Tommy (rock opera)

''Tommy'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band The Who, a double album first released on 17 May 1969. The album was mostly composed by guitarist Pete Townshend, and is a rock opera that tells the story of Tommy Walker. Tommy is traumatized from witnessing his father murder his mother's lover. Tommy's parents compound his trauma by denying the experience. In reaction, Tommy becomes dissociative ("deaf, dumb and blind"). Tommy then experiences the trauma of being sexually abused. As a way of coping with his trauma, Tommy dissociates further through playing pinball. He gains a following because of his skill at playing pinball. After numerous misguided attempts to heal Tommy, a doctor prescribes him a mirror so he can confront himself and his experience. Instead, Tommy becomes self-absorbed and comes to think of himself as a messianic figure. When the mirror is eventually broken, Tommy comes out of his dissociative state. Tommy then tries to lead his followers to believe that the only path to healing is through him. His followers eventually reject him and his teachings.

Townshend came up with the concept of ''Tommy'' after being introduced to the work of Meher Baba, and attempted to translate Baba's teachings into music. Recording on the album began in September 1968, but took six months to complete as material needed to be arranged and re-recorded in the studio. ''Tommy'' was acclaimed upon its release by critics, who hailed it as The Who's breakthrough. Its critical standing diminished slightly in later years; nonetheless, several writers view it as an important and influential album in the history of rock music. The Who promoted the album's release with an extensive tour, including a live version of ''Tommy'', which lasted throughout 1969 and 1970. Key gigs from the tour included appearances at Woodstock, the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, the University of Leeds, the Metropolitan Opera House, and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. The live performances of ''Tommy'' drew critical praise and revitalized the band's career.

Subsequently, the rock opera developed into other media, including a Seattle Opera production in 1971, an orchestral version by Lou Reizner in 1972, a film in 1975, and a Broadway musical in 1992. The original album has sold 20 million copies and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It has been reissued several times on CD, including a remix by Jon Astley in 1996, a deluxe Super Audio CD in 2003, and a super deluxe box set in 2013, including previously unreleased demos and live material.

Synopsis

The following synopsis of ''Tommy'' was published following the original album's release.

British Army Captain Walker goes missing during an expedition and is believed dead (" Overture"). His wife, Mrs. Walker, gives birth to their son, Tommy ("It's a Boy"). Years later, Captain Walker returns home and discovers that his wife has found a new lover. The Captain kills the lover in front of Tommy. Tommy's parents gaslight Tommy into believing he did not see or hear anything. Tommy begins to disassociate and becomes deaf, dumb and blind to the outside world ("1921"). Tommy now relies on his sense of touch and imagination, developing an inner psyche ("Amazing Journey/Sparks").

A quack claims his wife can cure Tommy (" The Hawker"). Tommy's parents are increasingly frustrated that he will never find religion in the midst of his isolation ("Christmas"). Tommy's parents neglect him, leaving him to be tortured by his sadistic "Cousin Kevin" and sexually abused by his uncle Ernie ("Fiddle About"). The Hawker's drug-addicted wife, "The Acid Queen", gives Tommy a dose of LSD, causing a hallucinogenic experience that is expressed musically ("Underture").

As Tommy grows older, he discovers that he can feel vibrations sufficiently well to become an expert pinball player (" Pinball Wizard"). His parents take him to a respected doctor ("There's a Doctor"), who determines that the boy's disabilities are psychosomatic rather than physical. Tommy is told by the Doctor to "Go to the Mirror!", and his parents notice he can stare at his reflection. After seeing Tommy spend extended periods staring at a mirror in the house, his mother smashes it out of frustration ("Smash the Mirror"). This removes Tommy's mental block, and he recovers his senses, realising he can become a powerful leader ("Sensation"). He starts a religious movement (" I'm Free"), which generates fervor among its adherents ("Sally Simpson") and expands into a holiday camp ("Welcome" / "Tommy's Holiday Camp"). However, Tommy's followers ultimately reject his teachings and leave the camp (" We're Not Gonna Take It"). Tommy retreats inward again ("See Me, Feel Me") with his "continuing statement of wonder at that which encompasses him".

Background

Townshend had been looking at ways of progressing beyond the standard three-minute pop single format since 1966. Co-manager Kit Lambert shared Townshend's views and encouraged him to develop musical ideas, coming up with the term "rock opera". The first use of the term was applied to a suite called "Quads", set in a future where parents could choose the sex of their children. A couple want four girls but instead receive three girls and a boy, raising him as a girl anyway. The opera was abandoned after writing a single song, the hit single, " I'm a Boy". When The Who's second album, ''A Quick One'', ran short of material during recording, Lambert suggested that Townshend should write a "mini-opera" to fill the gap. Townshend initially objected, but eventually agreed to do so, coming up with " A Quick One, While He's Away", which joined short pieces of music together into a continuous narrative. During 1967, Townshend learned how to play the piano and began writing songs on it, taking his work more seriously. That year's ''The Who Sell Out'' included a mini-opera in the last track, "Rael", which like "A Quick One..." was a suite of musical segments joined.

By 1968, Townshend was unsure about how The Who should progress musically. The group were no longer teenagers, but he wanted their music to remain relevant. His friend, '' International Times'' art director Mike McInnerney, told him about the Indian spiritual mentor Meher Baba, and Townshend became fascinated with Baba's values of compassion, love and introspection. The Who's commercial success was on the wane after the single "Dogs" failed to make the top 20, and there was a genuine risk of the band breaking up. The group still performed well live and spent most of the spring and summer touring the US and Canada, but their stage act relied on Townshend smashing his guitar or Keith Moon demolishing his drums, which kept the group in debt. Townshend and Kit Lambert realised they needed a larger vehicle for their music than hit singles and a new stage show, and Townshend hoped to incorporate his love of Meher Baba into this concept. He decided that The Who should record a series of songs that stood well in isolation, but formed a cohesive whole on the album. He also wanted the material performed in concert, to counter the trend of bands like the Beatles and the Beach Boys producing studio output that was not designed for live performance.

In August 1968, in an interview to ''Rolling Stone'', Townshend talked about a new rock opera, which had the working title of ''Deaf, Dumb and Blind Boy'', and described the entire plot in great detail, which ran to 11 pages. The Who biographer Dave Marsh subsequently said the interview described the narrative better than the finished album. Townshend later regretted publishing so much detail, as he felt it forced him to write the album according to that blueprint. The rest of The Who, however, were enthusiastic about the idea, and let him have artistic control over the project.

Recording

The Who started recording the album at IBC Studios on 19 September 1968. There was no firm title at this point, which was variously referred to as ''Deaf, Dumb and Blind Boy'', ''Amazing Journey'', ''Journey into Space'', ''The Brain Opera'' and ''Omnibus''. Townshend eventually settled on ''Tommy'' because it was a common British name, and a nickname for soldiers in the First World War. Kit Lambert took charge of the production, with Damon Lyon-Shaw as engineer. Sessions were block-booked from 2pm – 10pm, but recording often spilled over into the early morning.

The album was recorded using an eight-track system, which allowed various instruments to be overdubbed. Townshend used several guitars in the studio, but made particular use of the Gibson J-200 acoustic and the Gibson SG. As well as their usual instruments, Townshend played piano and organ and bassist John Entwistle doubled on french horn. Keith Moon used a new double bass drum kit owned by roadie Tony Haslam, after Premier had refused to loan him any more equipment due to the items repeatedly being abused. Though Townshend wrote the majority of the material, the arrangements came from the entire band. Singer Roger Daltrey later said that Townshend often came in with a half-finished demo recording, adding "we probably did as much talking as we did recording, sorting out arrangements and things." Townshend asked Entwistle to write two songs ("Cousin Kevin" and "Fiddle About") that covered the darker themes of bullying and abuse. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" was Keith Moon's suggestion of what kind of religious movement Tommy could lead. Moon got the songwriting credit for suggesting the idea, though the music was composed and played by Townshend. A significant amount of material had a lighter style than earlier recordings, with greater prominence put on the vocals. Moon later said, "It was, at the time, very un-Wholike. A lot of the songs were soft. We never played like that."

Some of the material had already been written for other projects. "Sensation" was written about a girl Townshend had met on The Who's tour of Australia in early 1968, "Welcome" and " I'm Free" were about peace found through Meher Baba and "Sally Simpson" was based on a gig with the Doors which was marred by violence. Other songs had been previously recorded by The Who and were recycled; "It's A Boy" was derived from "Glow Girl", an out-take from ''The Who Sell Out'', while "Sparks" and "Underture" re-used and expanded one of the instrumental themes in "Rael". "Amazing Journey" was, according to Townshend, "the absolute beginning" of the opera and summarised the entire plot. "The Hawker" was a cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Eyesight to the Blind". A cover of Mercy Dee Walton's "One Room Country Shack" was also recorded but was scrapped from the final track listing as Townshend could not figure out a way to incorporate it in the plot.

Recording at IBC was slow, due to a lack of a full plot and a full selection of songs. The group hoped that the album would be ready by Christmas, but sessions dragged on. '' Melody Maker''s Chris Welch visited IBC studios in November and while he was impressed with the working environment and the material, the project still did not have a title and there was no coherent plotline. The Who's US record company, Decca Records, got so impatient waiting for new product that they released the compilation album '' Magic Bus: The Who on Tour'' which received a scathing review from Greil Marcus in ''Rolling Stone'' over its poor selection of material and misleading name (as the album contained studio recordings and was not live).

The Who took a break from recording at the end of 1968 to tour, including a well received appearance at ''The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus'' on 10 December. They resumed sessions at IBC in January 1969, block booking Monday to Thursday, but had to do gigs every weekend to stop going further into debt. A major tour was booked for the end of April, and the group's management insisted that the album would have to be finished by then, as it had been well over a year since ''The Who Sell Out''. Kit Lambert wrote a script, ''Tommy (1914–1984)'' which he professionally printed, and gave copies to the band, which helped them focus the storyline, and also decide to make the album a double. The group were still coming up with new material; Lambert insisted that the piece should have a proper overture, while Townshend wrote " Pinball Wizard" so that Nik Cohn, a pinball fan, would give the album a favourable review in ''The New York Times''. Lambert wanted an orchestra to appear on the album, but Townshend was strongly against the idea, and time and budget constraints meant it could not happen anyway.

By March 1969, some songs had been recorded several times, yet Townshend still thought there were missing pieces. Entwistle had become fed up with recording, later saying "we had to keep going back and rejuvenating the numbers ... it just started to drive us mad." The final recording session took place on 7 March, the same day that "Pinball Wizard" was released as a single. The group started tour rehearsals and promotional activities for the single and Lambert went on holiday in Cairo. The mixing was left to Damon Lyon-Shaw and assistant engineer Ted Sharp, who did not think IBC was well suited for the task. The album overshot its April deadline, as stereo mastering continued into the end of the month.

Release and reception

After delays surrounding the cover artwork, ''Tommy'' was released on 17 May 1969 in the US by Decca and 23 May in the UK by Track Records. The original double album was configured with sides 1 and 4 on one disc, and sides 2 and 3 on the other, to accommodate record changers.

The album was commercially successful, reaching No. 2 in the UK album charts. It peaked at No. 7 in the US in 1969, but in 1970 it re-entered the charts, at which time it went on to peak at No. 4. It sold 200,000 copies in the first two weeks in the US alone, and was awarded a gold record for sales of 500,000 on 18 August. " Pinball Wizard", " I'm Free" and "See Me, Feel Me" were released as singles and received airplay on the radio. "Pinball Wizard" reached the top 20 in the US and the top five in the UK. "See Me, Feel Me" reached the top 20 in the US and "I'm Free" reached the top 40. An EP of selections from the album was planned to be released in the UK in November 1970, but was withdrawn. As of 2012, ''Tommy'' has sold 20 million copies worldwide.

When it was released, critics were split between those who thought the album was a masterpiece, the beginnings of a new genre, and those that felt it was exploitative. The album had a hostile reception with the BBC
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