''Tommy'' is a 1972 album by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, conducted by

David Measham David Michael Lucian Measham (1 December 19376 February 2005) was a British-Australian conductor and violinist. Measham was born in Nottingham, England, to a musical family. His father, Lester, had trained as an opera singer and his mother, J ...

, performing arrangements by

Wil Malone Wil Malone (born 1952, in Hornsey, North London) is a British music producer and arranger, who has worked with artists including Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Todd Rundgren, The Verve, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode and Italian rocker Gianna Nannini ...

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 ...

's 1969 album ''

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

''. The project was conceived by

Lou Reizner Lou Reizner (born Chicago 1934, died London 26 June 1977) was a record producer, A&R executive and head of Mercury Records European operations. He produced Rod Stewart's first two solo albums, the orchestral version of The Who's rock opera Tommy, ...

, initially with

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

singing

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 ...

's main role. As

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 ...

and Daltrey became more involved, Stewart's role was reduced to singing "Pinball Wizard". The studio version of the orchestral ''Tommy'' was issued in boxed-set LP format. It featured original artwork and photography, which used a pinball as its main motif, was designed by

Tom Wilkes Thomas Edward Wilkes (July 30, 1939 – June 28, 2009) was an American art director, designer, photographer, illustrator, writer and producer-director. Life Wilkes was born in Long Beach, California and raised in southern California. Wilkes atte ...

and Craig Braun and won the Best Album Package Grammy in 1974. The art was by

Richard Amsel Richard Amsel (December 4, 1947 – November 13, 1985) was an American illustrator and graphic designer. His career was brief but prolific, including movie posters, album covers, and magazine covers. His portrait of comedian Lily Tomlin for the c ...

, Robert Heindel, Jim Manos, Alex Gnidziejko,

Wilson McLean Wilson McLean (born 1937) is a Scottish illustrator and artist. He has illustrated primarily in the field of advertising, but has also provided cover art for music albums, sports magazines (including Sports Illustrated), a children's book, and oth ...

, Doug Johnson,

David Edward Byrd David Edward Byrd (born April 4, 1941) is an American graphic artist, designer, illustrator and painter. Many of his design are considered to have helped define the look of rock and roll music starting in the 1960s. He is most well known for his ...

Robert Grossman Robert Grossman (March 1, 1940 – March 15, 2018) was an American painter, sculptor, filmmaker, comics artist, illustrator and author. In a career spanning fifty years, Grossman's illustrations have appeared over 500 times on the covers of var ...

, Charles White III, Richard Harvey and Mark English. Though it yielded no hit singles, the album fared well on Billboard's Top Pop Albums chart, debuting on 9 December 1972, peaking at #5, and remaining on the chart for 38 weeks.

Track list

Guest soloists in order of apperance

*Narrator:

*Nurse:

Sandy Denny Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer". After briefly w ...

*Lover: Graham Bell *Father:

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

*Mother:

Maggie Bell Margaret Bell (born 12 January 1945 in Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish rock vocalist. She came to fame as co-lead vocalist of the blues-rock group Stone the Crows, and was described as the UK's closest counterpart to American sing ...

*Hawker:

Richie Havens Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul (both of which he frequently covered), and rhythm and blues. He had a rhythmic guitar style ...

*Acid Queen:

Merry Clayton Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948) is an American soul and gospel singer. She provided a number of backing vocal tracks for major performing artists in the 1960s, most notably in her duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song " Gimme S ...

*Tommy:

*Cousin Kevin:

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 ...

*Uncle Ernie:

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

*Local Lad:

*Doctor:

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in ''This Sporting ...

Charts

References

{{authority control 1970s classical albums London Symphony Orchestra albums Ode Records albums Tommy (rock opera)