Sold Date: June 2, 2017
Start Date: May 5, 2017
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THE WHO / London Symphony Orchestra ( TOMMY ) 1972 2 LP U.S. Box Set w/ SANDY DENNY eric clapton RINGO STARR merry clayton ROD STEWART and others
the box cover has light wear the original ODE labels and vinyl are in very good condition with light wear overall
includes color booklet
Three-and-a-half years after the Who's original album first appeared, and two decades before it came to Broadway, this all-star production of Tommy was released by Ode Records. And it demanded attention in 1972, based on its talent lineup alone: Roger Daltrey (in the title role), Rod Stewart, Merry Clayton, Richie Havens, John Entwistle, Steve Winwood, Richard Harris, Ringo Starr, Maggie Bell, and Pete Townshend, joined by Sandy Denny and Graham Bell in small roles, and all of them accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra & Chamber Choir. Though few people buying it at the time -- and it sold over a million copies -- recognized it as such, it was the equivalent of legitimate opera recordings such as Herbert Von Katajan's gala cast recording of Die Fledermaus on Decca/London Records. Rock was growing up, and being taken more seriously, and that resonated with a lot of listeners and musicians in 1972. Time has removed some of the original luster from the production, which has become a love-it or hate-it affair in the decades since. Conceived by producer Lou Reizner, this recording -- usually referred to informally as the "all-star Tommy" -- initially got the endorsement of Pete Townshend, who apparently saw it at first as a realization of some of what he'd visualized when he first wrote the piece. The Who's original version was recorded too hastily to treat the music as he would've liked, with more than three instruments (five if you count one organ part and a horn part) -- this production seemed to take the piece to a new level. This is the original box vinyl release with a full libretto, the double-LP version was one of the more elaborately conceived and packaged rock releases of its era "See Me, Feel Me"), and became a million-seller ... all of Daltrey's work -- this record, along with the previous year's Who's Next, revealed what a superb singer he had become; and Clayton ("The Acid Queen"), Havens ("Eyesight to the Blind"), Stewart ("Pinball Wizard"), and Harris ("Go to the Mirror") never had better moments working with an orchestra. And some of Malone''s arrangements do work extremely well -- the re-writing of the guitar-and-bass parts on the "Underture" for strings is very well done, and when conductor David Measham gets into the spirit of the original and successfully conveys this to the players, it works beautifully, as on "Welcome," "Go to the Mirror," and "See Me, Feel Me"; and when Malone goes for rich timbres and textures in his orchestrations, rather than just big sound, as on the "Overture," "Amazing Journey," and "Sparks," as well as all of those numbers already mentioned, the effort is worthwhile.