‘Who’s Next’, the fifth album by The Who, turns 50 this week.
‘Who’s Next’ was released on 14 August 1971. The cover, by photographer Ethan Russell, featured a picture of the four members urinating on a large concrete slab. In actuality, only Pete Townshend pissed on the slab. The other stains were created by pouring rainwater from a cannister onto the slab. Also, the sky effect was added in post-production.
The Who’s Next’ album was the band’s first album after ‘Tommy’ two years earlier. Townshend was working on a rock-opera follow-up to be called ‘Lifehouse’ but that project was abandoned.
Nearly all of the songs would have been on ‘Lifehouse’ but instead became ‘Who’s Next’. Intended for ‘Lifehouse’ were ‘Baba O’Reilly’, ‘Bargain’, ‘Love Ain’t For Keeping’, ‘Getting In Tune’, ‘The Song Is Over’, ‘Going Mobile’, ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’.
‘My Wife’ was the only song that was not from ‘Lifehouse’. The song, written by John Entwistle, was intended for his solo album.
The first sessions for ‘Who’s Next’ were recorded on The Rolling Stones Mobile studio that was parked at Mick Jagger’s house. The backing track for ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ was recorded at Jagger’s residence, Stargroves, in Hampshire. Jagger bought the property for £55,000 in 1970. The Stones recorded much of ‘Sticky Fingers’, ‘Exile on Main Street’ and ‘Its Only Rock n Roll’ there. Led Zeppelin recorded there for ‘Houses of the Holy and ‘Physical Graffiti’. Jagger sold the property in 1979, Rod Stewart bought it in 1998. It last sold in 2012 for £15 million.
But we digress …
‘Who’s Next’ is considered The Who’s finest recording. It reached no 1 in the UK, no 3 in Australia and no 4 in the USA.
TRACK LIST
1. Baba O’Riley
2. Bargain
3. Love Ain’t For Keeping
4. My Wife
5. The Song Is Over
6. Getting In Tune
7. Going Mobile
8. Behind Blue Eyes
9. Won’t Get Fooled Again
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