugely influential album.