Rock Is Dead—Long Live Rock!

Rock Is Dead—Long Live Rock was the title of an unreleased 1972 autobiographical album by the British rock band The Who. In the liner notes for the Who's 1974 rarities collection Odds & Sods, guitarist and lead songwriter Pete Townshend said, "I had an idea once for a new album about the history of The Who called Rock Is Dead—Long Live Rock. That idea later blossomed into Quadrophenia." The sessions for the album spanned from 19 May to 6 June at Olympic Studios in London. Rock Is Dead—Long Live Rock was to be produced by The Who and Glyn Johns and scheduled for release in October of 1972, but although the album was nearly completed (according to Townshend) the band felt as though it sounded too much like their 1971 LP Who's Next. Townshend later stated that Rock Is Dead—Long Live Rock was also going to be a TV special about The Who. Some of the songs recorded during the Rock Is Dead—Long Live Rock sessions were originally written for another unreleased Who album, 1971's failed Lifehouse.

Track listing

Proposed track listings, created by the band during the 1972 sessions for the album, are in existence. They contain nine songs as well as each song's length. The songs are:

• "Join Together With The Band" - recorded on 22 May 1972, released as a single 16 June as "Join Together"
• "Relay" - recorded on 26 May 1972, released as a single 25 November
• "Long Live Rock" - recorded 5 June 1972, first released on Odds and Sods in 1974, released as a single in November of 1974
• "Put The Money Down" - recorded 6 June 1972, vocals completed in 1974 and released on Odds and Sods
• "Is It In My Head?" - recorded in May 1972, released on Quadrophenia on 18 October 1973
• "Love Reign O'er Me" - recorded in May 1972, completed 8 June 1973 released on Quadrophenia on 18 October 1973, released as a single 27 October 1973
• "Can't You See I'm Easy" & "Riot In The Female Jail" (AKA "Women's Liberation") - 2 songs demoed by Pete Townshend that may have been recorded by The Who (although neither Townshend's demos or The Who's recording - if there is a Who version - have been released) ; however, Pete Townshend's demos of "Can't You See I'm Easy" and "Riot In The Female Jail" have been unofficially released on Pete Townshend's "The Genuine Scoop" 5-CD bootleg.
• "Ambition" - performed by Pete Townshend on an episode of In the Attic; he claimed The Who recorded a version during these sessions which was never released.

Townshend demoed another song, "Get Inside". It did not appear on track listings for Rock Is Dead—Long Live Rock and therefore was probably not recorded by The Who.

Personnel

• Roger Daltrey: lead vocals
• Pete Townshend: guitar, piano, synthesizer, harmonica, Jews harp, vocals
• John Entwistle: bass guitar, vocals
• Keith Moon: drums, percussion