Tag Archives: The Who

Song of the Week – Imagine a Man, The Who

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Ignored   Obscured Restored

Another anniversary deluxe album release is due out soon, this time for The Who’s The Who By Numbers.  While it’s not my favorite Who album, it contains some excellent music, including my favorite deep cut, “Imagine a Man.”

For The Who By Numbers, songwriter Pete Townshend moved beyond the grand fictional narratives of Tommy and Quadrophenia, turning inward instead.  The album is one of his most personal works, an intensely first-person record that plays out directly inside his own psyche.

“Imagine a Man” reflects the immense psychological burden Townshend felt as the band’s principal songwriter and creative force.  The song captures a rare moment of vulnerability, exposing the doubts and pressures that accompanied his success.

Lead singer Roger Daltrey, who was often selective about which of Townshend’s lyrics he was willing to sing, immediately recognized the song’s power.  “Imagine a Man” became an instant favorite.  In 1975, he told New Musical Express:

“One song particularly, called ‘Imagine a Man’ [originally misprinted as ‘Imaginary Man’], I think is the best song Pete’s ever written.”

Daltrey has frequently spoken about the challenge of inhabiting Townshend’s deeply personal songs.  When Townshend handed over acoustic demos sung with raw, painful honesty, Daltrey felt tremendous pressure to match that emotional intensity.

For “Imagine a Man,” he deliberately set aside his usual bare-chested rock swagger in favor of a restrained, delicate performance.  Critics and fans alike often cite it as one of his finest vocal achievements.  Daltrey manages to command the song dramatically without ever breaking its emotional fragility.

The new 50th-anniversary super deluxe edition of The Who By Numbers, due for release on October 30, features 92 unreleased tracks along with two archival live shows.  Among the early previews is a previously unheard mix of “Imagine a Man” featuring Townshend’s guide vocal.  Listening to it, you can easily understand why Daltrey was so moved by the song — and perhaps why he was inspired to deliver one of the most nuanced and affecting performances of his career.

So which version do you prefer: Townshend’s intimate original vocal or Daltrey’s masterful interpretation?

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Summertime Blues; Eddie Cochran, Blue Cheer, The Who, Guitar Wolf

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Ignored             Obscured              Restored

Today’s post is yet another in my “Evolution” series.

Sixty-five years ago, Eddie Cochran released the evergreen “Summertime Blues.”  Originally intended as the B-side to Cochran’s “Love Again” it captured the zeitgeist of the late ‘50s rebellious American teenage life.  It rose to #8 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the summer of 1958.

San Francisco’s hard rock group Blue Cheer made the song their own when they released the unlikely single in 1968.  Given the ear-splitting volume that Blue Cheer’s music was meant to be played at, their version reached a surprising #14 on Billboard’s Hot 100.  I remember watching them perform on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.  Bandstand was well known for having their guest performers lip-synch.  The band clearly isn’t playing live (they have no vocal mics, although drummer Paul Whaley seems to be pounding the skins) but as a 12-year-old kid, I was very impressed with the giant wall of Marshall stacks they had behind them as props.

The Who also included “Summertime Blues” in their setlist.  They recorded studio versions of the song, but they didn’t see the light of day until the late ‘90s and early aughts on expanded CD releases of Odds and Sods and The Who Sell Out.  But their seminal version from Live at Leeds (1970) managed to reach #27 on Billboard’s Hot 100.  The Who also performed “Summertime Blues” at Woodstock which will have its 54th anniversary in mid-August.

That makes 3 top 40 versions of the song!

In 1999, Japanese Punk Rock band Guitar Wolf, released their own version of “Summertime Blues.”  The fact that they are singing the lyrics in an undecipherable form of Japanglish only adds to the charm of their recording and is true to the spirit of teen defiance that was captured in the Cochran original.

Enjoy… until next week.