Customer Reviews

Who Came First

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like ROUGH MIX, the album Townshend cut with Ronnie Lane, WHO CAME FIRST mixes a batch of unrelated tunes--some rejected by the Who, some Townshend didn't want to give the Who, and some surprising covers--and fuses them into a little gem of a record.

"Pure & Easy" is one of the best songs Townshend ever wrote. While I prefer the Who version on ODDS & SODs, Townshend does a great acoustic version here. Lane takes the lead on "Evolution" which is...well, very Ronnie Lane-ish. Like your neighbor sitting on his back step with a guitar and a pint of Guiness.

I love the sappy acoustic tunes "Time Is Passing," "There's A Heartache Following Me" and, especially and always, "Sheraton Gibson." Just great great great stuff from a period when Townshend could do anything--ANYTHING--on the guitar. The most intimidating wizard of all, in my book, even more so than Hendrix because Townshend never lost the beat in the midst of his revery (how's that for a poetic twitch?).

And "Content" is almost angelic. Other than George Harrison I can't imagine anyone in Rock at the time (1972) who would have dared be this fragile and prostrate on a solo LP.

For all his human shortcomings, Townshend remains my hero--guitar, spiritual, philosophical, whatever--and this album demonstrates the real heart of why that came to be. There are no hits, and that's really the point: this was a demonstration of a kind of faith, not an attempt to conquer Top Of The Pops.

Later in the 70's Townshend would fight an internal battle to mix this kind of spiritual enlightenment with an urge to remain commercially viable; he would try to inject this kind of philosophical openness into a Rock/Pop Rock format. Whether or not he was successful--and whether or not that effort led, in part or in whole, to the creative collapse of the Who--is a wordy issued we can debate some other time.

This is a great record,, though, no matter how you approach it.

"Who Came First" features some terrific material that Pete wrote for the Lifehouse project (and that eventually ended up being released by The Who as well)along with originals written for this album and a guest appearence by the late great Ronnie Lane from the Faces. It's a terrific album that more than holds its own with later Townshend solo masterpieces (such as the more aggressive sounding rockin' album "Empty Glass"). The bonus tracks includes the acoustic "Sleeping Dogs" and "Mary Jane" with its banjo playing give the album a diverse sound. Some of these were on the earlier Ryko disc but, if I recall, the three bonus tracks at the end "Mary Jane", "I Always Say" and a re-recording of the standard "Begin the Beuine" round out this terrific re-release.

From the opening track "Pure and Easy" (which somehow sounds more personal and intimate when Pete sings it and the same can be said for "Let's See Action" although I prefer the Who version)through to "Time Is Passing" and re-recordings of "The Seeker" just about every track is a strong one.

Hip-O has done a great service for Townshend and Who fans by making this available again (with some terrific bonus tracks no less expanding on the original release)after Ryko's CD went out of print. The remastering sounds extremely good on this edition and the price is just right for fans.

Highly recommended.

And now, once again we have another release of: Pete Townshend's "Who Came First" First on these shores in 1972, released on compact disc in the mid-eighties and a limited edition deluxe package released in 1992. Well, here we go once again in 2006.

As it is great to see: "Who Came First" back for sale at a reasonable price with a tiny improvement in sound quality. The ulitimate deluxe CD edition is STILL the 1992 RYKODISC version as it tops this edition for bigger and better packaging of the material. That edition included a 64 page booklet in a hard-shell book casing that is really nice and it INCLUDES Pete's Rolling Stone essay from November 1970 "In Love With Meher Baba" that is NOT a part of this package.

That said this edition has upped the amount of bonus tracks to NINE in addition to the original nine tracks of the 1972 version. Now we have 73 minutes of music (the first 6 bonus cuts are included on the 1992 deluxe edition) and that alone is enough for Who-Freaks to shell out their money one more time. The uncovered tracks are: "Mary Jane" "I Always Say" & "Begin The Beguine." Well, firstly you can already find "Beguine" as part of Pete's "SCOOP" series so this is already out there elsewhere so it don't count as anything new, so we are now are down to two tracks we haven't heard before, "Mary Jane" is a wierd little ditty with very strange - computer altered acoustic guitar and heartfelt singing from Pete. "I Always Say" gives Pete the chance to sing da blooze in a Mersybeat style, both tracks have escaped the Bootleggers, so they are both are released for the very first time.

We all know and love the original version (that included a beautiful painting as poster by Mike McInnerny) that has NOT been included in the package since the LP of 1972. And the fantastic songs: "Pure & Easy" "Let's See Action" "Time Is Passing" "Sheraton Gibson" & "Parvardigar." The demo version of "The Seeker" and the wonderful tune "Sleeping Dog" are also worth notice.

This is a 5-star release, but I will be subtracting 1-star for INCOMPLETE PACKAGING!!! Next time do this RIGHT and include the beautiful poster and bring the booklet back up to at LEAST 64 pages. This release is NOT as DELUXE as it should be.
JAI PETE!

This is Pete Townshend at his purest, when his mind, heart, and spirit culminated in the expression of all his best attributes, both musically and personally. The opening chords of "Pure and Easy" gave me chills when I first heard them 27 years ago and I knew in an instant that it was a sound I unwittingly had always wanted to hear. The rest of the album confirmed that visceral response. Pete's solo version of that song, along with the brilliant "Let's See Action," are far more dynamic than the Who's versions (am I the only person who prefers Townshend's vocals to those of Roger Daltry?) and taken with the material from "Who's Next," one must surmise that this is the only man on the planet who can write a song to God and still rock. The ever-entertaining Ronnie Lane ("I'll drink to that") teams up with Pete's acoustic, which drives a delightful incarnation of Ronnie's signature song, "Evolution." Caleb Quaye's layered guitar sound on Billie Nichols' "Forever's No Time At All" takes a nod towards Pete's usual raunchy buzz of the time, with an added Byrdsian twang. But the penultimate "Parvardigar" is perhaps Pete Townshend's best-kept secret, an exquisitely rendered version of Meher Baba's Universal Prayer a la John Renbourn. As for the add-ons, my favorite is the delicate instrumental, "His Hands." The others may bear interest for those curious about Townshend's more devotional leanings. But where's the celestially elongated synthesizer track, "Baba O'Riley," Pete? It belonged on this album, even in edited form. The book version of the CD with Ira Robbins' summation of the album's genesis, plus a wonderful article Pete penned for Rolling Stone, makes that a priceless collector's item. Beautiful, achingly sweet, innocently conceived music. A bouquet of acoustic longing. Some of this material sprang from Townshend's demos for "Lifehouse." Now that Pete's releasing those demos, it would be great to hear it all together.

Released in 1972 while The Who were at their creative and popular peak, Pete Townshend's debut solo album is completely different from his band recordings. "Who Came First," is a gentle rocking, mostly accoustic tribute to Townshend's spiritual guide, the Meher Baba. And while his lyrical love notes to Baba (particularly on the lengthy cut "Pavardigar") can a bit wearing to non-believers, the songwriting is, for the most part, first rate. The album includes two solo verions of Who songs ("Pure and Easy" and "Let's See Action") that are actually BETTER than the subsequently released band versions. Other excellent tunes include a cover song "Forever's No Time At All," a tribute to Pete's guitar "Sheraton Gibson," and the Ronnie Lane collaboration (sung by Lane) "Evolution." The CD even includes a generous helping of bonus tracks that are almost as good as the original album material.

Overall, Townshend's first solo album is a keeper despite its minor flaws.

This was my first ever Who / Townshend album bought on its original release in 1972. My school friends worshipped this guy Townshend and kept on about him. I knew he had something to do with the Who and nothing else. They persuaded me to buy this album because I worked in a record store and could buy albums at reduced prices. On first listening, I was disappointed - I was expecting that driven upbeat Who sound. However, after a few listenings, it became something special. In fact I came to prefer Pete's solo sound on Pure and Easy, Let's See Action, etc., to the Who's own recording. Those tracks plus Sheraton Gibson and Time is Passing have become my all time favourites. There are some new tracks on the CD version, only some of which deserve to be on this album. Some of the others should have been consigned to one of the Scoop Albums. My friends were stunned at this much more gentle and thoughtful approach, and were turned off. For me, this album started a frenzy of buying the Who back catalogue, and looking for anything Pete was doing. I have consistently preferred his solo work, albeit some of the recent offerings haven't impressed. I keep thinking that sooner or later, he will release another gem like this one, and I wouldn't dare miss that.

All I can say is "ditto" to all of the other reviews. This aging hippie doesn't often listen to The Who anymore -- but not so with Who Came First. I still enjoy it as much today as I did 30 years ago! Most people probably missed this album from way back when -- but it's not too late....buy it!

I love the HDAD format. Great sound if you have the right equipment. So far, my favorite release in this format is Muddy Waters 'Folk Singer.' Classic Records, the audiophile label specializing in HDAD (Hybrid Digital Audio Disc) and high-gram vinyl pressings, has released Pete Townshend's 1972 solo album on HDAD. The results are mixed. A few of the songs sound a little thin, while others are closer to what we have come to expect from this high-resolution format. Classic Records promises "master tape sound" and that's probably what we're getting here. It's just that some master tapes sound better than others. If you are an audiophile and like Pete Townshend, then by all means give this a listen. It is NOT multichannel/surround, however, so don't buy it thinking that. It is stereo.

'Who Came First' is Townshend's first, and one of his best solo albums. It's been called "homespun, charming, personal, and low-key," which it is. The album has probably never been presented in a better sounding format than this HDAD version. Just don't expect miracles.

I can't say my opinion is unbiased about this music. As others have already said, I too bought this album when it first appeared on vinyl and have listened to it pretty much ever since. In short it is group of excellent Pete Townshend songs in what might be considered a more intimate setting... as there are no Marshall amps stacked here. Somewhere long ago, I read that some of these recordings evolved from tapes Pete would make as demos for The Who. These songs are all very personal, heartfelt, down to Earth and well conceived efforts that --as a Who fan right from their beginnings-- touched me the first time I heard them. Now all these years later, the same still holds true.

It was a thrill to find this music released as a CD and also very satisfying to discover that the additional material "enhancing" the album does exactly that. The bonus tracks are a very suitable fit with the original "Who Came First" and not just dredged up fluff to bulk up this re-release.

Faith was in short supply during much of the 60's and 70's. It was sneered at by many critics and musicians weren't either weren't comfortable or capable at expressing it without falling into a pit of cliches. One of the few albums to overcome that obstacle (along with George Harrison's All Things Must Pass) was Pete Townshend. Who Came First certainly isn't his best album (Empty Glass is much more accomplished, diverse and interesting) or his worst (Psychoderelict). WCF has the distinct feature of being Townshend's most honest album.

Featuring a number of songs (some of which were recorded by The Who as well), WCF also features a couple of guest spots by folks like Ronnie Lane. It's a gentle, intimate album featuring many inspired and inspiring songs. It's probably not the best place to experience Townshend's solo albums for the first time but it's a relaxing, quiet place to reflect.