HER MAN'S BEEN GONE
FOR NEARLY A YEAR
HE WAS DUE HOME YESTERDAY
BUT HE AIN'T HERE...
A Quick One
is the
second
studio album
by the
English
Rock Band
The Who,
released on
December,9th 1966.
In the
United States,
where the song
"Happy Jack"
was a
top 40 hit,
the album was
released in
April 1967
under the title
Happy Jack
with a
slightly altered
track listing.
Unlike other albums
by
the Who,
where guitarist
Pete Townshend
was the primary
or sole songwriter,
A Quick One
features significant
songwriting contributions
from all
band members,
with
lead vocalist
Roger Daltrey
contributing
one song,
bassist
John Entwistle
and
drummer
Keith Moon
each contributing
two.
The album also
included a cover
of the
Holland–Dozier–Holland song
"Heat Wave"
and ends
with a
musical suite
titled
"A Quick One, While He's Away",
which served as
an inspiration
for later
rock operas
that
the Who
would become
known for.
Composition and production
The Who's
second
studio album
departs from
the R&B emphasis
of their debut.
Part of the
marketing push
for the album
was a
requirement that
each band member
should write at
least two of
the songs on it,
though
Roger Daltrey
only wrote one
("See My Way"),
so this is
the Who album
least dominated
by
Pete Townshend's
songwriting.
It was recorded at
IBC Studios,
Pye Studios,
and
Regent Sound in
London in 1966
by record producer
Kit Lambert.
Townshend said that
this push for
equal contribution
led to the exclusion
of the band's
singles that
he had written.
"Boris the Spider"
was written after
John Entwistle
had been out drinking
with
the Rolling Stones'
bassist
Bill Wyman.
They were making up
funny names
for animals
when Entwistle
came up with the song.
"Boris the Spider"
quickly became
Entwistle's most
popular song,
still performed
decades later:
in later years he
often wore a
spider necklace,
and would have a
spider web design
inlaid on the body
of his custom-made
Alembic
bass guitar
the latter is
pictured on
the cover
of
Entwistle's
1981 solo
studio album
Too Late the Hero
Keith Moon's
"I Need You"
was originally titled
"I Need You (Like I Need a Hole in the Head)".
Moon thought
the Beatles
spoke in a
secret language
behind his back,
and this song was
his way of
making fun
of their
northern accents.
Although Moon
denied that a
vocal part
in the song
was a
John Lennon
imitation,
Entwistle said that,
in fact,
it was.
John Entwistle
would later cite
"Whiskey Man"
as the first song
he ever wrote.
It tells the story of a
drunkard
whose best friend
is a man he sees
only after
drinking heavily.
The drunkard
is eventually locked
in padded room
in a sanitarium,
and he laments
not being able to
share the room
with
Whiskey Man
or even call him.
In the first line
of the song,
Entwistle
accidentally sings
the word
"friend"
as
"fwend";
not wanting to
record an
entirely
new take,
he instead opted
to double-track
the vocal
and sing
"flend"
as a quick fix.
"Heat Wave",
the only
cover track
and the only
nod to the group's
soul influences
on the album,
was originally written
by
Tamla's Holland–Dozier–Holland
team
and performed by
Martha and the Vandellas.
It was replaced by
"Happy Jack"
on the original
US release
but later included
on the
1974
double album
repackaging of
A Quick One
and
The Who Sell Out
(1967).
"Cobwebs and Strange"
was originally called
"Showbiz Sonata".
Entwistle claimed
that the melody
came from the
1960 UK
television series
Man from Interpol
(1960),
actually the instrumental
was written for this
series by
Tony Crombie
who released it
under its original title
"Eastern journey".
Each band member
played a
wind instrument
on the track:
Townshend played the
penny-whistle,
Entwistle
the trumpet
and
French horn,
Daltrey
the trombone,
and Moon
the tuba.
They recorded
the winds
while
marching
around the studio.
"See My Way",
Roger Daltrey's
only writing contribution
to the album,
is a pastiche of
Buddy Holly
compositions.
In order to achieve
a deadened
tom-tom sound
like that of
Crickets drummer
Jerry Allison's
distinctive paradiddles
on
"Peggy Sue",
towels were placed on
Moon's drum kit.
When this resulted in
a sound that did
not satisfy the band,
Moon instead
played the
tom fills
on
cardboard boxes.
"A Quick One, While He's Away"
is a nine-minute suite
of song snippets
telling a story
of infidelity
and reconciliation,
the first foray
into an
extended form
that led to
the rock operas
Tommy
(1969)
and
Quadrophenia
(1973)
BONUS CD
HAPPY JACK
(US)
TRACK LIST
Run Run Run
Boris The Spider
I Need You
Whiskey Man
Showbiz Sonata
(Cobwebs And Strange)
Happy Jack
Don't Look Away
See My Way
So Sad About Us
A Quick One, While He's Away
BONUS TRACKS
Man With The Money
I've Been Away
(B-Side)
Happy Jack
(Acoustic Version)
(Vocal Mix) [*]
Boris The Spider
(Just Vocals) [*]
A Quick One, While He's Away
(Vocal Mix) [*]
* Vocal Mixes
are..
Music is
Turned Down
and
Vocals
are
turned up
Louder
in The Mix
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