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The Who by Numbers
is the seventh
studio album
by the English rock band
released on
October 3rd 1975
in the United Kingdom
through Polydor Records,
and on
October 6th 1975
in the United States
by MCA Records.
It was named the
tenth-best album
of the year
in
The Village Voice Pazz & Jop
critics poll.
Background
Pete Townshend
has claimed that the band
recorded practically every song
he had written for
The Who by Numbers,
partially due to the
writer's block that he was
experiencing at the time.
The songs on the album were,
for the most part,
more introspective
and personal than
many other songs that
the band had released.
Townshend's 30th birthday
occurred in May 1975;
he was troubled with thoughts
of being too old
to play rock and roll
and that the band
was losing its relevance.
He began to feel
disenchanted with
the music industry,
a feeling that he carried
into his songs.
After concluding the tour
for the Quadrophenia album
in June 1974,
the Who took an extended hiatus
and did not perform live
for more than a year.
John Entwistle kept himself
occupied by playing
solo gigs.
In addition,
the band spent this time
filming Tommy,
based on their
rock opera of the same title.
This was the band's
first album on Polydor.
The sessions for
The Who by Numbers
began in April 1975
and continued through
early June.
The album was released in
October and the band
supported it with a tour,
which spanned some
70 concerts
before concluding in
the autumn of 1976.
For the album's recording,
the band recruited
producer
Glyn Johns.
The band had worked
previously with Johns
on the 1971 album
Who's Next.
Compared to previous
Who albums,
The Who by Numbers
took an unusually long time
to complete
(nearly three months)
and was marred by
numerous breaks
and interruptions
due to the band members'
growing boredom
and lack of interest.
It features some of the
darkest songs ever
recorded by the band.
Only the songs on
the first side of
The Who by Numbers
were performed live,
and only
"Squeeze Box"
became a concert staple.
"Imagine a Man"
was performed live
for the first time
by the band in
May 2019,
nearly 44 years
after its release
although
Roger Daltrey had featured
the song in
a solo concert
in February 1994
Townshend said of the album's
recording sessions:
I felt partly responsible because The Who recording schedule had, as usual, dragged on and on, sweeping all individuals and their needs aside. Glyn worked harder on The Who by Numbers than I've ever seen him. He had to, not because the tracks were weak or the music poor but because the group was so useless. We played cricket between takes or went to the pub. I personally had never done that before. I felt detached from my own songs, from the whole record. Recording the album seemed to take me nowhere. Roger [Daltrey] was angry with the world at the time. Keith [Moon] seemed as impetuous as ever, on the wagon one minute, off the next. John [Entwistle] was obviously gathering strength throughout the whole period; the great thing about it was he seemed to know we were going to need him more than ever before in the coming year.
Album cover
The album cover,
on which the band members'
bodies are depicted
as connect the dots puzzles,
was drawn by
John Entwistle.
In 1996,
when asked about the cover,
he replied: "
The first
[piece of artwork] release[d]
is
The Who by Numbers cover,
which I never got paid for,
so now I'm going to get paid.
(laughs)
We were taking it in turns
to do the covers.
It was Pete's turn
before me
and we did the
Quadrophenia cover,
which cost about the same as
a small house back then,
about £16,000.
My cover cost £32."
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