The Who - The Who Sell Out: Super Deluxe Edition (114 tracks!!)

The Who - The Who Sell Out: Super Deluxe Edition (114 tracks!!) - 2021

In his lengthy essay written for the 80-page hardback book accompanying the discs in this package, Pete Townshend reveals that he initially had little confidence in what was, to all intents and purposes, The Who’s first attempt at a concept album. He’d enthused about presenting the record as a pirate radio show, selling space for advertising jingles between the tracks, but felt the songs themselves were a “ragbag” that didn’t hang together well.

A sure indication of the band’s chief songwriter’s meandering mindset is the inclusion here of 46 previously unreleased tracks (not featured on the comparatively humble two-disc expanded reissue from 2009). Rarely in 1967 had any band, and certainly not The Who, toiled over a single album for so long, and while many of those works-in-progress are alternate versions of numbers that made the final running order, some would be shelved and dusted off another day.

The instrumentals Mrs Walker and Glow Girl contain motifs that would emerge two years later on Tommy, and the gritty charge through Eddie Cochran’s Summertime Blues found its way into the band’s concert set-list (as evidenced on 1970’s Live At Leeds album). The bigger picture painted by all this unheard material is of the varied …Sell Out sketches the album could have been, an intriguing insight into the creative but restless dynamic of the band at the time.

However, it would be a bold set of ears that listened to this total of 116 tracks and declared all were essential; the third disc devoted to rough first takes and fly-on-the-wall studio chat is interesting but unlikely to warrant many repeat plays, and the majority of new mixes of well-known tracks add little to the story. The flipsides to those surplus-to-requirements selections can be found on Disc Four (flagged here as “the road to Tommy”), giving chronological context to the likes of the last-gasp mod manoeuvres of Little Billy’s Doing Fine and the Byrdsian Faith In Something Bigger before it was finally wheeled out on the 1974 outtakes set Odds & Sods.

Arguably, the major selling point is Disc Five, comprising 14 of Pete Townshend’s never-heard original demos, not least the fascinating embryonic versions of familiar hits I Can See For Miles and Pictures Of Lily, the Beach Boys semi-pastiche Inside Outside USA, the swooning psych folk of Melancholia, and the acoustic picking on Sunrise that would, after a little reupholstering, go on to form the iconic intro to Pinball Wizard. This is where we find him sifting through myriad building blocks, looking for the precise foundations upon which to move the band forward.

The original LP climbed its way to No 2 in the UK charts, one short of another concept album that dominated the top spot in 1967 (Sgt Pepper), but historically The Who Sell Out hasn’t always been given the serious critical attention afforded its successors Tommy, Who’s Next and Quadrophenia. Yet, it’s just as significant a touchstone in the Who canon, a pointer to, in particular, Townshend’s desire for the band to test both themselves and their audience. It makes this extensive and richly textured ultimate edition a “ragbag” worth rooting through.

CD ONE: THE WHO SELL OUT – MONO ALBUM

01. Armenia City in The Sky 3:47

02. Heinz Baked Beans 0:58

03. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand 2:34

04. Odorono 2:30

05. Tattoo 2:48

06. Our Love Was 3:23

07. I Can See for Miles 4:06

08. I Can’t Reach You 3:27

09. Medac 0:56

10. Relax 2:38

11. Silas Stingy 3:03

12. Sunrise 3:04

13. Rael / Track Records run-off groove 5:54

BONUS TRACKS – MONO

14. Pictures of Lily (original UK Track single mix) 2:46

15. Doctor, Doctor (original UK Track single mix) 3:01

16. The Last Time (original UK Track single mix) 2:51

17. Under My Thumb (original UK Track single mix) 2:37

18. I Can See for Miles (original UK Track single mix) 4:03

19. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand (original US Decca single mix) 3:19

20. Someone’s Coming (original US Decca single mix) 2:28

21. Unused Radio London ad / Early Morning Cold Taxi… (original 1967 mono mix) 3:04

22. Unused Radio London bulletin link /Jaguar (original 1967 mono mix) 2:50

23. Unused Radio London ad /Tattoo (early alternate mono mix) 3:05

24. Rael Pt.1 & Pt. 2 (Talentmasters Studio, New York early rough mix) 5:58

25. Sunn Amps promo spots 2:42

26. Great Shakes ad - Unreleased US Radio Commercial 1:07

27. Our Love Was - Take 12 Rejected Mono Mix

28. The Who - Rael - Early Mono Version

29. I Can See For Miles - Early Mono Version

30. Someone's Coming - UK Single Mix Mono Version

31. Magic Bus - US UK Mono Version

32. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde - US Single Mix Mono Version

CD TWO: THE WHO SELL OUT – STEREO ALBUM

33. Armenia City in The Sky 3:50

34. Heinz Baked Beans 1:01

35. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand 2:34

36. Odorono 2:35

37. Tattoo 2:54

38. Our Love Was 3:25

39. I Can See for Miles 4:10

40. I Can’t Reach You 3:31

41. Medac 0:57

42. Relax 2:41

43. Silas Stingy 3:08

44. Sunrise 3:05

45. Rael Pt1 & Pt2 5:38

BONUS TRACKS – STEREO

46. Rael Naïve (complete with organ coda ending) 1:38

47. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand (US single version) 3:27

48. Someone’s Coming 2:33

49. Summertime Blues 2:38

50. Glittering Girl 3:05

51. Early Morning Cold Taxi 2:59

52. Girl’s Eyes 2:52

53. Coke After Coke 1:09

54. Sodding About 2:51

55. Things Go Better with Coke 0:32

56. Hall of The Mountain King 4:27

57. Jaguar 2:58

58. Rael Pt1 & Pt2 (remake; IBC version) / Track Records outro 6:26

CD THREE: STUDIO SESSIONS 1967 / 68

59. Glittering Girl (Take 4) (2018 remix) 3:29

60. Girl’s Eyes (Take 2) (2018 remix) 3:58

61. The Last Time (Take 8) 3:51

62. Under My Thumb (Take 3) (2018 remix with full ending) 3:13

63. Our Love Was (Take 2) 3:21

64. Relax (4-track to 4-track mix with Pete vocal) 3:22

65. Relax (Takes 1 and 2) 1:58

66. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand (Takes 1 & 9) 3:43

67. Relax (Remake Take 4) 2:37

68. I Can See for Miles (full version) 4:54

69. Medac (Take 11) 1:13

70. Odorono (Take 3) (2018 remix) 2:47

71. Heinz Baked Beans (Takes 1 & 3) (2018 remix) 2:16

72. Top Gear (Takes 1 & 2) (2018 remix) 3:03

73. Premier Drums (Takes 1 & 3) (2018 remix) 2:17

74. Charles Atlas (Take 1) 0:33

75. Rotosound Strings (Take 1) (2018 remix) 0:15

76. Track Records (2018 remix) 0:34

77. John Mason Cars (Takes 1 – 3) / Speakeasy / Rotosound Strings / Bag O’ Nails (2018 remixes) 1.02

78. It’s A Girl (aka ‘Glow Girl’) (Takes 1 & 3) 3:21

79. Mr Hyde (1st stage mix Take 1) 2:39

80. Little Billy (Takes 1 & 3) 4:14

81. Mrs Walker (aka ‘Glow Girl’) (4-track to 4-track mix, take 7) 2:31

82. Lightning (aka Call Me Lightning) (Take 1 backing track, stereo mix & jam) 6:12

83. Dogs (Take 2) 3:14

84. Melancholia (Take 1) 3:50

85. Shakin’ All Over (Take 3) 1:35

86. Magic Bus (Take 6) 3:00

CD FOUR: THE 1968 RECORDINGS (‘THE ROAD TO TOMMY’)

87. Glow Girl 2:27

88. Faith in Something Bigger 3:09

89. Dr. Jekyll And Mr Hyde 2:38

90. Call Me Lightning 2:23

91. Little Billy’s Doing Fine 2:19

92. Dogs 3:10

93. Melancholia 3:21

94. Fortune Teller 2:22

95. Facts Of Life (aka ‘Birds And Bees’, backing track) 3:22

96. Magic Bus (single version) 3:20

97. Call Me Lightning (US/UK mono single mix) 2:24

98. Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde (UK mono single mix) 2:39

99. Dogs (UK mono single mix) 3:07

100. Magic Bus (mono, longer version) 4:35

CD FIVE: PETE TOWNSHEND ORIGINAL DEMOS

101. Kids? Do You Want Kids 1:43

102. Relax 3:44

103. Glow Girl 3:26

104. Glow Girl (Version 2) 3:00

105. Inside Outside USA 3:06

106. Jaguar 2:59

107. Little Billy 2:11

108. Odorono 3:09

109. Pictures of Lily 3:31

110. Relax (Version 2) 2:26

111. Melancholia (2018 remix) 3:21

112. Thinking of You All the While (‘Sunrise’ Version 2) 3:15

113. Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand 3:15

114. I Can See for Miles 4:15

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