The Who Live 1965-57, The Easybeats At The BBC

The Who Live 1965 – 1967

Side One

1. Substitute  (Pete Townshend)
2. Man With Money (Don & Phil Everley)
3. Dancing In The Street (Marvin Gaye / William Stevenson / Ivy Jo Hunter)
4. Barbara Ann (Fred Fassert)
5. My Generation (Pete Townshend)
6. Daddy Rolling Stone (Otis Blackwell)
7. Happy Jack (Pete Townshend)
8. My Generation (Pete Townshend)

Side Two

1. So Sad About Us (Pete Townshend)
2. I’m A Boy (Pete Townshend)
3. Substitute (Pete Townshend)
4. My Generation (Pete Townshend)
5. Shout & Shimmy (James Brown)
6. Man With Money (Don & Phil Everley)
7. My Generation (Pete Townshend)
8. Jingle Bells (James Lord Pierpoint) /
9. You Rang ? (Pete Townshend / John Entwistle / Roger Daltrey / Keith Moon)

Recording Details

Side One

Tracks 1-5 recorded for ORTF on 31/3/66 at the Music Hall de France, d’Ailleurs, Issy-les-Moulineaux 

Track 6 Recorded live at Twickenham Film Studio for US TV Shindig (ABC) 03/08/65

Tracks 7 & 8 recorded for Beat Club at the Marquee, London 02/03/67

Side Two

Track 1 Track recorded for BBC Saturday Club at the Playhouse Theatre, London 13/09/66

Tracks 2-4 recorded at the Pier Pavilion, Felixstowe on 08/09/66 and broadcast on the French television show Seize Millions Des Jeunes with DJ Emperor Rosko on 18/10/66.

Tracks 5-7 recorded live for Ready Steady Go! and transmitted 5.11.65

Tracks 8 recorded for Ready Steady Go! on 17.12.65 and transmitted 24.12.65.

Track 9 recorded for BBC Saturday Club on 15.03.66 and transmitted on 19.03.66

Roger Daltrey – lead vocals

John Entwistle – bass, vocals

Keith Moon – drums, vocals

Pete Townsend – guitar, vocals

Sleevenotes

“Was there ever a more exciting live group than The Who at their first peak, 1965/66? I think not. The Who were two quite different bands. In the early 70’s, after Tommy’s success d’estime bailed them out of a tight spot, they resolved themselves into a different type of act – the world’s greatest stadium band. At Bath Pavilion, in the summer of 197I, I saw a warmup show for the Who’s Next US Tour and they had grown wonderfully; nobody better. But my heart remains forever with the group I first saw in the mid-60s – the flash, noisy, violent, melodic pop group of the Ready Steady Go! years. Here they are…”

John Perry (guitarist and author of Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy (Classic Rock Albums)

London, Paris and…Felixstowe. During their initial burst of success from 1965 to 1967 the band were a blur of live gigs, radio and TV appearances and hurried recording sessions. This LP collates the material from this period that is unavailable elsewhere, albeit sometimes in sound quality that reflects contemporary broadcast standards.

The first five songs on Side One are from a French TV programme. France got The Who straight away due to the potent combination of their stylish pop-art visual and Townshend’s overt intelligence.. The band open with a lively version of Substitute, Townshend delivering an uncharacteristic solo on a Telecaster whilst looking very Brooks Brothers. The Everly’s Man With Money was a stage favourite but would not appear officially until the 1995 CD re-release of A Quick One. From country to Motown – why not ? Dancing In the Street is a more obvious mod-orientated choice and features Townshend using a mike stand to get some wayward sounds, his backing vocals on this number being equally experimental.  Surf-nut Keith Moon’s falsetto vocals are a feature but not a highlight of Barbara Ann. The closing My Generation is performed quite conservatively with only a solitary cymbal getting knocked over – maybe the band were under heavy manners to behave themselves.

Daddy Rolling Stone was first released by the Who as the B-side to Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere. The band base their arrangement on Derek Martin’s exhilarating version from 1963, a favourite with the Mods in their audience. This recording was made in London for US TV programme Shindig, Townshend in Union Jacket and birdman poses.

Closing this side are two songs from The Who’s spiritual home, The Marquee Club on Wardour Street. A brief and to the point Happy Jack is followed by Townsend playing slide with the mike stand at the end of My Generation. Before he can total his guitar a smoke-bomb causes the power to fail. Roger is at the height of his Dippity-Do hair-gel dandy phase, the curly haired Rock God still two years away. Entwistle recreates his bass solo in My Generation with impressive and impassive dexterity. And beaming over all he surveys is Keith Moon, the original Happy Jack, visibly having the time of his life.

Kicking off Side Two is So Sad About Us a song Pete wrote for The Merseys which turned out so well that The Who nicked it for themselves. This fine version was recorded for the BBC, but inexplicably omitted from The Who BBC Sessions (1999). Listen for the immaculate harmonies and the new vocal refrain (“Last Night”) at the end.

Next up are frenetic versions of I’m A Boy, Substitute and My Generation recorded on Felixstowe Pier. My Generation ends with Townshend ramming his Rickenbacker into a Marshall amp that bears the scars of previous assaults whilst Moon upends his kit to the presumed delight of the French TV crew filming the gig.

Finally a selection of songs recorded for The Who’s signature TV programme Ready Steady Go!.  An exciting Shout and Shimmy demonstrates the bands early James Brown fixation with a rare drums-and-bass interlude and Man With Money gets a powerful finish. A real period piece from the 1965 Christmas Eve edition, Jingle Bells is a seasonal dischord with “John on French Horn, Roger on bell, Keith on kazoo and Pete on feedback” (Keith Altham, NME). By contrast You Rang? is a great Ventures-type instrumental in the style of The Ox and this is the only known recording.  The words “You Rang?”  are uttered by John Entwistle and are taken from the hit TV show The Munsters, where it was the catchphrase of Lurch (Ted Cassidy). A suitably light-hearted note on which to close this selection of songs  – neaty, Petey, gig and flouncy.

Sleeve notes: Boris Dee Spyder

The Easybeats At The BBC 1966 – 1968

Tracklisting

Side One

1.Friday On My Mind  (Harry Vanda and George Young)
2. Made My Bed, Gonna Lie In It (George Young)
3. Pretty Girl (Harry Vanda and George Young)
4. Sorry (Stevie Wright & George Young)
5. Friday On My Mind (Harry Vanda and George Young)
6. Saturday Night (Harry Vanda and George Young)

7. Mother In Law (Allen Toussaint)

8. Who´ll Be The One (Harry Vanda and George Young)

9. Heaven And Hell (Harry Vanda and George Young

Side Two

1. River Deep – Mountain High (Phil Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich)
2. Pretty Girl  (Harry Vanda and George Young)
3. Falling Off The Edge Of The World (Harry Vanda and George Young)
4. I Keep Forgettin´ (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller and Gilbert Garfield)
5. Hello How Are You (Harry Vanda and George Young
6. Old Macdonald Had A Farm (Trad. arr. Harry Vanda and George Young)
7. Falling Off The Edge Of The World  (Harry Vanda and George Young)
8. Down To The Last 500 (Harry Vanda and George Young)
9. What In The World (Harry Vanda and George Young)
   
   

Personnel

Stevie Wright – Lead singer

George Young – Rhythm guitar

Harry Vanda – Lead guitar

Dick Diamonde – Bass

Gordon “Snowy” Fleet – Drums (Tracks 1- 8)

Tony Cahill – Drums (Tracks 9 -18)

Sleeve notes – Marcus Hook

Recording Details

All material recorded for BBC Radio as follows:

Side One

Tracks 1-3 for Saturday Club, recorded October 18^th  1966, broadcast 22^nd  October 1966

Tracks 4-5 for Saturday Club, recorded December 5^th 1966, broadcast December 17^th 1966

Tracks 6 -8 for Saturday Club, recorded March 21^st 1967, broadcast April 1^st 1967

Track 9 for Saturday Club, recorded June 19th 1967, broadcast June 24^th 1967

Side Two

Tracks 1 & 2 for Saturday Club, recorded June 19th 1967, broadcast June 24^th 1967

Tracks 3 & 4 for The Jimmy Young Show, recorded November 24^th 1967 and broadcast January 29^th 1968

Tracks 5-7 for The Pete Brady Show, recorded February 19^th 1968 and broadcast March 2^nd 1968

Tracks 8 & 9 for The Pete Brady Show, recorded February 19^th 1968 and broadcast April 2^nd 1968

Sleevenotes

By the time the Easybeats located to the UK in July 1966, the level of success they had attained in their native land had them acclaimed as “The Australian Beatles”. The band came into existence in The Villawood Migrant Hostel in 1963 and all five members were originally from Europe. Lead singer Stevie Wright and drummer Gordon Fleet were born in England, rhythm guitarist George Young was from Glasgow and lead guitarist Harry Vanda and bassist Dick Diamonde were Dutch-born. In 1965, they signed a contract with Ted Albert of Albert Productions, one of Australia’s first independent record production companies, who placed the Easybeats with Parlophone. A string of Australian hit singles then followed, written by George Young and Stevie Wright.

After arriving in London the band recorded several songs with Ted Albert at Abbey Road but these were rejected by United Artists, the band’s new UK record label. Two changes would lead to international success.  Firstly Harry Vanda’s command of English had improved to the point where he replaced Stevie Wright as George Young’s regular song writing partner. Secondly independent record producer Shel Talmy (The Who, The Kinks) spotted the potential of the newly-written Friday On My Mind and recorded it at his favoured IBC studios in September 1966. Released the following month, it reached number 6 in the UK charts, number 1 in Australia, number 16 in the US and went top ten in Germany, the Netherlands and France.

For many, the Easybeats were a one-hit wonder but this fine-sounding compilation demonstrates the depth of their songwriting and their ability to play their songs live with drive and enthusiasm. Friday On My Mind still sounds fresh today – it was one of the songs David Bowie chose to record for his Pin-Ups tribute to mod London and it has been covered live by everyone from Squeeze to Bruce Springsteen. Made My Bed, Gonna Lie In It was the B-side and another strong song with effective harmonies. Pretty Girl features some delicate guitar and was a highlight of the first United Artists LP Good Friday.

For their second BBC radio appearance, the Easybeats dusted off Sorry, one of the hits they had before leaving Australia and another effective use of wordless harmonies. Who’ll Be The One was released as the follow-up to Friday On My Mind but it lacked the immediacy of its predecessor and it was not a hit. The B-side Saturday Night is catchier with a cool “na na na” hook and a false ending but contrary to Brian Mathews introduction it was not written for the band by Donovan.  Taking on Tina Turner is a brave move but the band make a credible attempt at River Deep – Mountain High with descending guitar chords and more of those strong harmonies. The cover of Ernie K. Doe’s Mother In Law is less of a stretch and features a commendably brief solo from Vanda. I Keep Forgettin’, originally a hit for Chuck Jackson, receives a ska-style arrangement which works well. The less said about the band’s version of Old Macdonald Had A Farm the better.

Heaven And Hell was a stronger single, where the comparison of heaven and hell is reflected in a more complicated arrangement with alternating quiet and loud passages. But not a hit, so the band tried a piano-driven ballad in Hello How Are You. Even better is its B-side, Falling Off The Edge Of The World. The first versionherehas a morse-code guitar intro, leading to another passionate heavy ballad with Keith Moon style drumming from new recruit Tony Cahill. The second version is more subdued with added orchestral accompaniment. What In The World is taken from the second United Artists LP Vigil whilst Down To The Last 500 would not be released until a demo of the song appeared on The Best Of The Easybeats Volume 2 in 1969. Both songs are performed in a more relaxed style, the harmonies still present but not as prominent. Vigil contained some fine tracks – the version of Good Times with Steve Marriott and Nicky Hopkins is highly recommended – but the band had lost momentum and they split after a farewell tour of Australia in October 1969.

“The Easybeats’ appearance on Ready Steady Go was just one of many but it is completely memorable. They burst with a total classic, a stunning important song, mature and solid, an ever favourite.”  Brian Hogg, Bam Balam magazine (June 1980).

Sleeve notes: Barry McKenzie