Mario Cruz
Musician, composer and producer, Aged 24
From the perspective of a Mexican I always find the British culture so unique and this album is just the example of it. Love the performance cuz of how precise everything had to be from the musicians to make a masterpiece in the 60’s. I found the lyrics of this album are funny, ironic and accurate, I was living in UK for 5 months and listening to this record make me feel back there. I would describe this album in the next three words: British, old and natural.
Tim Harrison
Journalist, Aged 66
Pushed out for Christmas, The Who’s third LP was halfway between concept album and regular annual offering, mixing phoney radio commercials with tracks which still chime today.
The music is interspersed with spoof ads and messages, one urging people not to forget church on Sunday, while the sleeve features band members pretending to plug real products, including Roger Daltrey sitting in a bathtub of Heinz beans.
It prompted a flurry of lawsuits, but most of the supposedly indignant firms were secretly chuffed by the namechecks.
Musically, it’s a triumph, with I Can See For Miles the stand-out track; a powerful, urgent, psychedelic Pete Townshend song giving crazy drummer Keith Moon the freedom to go wild.
But the real joy is in the other songs, from the mischievous Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand to the achingly sad I Can’t Reach You, and the remarkable Tattoo.
When it was rereleased on CD in the 1990s, several outtakes were included, together with the exquisite Glittering Girl (ending on an enchanting final note), and Girl’s Eyes; a tribute to the loyal fans who clustered at the front of stage at live gigs, with a plea to Moon to stop chucking his drumsticks at them.
As with many truly great LPs, Sell Out wasn’t fully appreciated at the time, but is today hailed as a masterpiece. It’s also one of the best singalong albums for long car journeys.
Kingston link:
The Who played Kingston’s Granada Cinema on 3/11/1967, a month prior to the release of this record.
