Sorrow, or that the Kinks would deliver a much more interesting story with Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), from then on The Who would become synonymous with Rock Opera and made one of the most (and worst) copied records in history. It did not matter that the Pretty Things had gone ahead with S.F. When the record was released on in the USA (a week earlier than in his native U.K.) it became an instant hit (currently it has sold over 20 million copies) and the band went on to become one of the most important in the world. The Stones decided not to release the special, The Who had stolen the show, and for the next 3 years there wasn’t a band who could throw shade their way on stage. In the midst of recording Tommy, the 10th of December 1968, the Rolling Stones invited them to perform in their Rock and Roll Circus, and The Who gave a legendary show playing A Quick One, While He’s Away with Townshend and his SG. The creator of My Generation was on a roll and his songs came easily, besides the band was reaching its peak on stage which was evident in their live performances. With the first one he started to fool around one day and the famous riff from Pinball Wizard appeared, which is one of the best songs of his career.

While he was immersed in the process of writing he dropped into the legendary music store Manny’s in New York and left with 2 guitars with which he would build the record, a Gibson J-200 and a Gibson SG Special, both from 1968. The guitarist was strongly influenced by the writings of Indian guru Meher Baba and the story turned his ideas into music. With the blessing of their manager Kit Lambert, Townshend began to write the story about a boy “ deaf, dumb and blind” and his relationship with his family in particular and life in general. Walker, it’s a girl”, although, of course, Tommy would be a boy in the end, also the end of the record, with Rael, would give him musical ideas that he would use again in Sparks and Underture. The song ended with the following words, “ It’s a girl, Mrs. In 1967, during the recording of The Who Sell Out he composed a song called Glow Girl and began to weave the idea that would become the birth of Tommy. In 1966 he had already toyed with the rock opera idea with the wonder called A Quick One, While He’s Away, which closed the band’s 2nd album. In 1968 Townshend had been flirting for some time with the idea of expanding his horizons from pop and rock beyond 3-minute singles. Nowadays one can discuss its legacy or historical validity but not the enormous force of the music, with some of the best songs ever penned by Pete Townshend such as Pinball Wizard, I’m Free, Amazing Journey, Christmas, Go to the Mirror! and the iconic closer We’re Not Going to Take It which includes one of the favourites of his live shows, See Me, Feel Me. In its time it was considered to be the first rock opera in history and had a tremendous impact on its contemporaries, it may not be true but it was the album that best exemplified the concept and turned The Who into the unstoppable force of live rock. Tommy is one of those albums that is much more than an album, Tommy was quite an event that turned The Who into a group as popular as the Beatles and Stones.

Tommy the who