The Who Album: “Odds & Sods”

Rarely can a band make a consistent, solid album purely out of unreleased material, rarities, outtakes, and all the other names for such precious finds, and this vastly expanded edition of "Odds and Sods" solidifies that ability. This album was originally recorded to curve the bootlegging process going on at the time, not only because The Who didn't make money off bootlegs (that may have been the record company's motivation though), but also because the group wanted fans to have more listenable versions; the late bassist John Entwistle said, "They release really bad bootlegs of these songs all the time...they're really bad quality...We thought it was about time we released a bootleg of our own."

It's a true blessing that "Odds and Sods" is so highly recognized and appreciated as a solid effort, because many of these songs rank among some of Pete Townshend's most articulate songwriting and The Who's best performances in the studio. And we all know the fate of unreleased songs that are released here and there over time, popping up on random "best of" compilations; they become lost in time and labeled as empty-hearted gestures to get people to buy those greatest hits albums. Indeed, some of these songs, some in different versions, later appeared as bonus tracks on the remastered editions of The Who's classic albums (the best studio version of 'Pure and Easy' appeared on the reissue of "Who's Next" for example). But gathered together and focused on as "Odds and Sods," listeners can hear some glorious Who moments, packaged as one sturdy album.

The collection also does much to further prove the already well-established fact that The Who were major contributors in bridging 60s rock-pop to the more progressive harder rock of the 70s. For example there are tracks like the enjoyable naive quality of `I'm the Face' (a song recorded when The Who were known as The High Numbers), the poppy humor of `Little Billy,' the odd story of `Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand' (a different version than the one that originally appeared on "The Who Sell Out") and covers of the likes of `Summertime Blues,' `Leaving Here' and the cheeky `My Way.' But there are also more intricate, personal songs like `We Close Tonight' (based on one of Townshend's schooldays relationships), and `Too Much of Anything' as well as compositions that are self-mocking autobiographies of The Who such as the ego-deflating `Faith in Something Bigger,' and the look at exhaustive touring `Postcard.' And to further round out the progression of this great band's music, there are several tracks that came from The Who's innovation in "rock operas"; `Glow Girl' and `Cousin Kevin Model Child' were early ideas for "Tommy," one of the very first rock operas, and important elements from the infamous, aborted "Lifehouse" album/film such as `Time is Passing,' `Put the Money Down' and most notably `Pure and Easy,' the "Odds and Sods" track that everyone remembers, demonstrating The Who's desire to shed as much light on this unreleased material as that of their most memorable and well-known work.

In addition to being the most unique bassist in Rock, John Entwistle had a great talent as the historian and documentarian of the Who, as ODDS & SODS makes abundently clear.

Twenty-three fantastic oddities from the greatest Rock band, and there's really only one I ever skip over. That's a batting percentage most bands would give their left Hiwatt for.

There are three tunes here--"Pure and Easy," "Naked Eye" and the studio version of "Young Man Blues"--that are absolute classics; they may never have been heard by the general public if not for ODDS & SODS. Townshend was so sussed by the collapse of LIFEHOUSE that he seems to have shelved "Pure and Easy" (save a solo acoustic version on WHO CAME FIRST) and "Naked Eye." Both tunes were cosmic in concert and are, to me, at the center of the Who's greatness. The version of "Young Man Blues" here is, if anything, heavier than the LIVE AT LEEDS/ISLE OF WIGHT/WOODSTOCK live versions. Townshend had perfected the fuzzy distorted guitar buzz by '67, and this track really blows a lot of the UK's blues-revival pretenders out of the water. The one-off of "Love Ain't For Keeping," with Townshend taking the lead vocal, is great too.

Gotta wonder about "Cousin Kevin Model Child" though. For starters, who the heck is singing it? I know it's been credited to Moon for a long time, but it sounds more like Legs Larry from the Bonzo's to me. A bit too camp for my taste--sounds too much like the Rocky Horror Show--and if I had to make a cut from this LP, it would be here.

This is not a "greatest hits/best of" repackaging; it is a single-disc Who "Anthology" issued twenty years before the Beatles thought of doing their own. It's great, and you don't really understand the Who until you own ODDS & SODS.

The Who version of The Beatles' Anthology, and Elvis Presley's A Touch of Platinum.

This is a tremendous improvement over the original album, putting all tracks in chronological order by production date, and expanding this to 23 tracks with unreleased outtakes, rare acetates, and uncollected b-sides.

Outstanding cuts are Water, the first Who acetate of Leaving Here/Baby Don't You Do It (after they changed their name from the High Numbers), Cousin Kevin (Model Child) a Tommy outtake, and We Close Tonight (an outtake from Quadrophenia)

Of course there are the other cuts that make this CD worth a listen: Pure and Easy, Long Live Rock, Glow Girl, and Little Billy.

However, this could and should have been a 2 disc affair. There are a number of outtakes or b-sides that are missing: The full-length version of Join Together (that Entwistle had planned on including when he put the album together).

Also, there are songs that are incorrectly listed: Young Man Blues is an inferior take, not the version used on the cited release. In fact one can hear the engineer over the playback say, "that's not it." Under My Thumb is minus Pete's lead guitar.

This is one release that needs a sequel. Despite that, it is a definite improvement on what was before.

The booklet is a bit skimpy compared to past reissues. And one may grumble over the underused Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy album picture sessions (the window where the Who faces would be superimposed offering the contrast with their children counterparts is blank!)

When this album was first released on vinyl back in the 1970's, me and my fellow Who-obsessed friend Pete thought we had died and gone to heaven. It was an unexpected, yet completely enthralling glimpse into the band's vault of unreleased material, sort of a pot of Who gold at the end of the rainbow. Lovingly compiled by bassist John Entwistle, this is where we got our first listen to glorious Who classics like "Long Live Rock" and "Little Billy" (perhaps Keith Moon's finest moment). We used to sit and daydream about what other goodies might still be collecting dust in The Who's archives and this remastered version of "Odds & Sods" sheds some light on that mystery. A veritable treasure trove of new Who to do you through, this is the only recent Who reissue that's absolutely essential. Another no-brainer and highly recommended.

By chronologically listing the tracks, the "feel" of the original tracklisting is sabotaged. I am not saying that the inclusions of "Time is Passing", "Young Man Blues" hurt the album--NO,NO,NO. These songs actually help show what path The Who were taking at that moment in Rock History. Perhaps this is the reason for the chronological listing.

I would have preferred that the Original tracklist to be kept intact, with an inclusion of all the Bonus tracks--(Outtakes and B-sides)on a Second Disc.

The title, ODDS & SODS fits perfectly.