"Happy Jack" is a song by the British rock band
the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
. It was released as a single in December 1966 in the United Kingdom, peaking at No. 3 in the charts.
[ It peaked at No. 1 in Canada. It was also their first top 40 hit in the United States, where it was released in March 1967 and peaked at No. 24.][ It was included on the American version of their second album, ''Happy Jack'', originally titled '' A Quick One'' in the UK.
The song features ]Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who.
Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...
sharing lead vocals with John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member ...
and Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s.
Townsh ...
. At the tail end of "Happy Jack", Townshend can be heard shouting "I saw you!"; it is said that he had noticed drummer Keith Moon
Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Moon grew ...
trying to join in surreptitiously to add his voice to the recording, something the rest of the band would try to prevent (Moon had a habit of making the other members laugh). ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' critic Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh (born March 1, 1950) is an American music critic, and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of ''Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone (magazine), ...
calls this line "the hippest thing" about the song.[
According to some sources, Townshend reported the song is about a man who slept on the beach near where Townshend vacationed as a child. Children on the beach would laugh at the man and once buried him in the sand. However, the man never seemed to mind and only smiled in response. According to Marsh, "the lyric is basically a ]fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...
, not surprisingly, given the links to Pete's childhood".[
Greg Littmann interprets the song as a possible reaction to alienation, as Jack allows "the cruelty of other people oslide off his back".]
Despite its chart success, Who biographer Greg Atkins describes the song as being the band's weakest single to that point. Daltrey reportedly thought the song sounded like a "German oompah song". But Chris Charlesworth praised the "high harmonies
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However, ...
, quirky subject matter" and "fat bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
and drums that suspend belief".[ Charlesworth particularly praised Moon's drumming for carrying not just the beat, but also the ]melody
A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
itself, in what he calls "startlingly original fashion".[ Marsh states that although the song contained little that the band had not done before, it did "what the band did well", giving the "soaring harmonies, enormously fat bass notes, thunderous drumming" and the guitar ]riff
A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...
s as examples.[
According to Pete Townshend’s autobiography, "Happy Jack" is ]Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
’s favourite Who song.
Live performances
The song was first performed by The Who in 1967 and continued to be played until 1970; a performance from The Who's February 1970 concert at Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
may be heard in a medley with other songs on the 1995 CD reissue of '' Live at Leeds'' and subsequent reissues. It was also performed in Townshend's first solo concert in 1974. The most recent performances of the song were short (one-and-a-half-minute) versions at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, on 22 and 23 December 1999.
A snippet of the song was played at a 1982 concert in Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
to appease a fan who was holding a sign saying, "Play Happy Jack, It's My Birthday!", which was blocking the vision of several fans behind him. However, Townshend stated that he and the band couldn't remember how to play the full song anymore.
Cover versions
American rock band Southern Culture on the Skids covered it on their 2007 album ''Countrypolitan Favorites''. The song was used as the soundtrack to a Hummer
Hummer (stylized as HUMMER) is a brand of pickups and SUVs that was first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a sub-brand of GMC in 2020. ...
TV commercial in 2005.
References
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The Who songs
Songs written by Pete Townshend
1966 singles
Polydor Records singles
Song recordings produced by Kit Lambert
Decca Records singles
1966 songs
Reaction Records singles