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The Who
The Who
The Who
The Who developed from an earlier group, the Detours, and established themselves as
part of the pop art and mod movements, featuring auto-destructive art by destroying
guitars and drums on stage. Their first single as the Who, "I Can't Explain",
reached the UK top ten, and was followed by a string of hit singles including "My
Generation", "Substitute" and "Happy Jack". In 1967, they performed at the Monterey
Pop Festival and released "I Can See for Miles", their only US top ten single. The
group's fourth album, the 1969 rock opera Tommy, included the single "Pinball
Wizard" and was a critical and commercial success.
Live appearances at Woodstock in August 1969, and the Isle of Wight Festival in
1970, along with the concert album Live at Leeds in 1970, established their
reputation as a respected rock act. The success put pressure on lead songwriter
Townshend, and the follow-up to Tommy, Lifehouse, was abandoned. Songs from the
project made up the 1971 Who's Next, which included the hit "Won't Get Fooled
Again". The group released the concept album Quadrophenia in 1973 as a celebration
of their mod roots, and oversaw the film adaptation of Tommy in 1975. They
continued to tour to large audiences before semi-retiring from live performances at
the end of 1976. The release of Who Are You in 1978 was overshadowed by Moon's
death shortly after.
T O M M Y
Prologue
Act I
The following year, two nurses gently hand Mrs Walker her newborn son, Tommy;
later, in 1945, American troops liberate Captain Walker's POW camp, proclaiming the
end of the war ("It's a Boy" / "We've Won"). Mrs Walker has since attained a new
lover, and they celebrate her twenty-first birthday and discuss marriage together
with four-year-old Tommy ("Twenty-One"). To their surprise, Captain Walker enters
the house and a fight erupts between Captain Walker and the boyfriend. Mrs Walker
turns Tommy away, but he watches his father shoot the boyfriend to death through a
large mirror. Captain and Mrs Walker embrace but soon realise what Tommy has
witnessed, and violently shake him, telling him he did not see or hear anything
("What About the Boy"). The police arrive; Tommy simply gazes at the mirror in
silence. A narrator—Tommy's older self—appears to the audience, introducing and
framing the story of his exceptional childhood ("Amazing Journey").
Captain Walker is tried for murder but found not guilty by reasons of self-defense.
However, Tommy fails to celebrate his father's release, and his family quickly
realizes that he has apparently gone deaf, mute, and blind. Tommy's parents have
him undergo a battery of medical tests, to no avail ("Sparks"). At ten years of
age, Tommy's unresponsive state remains unchanged ("Amazing Journey – Reprise").
The Walkers all go to church and host a Christmas family dinner, though the family
is unnerved that Tommy does not know that it is Christmas or understand its
significance ("Christmas"). Everyone is stunned when Tommy responds only to his
uncle Ernie's, playing the French horn. Mr Walker, in a desperate attempt to reach
his son, shouts "Tommy, can you hear me?" multiple times. Older Tommy, only visible
to young Tommy, who persistently stares at the mirror, sings to him ("See Me, Feel
Me").
The Walkers leave Tommy with a slew of vicious babysitters, including alcoholic and
sexually abusive Uncle Ernie ("Do You Think It's Alright?" and "Fiddle About"), as
well as his cousin Kevin, a sadistic bully ("Cousin Kevin") [Keith Moon in the
film]. Cousin Kevin and his friends take Tommy to a youth club where, to everyone's
astonishment, Tommy plays pinball brilliantly ("Sensation"). Meanwhile, another
doctor, a psychiatrist, tests Tommy yet again with no success ("Sparks – Reprise").
The desperate Captain Walker is approached by The Hawker and Harmonica Player [Eric
Clapton in the film], ("Eyesight to the Blind") who promise a miraculous cure for
Tommy. They take young Tommy to the Isle of Dogs to find a prostitute called The
Gypsy [Tina Turner in the film], who tries to convince Captain Walker to let her
spend time alone with Tommy, introducing him to drugs ("The Acid Queen"). Horrified
by her methods, Captain Walker snatches Tommy away. By 1958, Tommy has apparently
become a pinball-playing expert as Cousin Kevin and a group of adolescents await
17-year-old Tommy's appearance at the amusement arcade, where his rise to local
popularity has begun ("Pinball Wizard")[Elton John in the film].
Act II
By 1960, Tommy has become the local pinball champion and hero of the neighborhood
lads ("Underture"). Captain Walker persists unsuccessfully in seeking doctors and a
cure for Tommy ("There's a Doctor" and "Go to the Mirror!"). One doctor discovers
that Tommy's senses do function but not at a self-aware or openly expressive level.
On the street, a group of local louts surround Tommy ("Tommy, Can You Hear Me?")
and carry him home. The Walkers, at their wits' end, passionately confront each
other in an effort to reconcile and face the reality that Tommy might never be
cured ("I Believe My Own Eyes"). Captain Walker leaves Mrs. Walker with Tommy.
Tommy stares into the mirror blankly as his mother tries desperately to reach him
one last time, before smashing the mirror in a rage ("Smash the Mirror"). With the
mirror in pieces, Tommy suddenly becomes fully lucid and interactive for the first
time since the age of four, and he leaves home ("I'm Free"). Through 1961 to 1963,
news of Tommy's miraculous regaining of full consciousness receives huge media
attention ("Miracle Cure"), Tommy is idolized by the public and the press
("Sensation – Reprise"), and he begins appearing in packed stadiums, playing
pinball with a helmet that temporarily blinds and deafens him ("Pinball Wizard –
Reprise"). Uncle Ernie tries to capitalise on Tommy's newfound stardom, by selling
cheap souvenirs for a grand opening party of Tommy's new holiday camp, resulting
from Tommy's cult-like following ("Tommy's Holiday Camp"). That night, an
adolescent fan named Sally Simpson falls from the stage in her eagerness to touch
Tommy and is pummeled by guards ("Sally Simpson"). Tommy, in horror, stops the show
and tends to Sally. He says he has had enough and decides to go home.
NOTES: as there is no art included in the official 24bit, I added the book scans
from the similar CD release.
All tracks are from the Capitol Theatre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 15 October 1969,
except for "I'm Free", "Tommy's Holiday Camp", "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "See
Me, Feel Me" which are from Swansea City Football Club, 12 June 1976.
Demos