The Who My Generation U.K Virgin Pressing Vinyl Rip Flac
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My Generation
Studio album by The Who
Released 3 December 1965
Recorded April and 11–15 October 1965 at IBC Studios, London
Genre Rock, pop
Length 36:13
Language English
Label Brunswick
Producer Shel Talmy
Singles from My Generation
"My Generation"
Released: 5 November 1965
"A Legal Matter"
Released: 7 March 1966
"The Kids Are Alright"
Released: July 1966
"La-La-La-Lies"
Released: 11 November 1966
Alternative cover
The Who Sings My Generation
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 5/5 stars [1]
BBC Music (very favourable)
My Generation is the debut album by the English rock band The Who, released by Brunswick Records in the United Kingdom in December 1965. In the United States it was released by Decca Records as The Who Sings My Generation in April 1966, with a different cover and a slightly altered track listing.[2]
The album was made immediately after the Who got their first singles on the charts and according to the booklet in the Deluxe Edition, it was later dismissed by the band as something of a rush job that did not accurately represent their stage performance of the time. On the other hand, critics often rate it as one of the best rock albums of all time: in 2003, the album was ranked number 236 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[3] and named the second greatest guitar album of all time by Mojo magazine.[4] In 2004, it was #18 in Q magazine's list of the 50 Best British Albums Ever.[5] In 2006, it was ranked #49 in NME's list of the 100 Greatest British Albums.[6] In 2004, the title track was #11 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Contents
History
The album was made during The Who's early "Maximum R&B" period and features covers of popular R&B tunes, in addition to the R&B leanings of the tracks written by the band's guitarist Pete Townshend.
According to the booklet in the Deluxe Edition, "I'm a Man" was eliminated from the US release due to its sexual content. The US album also used the edited UK single version of "The Kids Are Alright", which cut a brief instrumental section laden with manic drum rolls and guitar feedback before the final verse.
Many of the songs on the album saw release as singles. Aside from "My Generation", which preceded the album's release and reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart, "A Legal Matter", "La-La-La Lies", and "The Kids Are Alright" were also released as domestic singles by Brunswick after the band had started releasing new material on the Reaction label in 1966. As they were not promoted by the band, they were not as commercially successful as "My Generation" or the Reaction singles. "The Kids Are Alright" was however a top 10 single in Sweden, peaking at #8.
"My Generation" and "The Kids Are Alright" in particular remain two of the group's most-covered songs; while "My Generation" is a raw, aggressive number that presaged the heavy metal and punk rock movements, "The Kids Are Alright" is a more sophisticated pop number, with chiming guitars, three-part harmonies, and a lilting vocal melody, though still retaining the driving rhythm of other Who songs of the period. Along with other early Who numbers like "I Can't Explain" and "So Sad About Us", it is considered an important forerunner of the "power pop" movement.[7] "Circles" was notably covered by contemporaries of the group, British freakbeat outfit Les Fleur de Lys. The cover version has found some notice after its inclusion on Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964-1969.
The UK release featured a cover image of the band standing beside some oil drums and looking upward to the camera, with splashes of colour added by the red and blue stencilled letters of the title and a jacket patterned after the Union Flag thrown over John Entwistle's shoulders. For the US release this was replaced with a portrait of the band standing beneath Big Ben.
The UK mono album was briefly reissued in Britain in 1979 by Virgin Records, during the height of the country's Mod revival. The bands of that scene owed a direct debt to The Who for inspiration, and the younger generations of their fans were keen to explore those original influences. This pressing of the album went out of print in 1980, meaning there was no official UK edition of "My Generation" again available until the Deluxe edition remaster of 2002.
In June 2009, the edited 1966 US version of the album "The Who Sings My Generation" was selected for the National Recording Registry of the US Library of Congress. The album, deemed "culturally significant", will be preserved and archived.[9]
Track listing
All songs written by Pete Townshend, except where noted.
My Generation
Side one
"Out in the Street" – 2:31
"I Don't Mind" (James Brown) – 2:36
"The Good's Gone" – 4:02
"La-La-La-Lies" – 2:17
"Much Too Much" – 2:47
"My Generation" – 3:18
Side two
"The Kids Are Alright" – 3:04
"Please, Please, Please" (Brown, Johnny Terry) – 2:45
"It's Not True" – 2:31
"I'm a Man" (Bo Diddley) – 3:21
"A Legal Matter" – 2:48
"The Ox" (Townshend, Keith Moon, John Entwistle, Nicky Hopkins) – 3:50
Sales chart performance
Album
Year Chart Position
1965 UK NME Chart Albums 5[10]
Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1965 "My Generation" Billboard Pop Singles 74[citation needed]
UK Record Retailer Singles Charts 2[10]
1966 "A Legal Matter" UK Record Retailer Singles Charts 32[10]
"The Kids Are Alright" UK Record Retailer Singles Charts 41[10]
Personnel
The Who
Roger Daltrey – lead vocals, harmonica
John Entwistle – bass guitar, backing vocals
Keith Moon – drums, percussion, backing vocals on "Instant Party Mixture"
Pete Townshend – six- and twelve-string acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "A Legal Matter"
Additional musicians
Nicky Hopkins – piano