News, Views and Music Issue 23 (Intro)

March 2:

♫ Apologies for the long gap between issues but it’s been a busy fortnight here at the AAA. Which is more than I can say for AAA groups this week – just one paltry bit of news for you I’m afraid. But it’s a good one. Possibly. If you’re a Who fan. With a lot of money to spare. And a fascination for detail.

♫ The Who news: The Who Sell Out (Album no 19 on our list, no less) is to receive a deluxe makeover for release sometime this month. I thought the old CD issue was pretty deluxe anyway – a full 45 minutes of unheard outtakes, jingles and never before heard tracks – but the new 2-CD edition adds yet more rare mixes, alternate takes and unheard jingles as well as a full alternative mono mix of the album which has always been said to be quite different. However, there isn’t too much here to warm the blood of collectors who have already forked out for the single release in the mid-1990s, with just a rehearsal take of ‘Relax’, an alternate take of ‘Glittering Girl’ and a few extended or unheard jingles sounding really interesting. In fact, compared to the other deluxe editions in this range the amount of new discoveries is fairly disappointing; the deluxe edition of ‘The Who Live At Leeds’ helped the album triple in length and arguably triple in stature too, the deluxe ‘My Generation’ came complete with its own mini-album of outtakes and ‘Who’s Next’ had its own unheard mini-concert. Basically, our advice is get this album somehow if you don’t own it – but don’t fork out £20 just for the small handful of rarities left off the superb single CD issue.

The full track listing runs as follows, with the ‘new’ unreleased tracks marked *):  Disc One; tracks 1-13 Who Sell Out stereo mix/ Rael (part 2 – the minute-long snippet heard on the mid-90s CD re-issue)/ Someone’s Coming (B-side by Entwistle)/ Early Morning Cold Taxi (out-take co-written with Daltrey)/ Jaguar/ Coca-Cola jingle #1/ Glittering Girl/ Summertime Blues (a second studio take, different to the ‘Odds and Sods’ version*)/John Mason’s cars (jingle)/ Girl’s Eyes (unreleased song by Keith Moon)/Sodding About (studio jam and chatter*)/Premier Drums (full unedited jingle*)/ Odorono (final chorus cut from song at last minute)/ Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand (alternate take)/Coca-Cola jingle #2/In The Hall Of The Mountain King (The Who do Grieg!!)/ Top Gear jingle/ Rael 1 and 2 (remake*)

Disc two; tracks 1-13 Who Sell Out mono mix/ Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand (alternate mix used as American B-side; first CD release)/ Someone’s Coming (alternate mix used as UK B-side; first CD release)/ Relax (rehearsal*)/Jaguar (alternate mono mix; first time to CD); Glittering Girl (alternate out-take – well, you know what I mean!*); Tattoo (alternate mono mix*)/ Our Love Was (alternate mono mix*)/ Rotosound Strings jingle (with the ‘missing’ final note which was lost when the track was segued into ‘Silas Stingy’!)/ I Can See For Miles (alternate mono mix*)/ Rael (alternate mono mix*)/ Armenia (City In the Sky) (Townshend’s isolated guitar parts!)/ Great Shakes jingle (*).

♫ Anniversaries: Happy Birthdays this week go to AAA luminaries David Gilmour (guitarist with Pink Floyd, 1968-94) who turns 62 on March 6^th, Peter Wolf (regular songwriter with Jefferson Starship) who turns 63 on March 7^th and Micky Dolenz (singer and drummer with The Monkees 1966-70) who turns 64 on March 8^th. Anniversaries of events this week include: the first day’s filming of seminal Beatles film ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (March 2^nd 1964), the first ever all-British top 10 in the UK (on March 7^th 1964; AAA artists include The Searchers’ ‘Needles and Pins’ at #5 and The Rolling Stones’ ‘Not Fade Away’ at #6) and the death of Grateful Dead founding member, keyboard player and all-round blues genius Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan from liver failure at the age of just 27 (March 8^th 1973).