The Who – Behind Blue Eyes
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The Who
The Who is a rock formation founded in 1964. Her first line-up is Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon. The Who is considered to be one of the best bands of all time – their work was inspired by many later groups.
The origins of the band are the duo The Confederates founded by Townshend and Entwistle. The latter was noticed by Roger Daltrey and invited to his project called The Detours. Entwistle agreed and brought Townshend with him. The Detours was inspired by American blues and country music, and in 1964 they changed their name to The Who. Keith Moon then joined them.
In the same year, the gentlemen became The High Numbers for a while and under this name they released the single “Zoot Suit / I’m The Face”. However, after the song was unsuccessful, the musicians fired the manager and reverted to the name The Who. One of the “ritual” activities during the group’s concerts was smashing the instruments. It was initiated in September 1964 by Pete Townshend when he smashed his guitar.
The Who’s first single, which also became their first hit, was “I Can’t Explain”. The song was in the top ten in the UK. We could listen to the band’s debut album “My Generation” in 1965. It included such hits as the title “My Generation” or “The Kids Are Alright”. 1966 saw the next hits of The Who – “Substitute” and “I’m A Boy”, and a year later the band recorded “Happy Jack” and “Pictures Of Lilly”.
Even though each subsequent single was equally successful, Townshend wanted to create what would become a whole made up of separate records. This is how the concept of the album “A Quick One” from 1966 was called by the band “mini opera”. Another such work is “The Who Sell Out”. However, “rock opera” could only be called the album “Tommy” released in 1969. Thanks to it, The Who became one of the biggest stars in the United States. A year later, the musicians released the album “Live At Leeds”, which is considered by some to be the best live album of all time.
However, the greatest fame for the band was brought by the album “Who’s Next” from 1971. It got 4th place on the list of the best publishing houses in the USA and 1st place in Great Britain. The most important songs from this album are “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. Another album by The Who is “Quadrophenia” released two years later. Immediately after that, the group went on a tour of the United States.
The band returned in 1975 with the album “The Who by Numbers”, from which the recording “Squeeze Box” comes. A year later, the band played a concert at the Charlton Athletic Football Ground. The event was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the loudest show of all time.