| A Quick One | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 9 December 1966[1] | |||
| Recorded | 30 August – November 1966 | |||
| Studio | IBC, Regent andPye (all London) | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 31:48 | |||
| Label | Reaction (UK) Decca (US) | |||
| Producer | Kit Lambert | |||
| The Who UK chronology | ||||
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| The Who US chronology | ||||
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| Singles from A Quick One | ||||
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A Quick One is the second studio album by the Englishrock bandthe Who, released on 9 December 1966. In the United States, where the song "Happy Jack" was a top 40 hit, the album was released in April 1967 under the titleHappy Jack with a slightly altered track listing.
Unlike other albums by the Who, where guitaristPete Townshend was the primary or sole songwriter,A Quick One features significant songwriting contributions from all band members, with lead vocalistRoger Daltrey contributing one song, and bassistJohn Entwistle and drummerKeith Moon each contributing two. The album also included acover of theHolland–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 laterrock operas that the Who would become known for.
The Who's second studio album departs from theR&B emphasis of their debut,My Generation. ManagerChris Stamp had signed a deal with New Action Publishing which advanced £500 to each band member for contributing two songs each to the new album, thoughRoger Daltrey only wrote one ("See My Way").[2] The result is the Who album least dominated byPete Townshend's songwriting; Townshend claimed that this push for equal contribution led to the exclusion of the band's recent hit singles he had written, including "I'm a Boy" and "Happy Jack".[3] Because the other members were new to songwriting, Townshend also ended up helping them demo their songs.
A Quick One was recorded atIBC Studios,Pye Studios, and Regent Sound inLondon in the fall of 1966 by co-manager and record producerKit Lambert. During one of the early October sessionsChas Chandler broughtJimi Hendrix, newly arrived in London, to meet the group and seek a recommendation for amplifiers. Townshend suggested bothHiwatt andMarshall, only to regret having endorsed such "powerful weapons" to the unknown guitarist he had not seen play live yet.[3]
The album's opening track "Run Run Run" had been demoed earlier in the year and first given to a band called the Cat, who released their version in May 1966.[2] Recorded by the Who during the first week of October at IBC, it is a pounding hard rocker with a flashy, feedback-inflected guitar solo that marked an evolution in the group's sound. A longer stereo version from a Track Records sampler was later rediscovered and included on the 1995 expanded CD release.[2]
"Boris the Spider" was written afterJohn Entwistle had been out drinking withthe Rolling Stones' bassistBill Wyman. They were making up funny names for animals when Entwistle came up with the title for a song. The next day in the studio, Townshend asked Entwistle if he had any more material for the album; John mentioned his spider idea as if he'd already written the song, only to go home that night and hurriedly compose the music in less than ten minutes, with its recording taking place on 4 October at Pye Studios.[4][5] "Boris the Spider" quickly became Entwistle's most popular song, named by Hendrix as his favorite Who number,[6] and was still performed decades later: in later years John often wore a spider necklace, and would have a spider web design inlaid on the body of his custom-madeAlembic bass guitar (the latter is pictured on the cover of Entwistle's 1981 solo studio albumToo Late the Hero).
Keith Moon's "I Need You" was originally titled "I Need You (Like I Need a Hole in the Head)". Moon thoughtthe Beatles spoke in a secret language behind his back, and this song was his way of getting back at them. Although Moon denied that a vocal part in the song was aJohn Lennon imitation, Entwistle said that, in fact, it was spoken by the group'sLiverpudlian roadie "Lurch" for just that purpose.[7][5] The line "let us come and sitar with you", complete with a raga-esque answering line, refers toGeorge Harrison's concurrent infatuation with the Indian instrument. The break also features a recreation of a night out at the hip London club Scotch of St. James, with Lambert heard ordering a table for four among other sound effects including clinking glasses. Recorded along with "Boris the Spider" at Pye on 4 October, it is also notable for a prominent harpsichord part played by Entwistle.
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. The song was cut at CBS on 3 October, with Entwistle playing French Horn in addition to bass.[5] 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.[2]
"Heat Wave", the onlycover track and the only nod to the group'ssoul influences on the album, was originally written byTamla'sHolland–Dozier–Holland team and performed byMartha and the Vandellas. Originally attempted by the Who for their 1965 debut album, it was the first song cut forA Quick One on 31 August 1966 along with the EP tracks "Barbara Ann" and "Batman".[5] It was replaced by "Happy Jack" on the original US release but later included on the 1974 double album repackaging ofA Quick One andThe Who Sell Out (1967).
"Cobwebs and Strange" was originally called "Showbiz Sonata". Entwistle claimed that the melody came from the 1960 UK television seriesMan from Interpol (1960).[7] The instrumental was written for this series byTony Crombie, who released it under its original title "Eastern journey".[8] The track was recorded at Pye sometime prior to 29 September, with each band member playing a wind instrument: Townshend played the penny-whistle, Entwistle the trumpet and French horn, Daltrey the trombone, and Moon the tuba.[9] Townshend remembers the group having great fun marching around a single mono microphone in the studio as it taped.[3] However, this idea didn't work and Entwistle recalls the final take was recorded with them standing still.
One of just four Townshend compositions on the album, "Don't Look Away" opened side two and was recorded at CBS on 3 October.
"See My Way", Roger Daltrey's only writing contribution to the album, is a pastiche ofBuddy Holly compositions. Townshend helped Roger demo the song at his Soho apartment studio with later overdubs taped at IBC sometime before 29 September.[5] In order to achieve a deadened tom-tom sound like that ofCrickets drummerJerry 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.[2]
Themod and power pop number "So Sad About Us", according toAllMusic, is "one of the Who's most covered songs".[10]The Merseys (released in July 1966),Shaun Cassidy,Primal Scream,the Breeders, Daytona, andthe Jam have recorded studio versions. The Who's version of the track was recorded at IBC sometime in October.
"A Quick One, While He's Away" is a nine-minute suite of six connected song fragments telling a story of infidelity and reconciliation, the first foray into an extended form that led to therock operasTommy (1969) andQuadrophenia (1973). After experimenting with a tentative rock opera namedQuads (for which the songs "I'm A Boy" and "Disguises" were written) plus a jokey attempt at the format called "Gratis Amatis", Lambert asked if a more serious attempt could be considered to fill up about ten minutes of needed space on the album.[3] Townshend obliged and the six separate parts of the suite were recorded at IBC, Pye and Regent Sound during the first week of November, the final song completed for the album.[5] The six fragments are titled "Her Man's Gone", "Crying Town", "We Have A Remedy", "Ivor The Engine Driver", "Soon Be Home" and "You Are Forgiven". According to Entwistle, the group wanted to overdub cellos during "You Are Forgiven" but Lambert told them they couldn't afford it, so they ended up singing "cello cello cello" instead.[2]
Other songs recorded during the sessions included "Barbara Ann", "Batman" and "Bucket T." (all released that November on theReady Steady Who EP), a cover ofthe Everly Brothers' "Man With The Money", acoustic and electric versions of "Happy Jack" (with the electric version released a week prior to the album) and its Entwistle B-side "I've Been Away", a medley of "My Generation/Land Of Hope And Glory" used for an all-Who episode ofReady Steady Go!, and a longer alternate version of "I'm A Boy" eventually released on the hits compilationMeaty Beaty Big and Bouncy. All these songs (sans "I'm A Boy") would appear as bonus tracks on the expanded 1995 CD reissue. The original title of the album wasJigsaw Puzzle with an intended track list that included the alternate "I'm A Boy", "Run Run Run", "Don't Look Away", "Circles", "I Need You", "Cobwebs and Strange", "In The City", "Boris The Spider", "Whiskey Man", "See My Way", "Heat Wave" and "Barbara Ann." Townshend also made demos of several other songs considered for the album including "King Rabbit", "Lazy Fat People" and "Join My Gang" but these were scrapped when the idea to involve songs from the other band members was suggested.
The cover was designed by the pop art exponentAlan Aldridge,[11] with the front cover depicting the band playing their instruments, as the titles of some songs from the album come out of the instruments: "Cobwebs and Strange" for Moon (top left), "Whiskey Man" for Entwistle (bottom left), "See My Way" for Daltrey (top right), and "A Quick One, While He's Away" for Townshend (bottom right). The back cover of the UK release is black, with the title and track listing across the top, and a colour head-shot photograph of each band member with the letters of "The W H O" superimposed individually over their faces.[12] The back cover of the US release is a black-and-white photo montage of the band members accompanied by a short personality sketch of each. A track listing, a couple of paragraphs touting the band, an advertisement for theirdebut studio album, and a technical blurb are also crowded onto the back cover of the US release.[citation needed]
A Quick One was released in the UK on 9 December 1966 as Reaction 593 002. It promptly climbed to number 4 on the officialRecord Retailer chart during a run that lasted 17 weeks,[13] cementing the group's continued success in their home country. In the US it was retitledHappy Jack and released in April 1967 as Decca DL 74892, with the title track taking the place of "Heat Wave". Thanks to the "Happy Jack" single becoming their first top 30 US hit, the album eventually peaked at number 67 on theBillboard album chart that summer.[14]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [15] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [16] |
| MusicHound Rock | 3.5/5[17] |
| Q | [18] |
| Rolling Stone | [19] |
| Tom Hull | B+ ( )[20] |
The album's release prompted a full-page, track-by-track review byChris Welch inMelody Maker, where he enthused it was "incredible" and fulfilled the band's promise. He concluded "here is a collection of compositions and treatments that captures the Who essence, humour, cynicism, nervous drive, violence, and delicacy", and praised every track.[21] Retrospectively,Rolling Stone's Steve Appleford said in 1995 that the album's cheerfulpop style has an authentic quality with trifles like "Cobwebs and Strange" that are reconciled by "absolutely perfect, poignant pop tune[s]" such as "So Sad About Us".[19] The album was later described as "fascinatingly quirky" by the magazine.[22] Ritchie Unterburger atAllMusic gave the album four-and-a-half stars, noting it was not as impressive as the debut but saw the band "grapple with more complex melodic and lyrical themes", finding praise for "Cobwebs and Strange", "So Sad About Us", and both Entwistle numbers.[15] InChristgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981),Robert Christgau included the album's American version in his "basic record library".[23]Rolling Stone ranked the album number 383 on its list ofthe 500 greatest albums of all time, published in 2003,[24] and 384 in 2012.[25]
Source:[26]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Run Run Run" | Pete Townshend | Roger Daltrey | 2:42[a] |
| 2. | "Boris the Spider" | John Entwistle | John Entwistle | 2:28 |
| 3. | "I Need You" | Keith Moon | Keith Moon | 2:24 |
| 4. | "Whiskey Man" | Entwistle | Entwistle | 2:57 |
| 5. | "Heat Wave" | Daltrey, withPete Townshend | 1:54 | |
| 6. | "Cobwebs and Strange" | Moon | instrumental | 2:29 |
| Total length: | 14:54 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Don't Look Away" | Townshend | Daltrey | 2:51 |
| 2. | "See My Way" | Roger Daltrey | Daltrey | 1:52 |
| 3. | "So Sad About Us" | Townshend | Daltrey, with Entwistle | 3:01 |
| 4. | "A Quick One, While He's Away" I. "Her Man's Been Gone" (0:23) II. "Crying Town" (1:37) III. "We Have a Remedy" (1:32) IV. "Ivor the Engine Driver" (1:42) V. "Soon Be Home" (1:26) VI. "You Are Forgiven" (2:30) | Townshend | Daltrey, Entwistle and Townshend | 9:10 |
| Total length: | 16:54 | |||
a Themono version fades out sooner, giving it a total running time of 2:33.[27]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Run Run Run" | 2:44 |
| 2. | "Boris the Spider" | 2:30 |
| 3. | "I Need You" | 2:25 |
| 4. | "Whiskey Man" | 2:57 |
| 5. | "Cobwebs and Strange" | 2:31 |
| 6. | "Happy Jack" | 2:11 |
| Total length: | 15:18 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Don't Look Away" | 2:53 |
| 2. | "See My Way" | 1:53 |
| 3. | "So Sad About Us" | 3:04 |
| 4. | "A Quick One, While He's Away" | 9:10 |
| Total length: | 17:00 | |
The Who
A Quick One personnel
1995 credits
| Chart (1966–1967) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[28] | 19 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[29] | 4 |
| USBillboard 200[30] | 67 |
