#6 - Who's Next: The Who (1971)

I love the cheekiness of this. Having three of the four zipping up probably oversells it a bit but, overall, it is a wonderful concept.

I also like the post-apocalyptic landscape. It just so happens to be Easington Colliery (“colliery” means “coal mine” for you Yanks), way up north in Durham (for you Brits).

The idea was Entwhistle and Moon’s, and was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey. The photographer was Ethan Russell.

He was an American blueblood who moved to London, became pals with the Rolling Stones, and subsequently notched over 100 album credits, including some very familiar ones:

Yup, the guy did covers for the Who, the Stones, and the Beatles!

Good story about this one … Went it came time, the boys had an attack of shy bladder, so someone made do with some rain water.

This was the band’s first album after Tommy. Like Tommy, it was originally a concept album, something that went by the name of “Lighthouse,” and described a future world where music is banned. The concept was so huge and baroque that it never really saw the light of day (and would cause Townsend to have a nervous breakdown), but it sure produced some good songs – “Baba O’Reilly,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Behind Blue Eyes” (one of my favorite songs of all time) … It’s undoubtedly the Who’s best record, and one of the best of all time.

I've already shared some fave Who covers. Here are a few more:

Looks like at least of the two group are still talkin’ ‘bout their g-g-generation:

Pretty obvious candidate for parodies:

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