Odds & Sods

Odds & Sods
Compilation album by The Who
Released October 4, 1974 (1974-10-04)[1]
Recorded 1964–1973
Genre Rock
Length 40:23
Language English
Label Track Records (UK)
Track/MCA (US)
Polydor (UK)
Producer Glyn Johns, Kit Lambert, Peter Meaden, Chris Parmeinter, Shel Talmy, The Who
Compiler John Alcock, John Entwistle
The Who chronology
Quadrophenia
(1973)
Odds & Sods
(1974)
By Numbers
(1975)
Singles from Odds & Sods
  1. "Long Live Rock"
    Released: 1974

Odds & Sods is an album that consists of studio outtakes and rarities by British rock band The Who released by Track Records in the UK and Track/MCA in the US in 1974.

In the autumn of 1973, while Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and Keith Moon were preparing for the Tommy film, John Entwistle was put in charge of compiling an album to counter the rampant bootlegging that occurred at The Who's concerts.[2] "I tried to arrange it like a parallel sort of Who career - what singles we might have released and what album tracks we might have released," Entwistle explained.[2] He and the producer of his solo albums, John Alcock, compiled Odds & Sods from various tapes. Two LPs of material were collected, but only one was released. "It could have been a double album, there was that much material," Entwistle said at the time of the album's release.[2] The material from the second unreleased LP was later included on the 1998 remastered CD version. Townshend wrote liner notes for the album which included frank opinions of the quality of the songs. The notes were omitted from some copies of the original LP but included on the reissued CD. The album reached #10 on the UK charts and #8 in the US.[3]

Contents

Song backgrounds

"Little Billy" was written by Townshend for the American Cancer Society, but it never saw the light of day because it never left the office of the record executive Townshend submitted it to.

"I'm the Face" (which is a reworking of the Slim Harpo classic "Got Love If You Want It") was The Who's first record release, when they were still performing as the High Numbers. It was recorded in 1964.

"Put the Money Down", "Too Much of Anything" and "Pure and Easy" were from the aborted Lifehouse project.[4]

The mix of "Under My Thumb" on the 1998 remastered CD is a special stereo remix produced but not used for the Thirty Years of Maximum R&B box set that omits the original fuzzbox guitar part.

The studio version of "Young Man Blues" on the re-issue is not the sampler version of The House that Track Built but a slower out-take (seemingly due to the tape playing at the wrong speed) from the same sessions as the Sampler Version and it was finally released in an alternate mix on the deluxe version of "Tommy" years later. The iTunes American Store lists this version "Young Man Blues" as an "Alternate Studio Version" and at the end Kit Lambert is heard to remark: "No, that one didn't really work".

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic link
Robert Christgau (B) link
Pitchfork Media (10.0/10) link
Rolling Stone (satisfactory) link

Track listing

All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.

Side one
  1. "Postcard" (John Entwistle) – 3:27
  2. "Now I'm a Farmer" – 3:59
  3. "Put the Money Down" – 4:14
  4. "Little Billy" – 2:15
  5. "Too Much of Anything" – 4:26
  6. "Glow Girl" – 2:20
Side two
  1. "Pure and Easy" – 5:23
  2. "Faith in Something Bigger" – 3:03
  3. "I'm the Face" (Peter Meaden(performed by The High Numbers) – 2:32
  4. "Naked Eye" – 5:10
  5. "Long Live Rock" – 3:54

1998 remastered CD

  1. "I'm the Face" (Meaden) (performed by The High Numbers) – 2:27
  2. "Leaving Here" (Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, Eddie Holland) – 2:12
  3. "Baby Don't You Do It" (Dozier, Holland, Holland) – 2:27
  4. "Summertime Blues" (Jerry Capehart, Eddie Cochran) – 3:13 (Studio version, recorded June 28, 1967 at CBS Studios, London)
  5. "Under My Thumb" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 2:44
  6. "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand" – 3:21
  7. "My Way" (Jerry Capehart, Cochran) – 2:26
  8. "Faith in Something Bigger" – 2:59
  9. "Glow Girl" – 2:24
  10. "Little Billy" – 2:17
  11. "Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison) (Alternate version) – 2:44
  12. "Cousin Kevin Model Child" (Entwistle) – 1:24
  13. "Love Ain't for Keeping" – 4:03
  14. "Time Is Passing" – 3:29
  15. "Pure and Easy" – 5:21
  16. "Too Much of Anything" – 4:21
  17. "Long Live Rock" – 3:56
  18. "Put the Money Down" – 4:29
  19. "We Close Tonight" – 2:56
  20. "Postcard" (Entwistle) – 3:30
  21. "Now I'm a Farmer" – 4:06
  22. "Water" – 4:39
  23. "Naked Eye" – 5:26

Sales chart performance

Album
Year Chart Position
1974 Billboard Pop Albums 15
UK Chart Albums 10[5]

Sales certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA – US Gold 9 December 1974[6]

Personnel

The Who
Other
Production

References

  1. ^ Neill, Andrew; Kent, Matthew; Roger Daltrey, Chris Stamp (2009). Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of the Who 1958-1978. Sterling. p. 297. ISBN 978-1-4027-6691-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=c5yUA_S5pGoC&lpg=PA262&dq=Roger%20Daltrey%20Ride%20a%20ROck%20Horse&hl=fr&pg=PA297#v=onepage&q=4%20Oct%2074&f=false. Retrieved 2011-05-03. 
  2. ^ a b c Flippo, Chet (December 5, 1974). "Entwistle: Not So Silent After All". Rolling Stone (Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc.) (175): 11. 
  3. ^ "The Who Official Band Website - Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon | | Odds And Sods". Thewho.com. http://www.thewho.com/index.php?module=discography&discography_item_id=67&discography_tag=albums. Retrieved 2010-05-31. 
  4. ^ Who's Next 1995 Remastered Liner Notes
  5. ^ The Who at chartstats.com
  6. ^ RIAA

External links