Tommy (album)
| Tommy | ||||
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| The Who studio album | ||||
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Publication |
May 23, 1969 |
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| Label (s) | Polydor | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP |
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Title (number) |
24 |
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running time |
74:00 |
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| occupation |
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Studio (s) |
IBC Studios in London |
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Tommy is initially the title of the 1969 concept album by the British rock group The Who . The album is the group's first rock opera and tells the story of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Kid (deaf, dumb and blind) Tommy Walker . The music album was followed by a film (1975), the soundtrack of which was released separately, as well as a musical and ballet. Tommy is considered to be one of the highlights in the artistic creation of The Who and especially Pete Townshends , who composed almost all the tracks on the album.
History of the 1969 album
Pete Townshend had already developed ideas for a concept album around 1966, but the real work on Tommy began for The Who on September 19, 1968 with the first recordings for the album in the studio. Townshend had - as he often did - made demo versions of the tracks in his home studio in advance of the studio recordings , so that the group had an exact idea of how the finished songs should sound.
Before Tommy was selected, other titles were up for discussion, such as Deaf, Dumb and Blind Boy , Amazing Journey and Brain Opera .
While recording for Tommy , the group had financial difficulties and was therefore particularly under pressure to succeed. It was planned to release the album in time for the 1968 Christmas season. But the recordings made slow progress early on, which was partly due to the fact that the story had to be developed further and Townshend had to compose new material, and partly because the group had to interrupt the studio work regularly. Tommy was worked on in the studio Monday through Thursday and there were concerts on the weekends to make money and test new material in front of an audience.
At first it seemed that work at the IBC studios in London could be finished in two months. It took until March 7, 1969, before the last recordings and mixes were finished. The group would have liked to take a few more recordings, but the time pressure didn't allow them to do so.
Producer Kit Lambert and recording engineer Damon Lyon-Shaw, who worked closely with Townshend on the recordings, played a major role in the album's success .
On May 23, 1969, Tommy was finally released as a double LP by Track Records in the UK. It reached number 2 on the charts. In the USA the album was released on May 17, 1969 and reached number 4 on the charts. In the first edition the album contained a colored poster.
In 2003 a remastered and remixed version of the album by Pete Townshend was released as an SACD - Deluxe Edition . In addition to a stereo version, it also contains a 5.1 surround mix and previously unreleased material from the recording sessions. With the Deluxe Edition of Live at Leeds , an early live version of Tommy was released in 2001 , as it was also played at the Isle of Wight concert in 1969 and 1970 .
content
Tommy is the story of Tommy Walker, who became deaf, dumb and blind in his childhood when he happened to watch as his father, who had returned from the war, kills his mother's lover (in the film the case is reversed: the father is killed there) . Tommy lives in isolation in his own world (Amazing Journey) . There are also other disturbing experiences, such as abuse by relatives (cousin Kevin , Fiddle About) or obscure attempts at healing (Acid Queen) . Tommy discovers his talent for playing pinball machines and becomes the acclaimed world champion (Pinball Wizard) . Eventually he can be healed because after his reflection is broken he can fully perceive and speak (Smash the Mirror , Sensation) . This "miracle cure" makes him a Messiah be (Sensation , Miracle Cure) , the numerous followers to Flocking (Sally Simpson) . However, when Tommy does not meet their expectations because he opposes the commercialization of his message, his followers drop him (We're Not Gonna Take It) .
background
The work Tommy is influenced by the teachings of the Indian mystic Meher Baba , whose follower is Pete Townshend.
Track list
All songs, except as noted, were written by Pete Townshend.
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Plate 1 contains pages 1 and 4, and plate 2 contains pages 2 and 3 to enable use in plate changers .
Tommy - the orchestral version
In November 1972, the orchestral version of Tommy was released. The London Symphony Orchestra played with a number of guest soloists. On December 9, 1972, the Lou Reizner production was performed live twice at London's Rainbow Theater to promote the album.
On the album, the characters are represented by the following singers:
- Narrator - Pete Townshend
- Nurse - Sandy Denny
- Lover - Graham Bell
- Father - Steve Winwood
- Mother - Maggie Bell
- Hawker - Richie Havens
- Acid Queen - Merry Clayton
- Tommy - Roger Daltrey
- Cousin Kevin - John Entwistle
- Uncle Ernie - Ringo Starr
- Local Lad - Rod Stewart
- Doctor - Richard Harris
Tommy - the movie
On March 18, 1975, the film version of the story about Tommy Walker came into the cinemas. Directed by Ken Russell . The film was cast with stars from rock music and film, Tina Turner played the acid queen, Elton John was the local lad and Jack Nicholson played the doctor. Furthermore, you could see Eric Clapton as a preacher. The main role of Tommy was played by The Who singer Roger Daltrey , who was here for the first time as an actor in a movie.
Differences in content compared to the 1969 album: For the film, the story was initially relocated to the time of the Second World War and its aftermath. Since Tommy's father is believed to have been lost in the war, the mother befriends Frank Hobbs. When the father returns home from the war, he is killed by Frank. Changes in the course of action result from the fact that the order of the pieces has been partially rearranged; so Tommy experiences his release immediately after the breaking of the mirror (I'm Free) . In the visually impressive final part, after his supporters, who have become aggressive towards him, abandon him and kill his mother and stepfather, Tommy goes his way alone: he climbs a mountain and steps in front of the sun. The film ends with this image of the enlightened Tommy. This closes the circle to the beginning, where the father can be seen as a shadow in front of the rising sun until a fanfare heralds the action.
The film's soundtrack , like the original The Who album, also became a huge hit. Among other things, Pinball Wizard in the version by Elton John, who landed one of his many hits with it, received positive mention .
The Who's Tommy - The Musical
As early as the mid-1970s, there had been attempts in Great Britain to get Tommy on the musical stage. However, these attempts were unsuccessful.
In the summer of 1992, Townshend worked on a stage version at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla together with the well-known Broadway writer, director and producer Des McAnuff . The story has been streamlined and put into a more cohesive form. Townshend also composed a new song especially for the musical version: I Believe My Own Eyes . After the piece had run with great success in the "provinces", they dared to move to New York .
On April 22, 1993, The Who's Tommy premiered on New York's Broadway at the St. James Theater . Small improvements had been made and the Broadway version had 14 additional actors and twice as many musicians as the San Diego version. Des McAnuff took care of the implementation of the piece. The play was extremely successful and received excellent reviews. On June 17, 1995, after 899 performances, the last curtain fell for Tommy on Broadway.
In the UK, the musical ran from March 5, 1996 to February 8, 1997 at the Shaftesbury Theater in London . In the London version played Kim Wilde , the role of Mrs. Walker .
The musical experienced its German premiere in English with the Broadway leading actor Michael Cerveris on April 28, 1995 in Offenbach 's Capitol Musical Theater . It was performed there until June 16, 1996. The last show was the first concert-based musical performance in the open air (benefit event for the foundation of the "Tommy Hall", a gym for the disabled in Offenbach).
In 2005 the Dutch production company TMG hosted a Tommy Tour version with Jon Conver in the lead role and a New York cast in collaboration with Big League Theatricals. The events took place over a period of six months in the Netherlands and Belgium. The guitarist Peter Autschbach was the only European in the production back then , who could also be heard in the Offenbach version of Tommy.
For a long time, the work was considered untranslatable due to its poetic and richly pictorial texts. After an English-language production in Offenbach am Main under the musical direction of Tom Schlüter , a German version was created. The German-language premiere in the translation by Anthony Gebler took place in 1999 at the Lübeck City Theater. Sabine Ruflair re-translated the work for the new production at the Musiktheater Linz , directed by Gil Mehmert, which premiered on April 24, 2015.
On November 12, 2011, the musical was staged in another English language in Germany at The English Theater in Frankfurt am Main. This version differs considerably in the storyline from the original Broadway production by Des McAnuff. Directed by Ryan McBride, the musical direction was under Thomas Lorey. Tommy was played here by Leo Miles.
Awards
The musical Tommy won five Tony Awards in 1993, namely in the categories Best Original Score (Pete Townshend), Best Direction of a Musical (Des McAnuff), Best Choreography (Wayne Cilento), Best Scenic Design (John Arnone), Best Lighting Design (Chris Parry).
Web links
- Tommy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Entry for The Who's Tommy in the Internet Broadway Database
- Tommy at Discogs (English)
- Reviews of Tommy on the baby blue pages
- German translation of the English lyrics on www.the-who.net
Individual evidence
- ^ Who and when - OMM - The Observer. In: observer.guardian.co.uk. September 17, 2006, accessed August 31, 2017 . Cf. also the title Baba O'Riley on Who's Next , with whose initial word Townshend commemorates his spiritual master who died in 1969.
- ↑ Richard Barnes: "Liner Notes from 'Tommy' Reissue" ( Memento from April 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ A Christmas fairy tale . In: Der Spiegel 52/1972. 18th December 1972.
- ↑ Liner Notes of the album ODE 99001 , jpgr.co.uk, accessed on May 14, 2012.
- ↑ http://www.tmg-productions.com