THE WHO – MY GENERATION LP – VG+ MONO UK 1965 ORIG

The Who – My Generation
(Brunswick Records  1965  LAT8616  Mono)
Matrix No’s: A1/B2 – UK Pressing

Vinyl in Very Good+ condition
(there are quite a few surface marks visible on the vinyl which do give pops/clicks but sound quality is excellent overall)

Sleeve in Very Good+ condition
– some wear to edges/corners with strip of sellotape along bottom edge, small tear at opening edge – back cover has discolouration along top part & general age discolouration across rest
Original Poly Lined Inner Sleeve with no splits

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey (lead vocals, harmonica and guitar), Pete Townshend (guitar, keyboards and vocals), John Entwistle (bass guitar, brass and vocals) and Keith Moon (drums and percussion). They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction. The Who have sold about 100 million records, and have charted 27 top forty singles in the United Kingdom and United States, as well as 17 top ten albums, with 18 Gold, 12 Platinum and 5 Multi-Platinum album awards in the United States alone.

The Who rose to fame in the UK with a series of top ten hit singles, boosted in part by pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, beginning in January 1965 with “I Can’t Explain”. The albums My Generation (1965), A Quick One (1966) and The Who Sell Out (1967) followed, with the first two reaching the UK top five. They first hit the US Top 40 in 1967 with “Happy Jack” and hit the top ten later that year with “I Can See for Miles”. Their fame grew with memorable performances at the Monterey Pop, Woodstock and Isle of Wight music festivals. The 1969 release of Tommy was the first in a series of top ten albums in the US, followed by Live at Leeds (1970), Who’s Next (1971), Quadrophenia (1973), The Who by Numbers (1975), Who Are You (1978) and The Kids Are Alright (1979).

Moon died at the age of 32 in 1978, after which the band released two studio albums, the UK and US top five Face Dances (1981) and the US top ten It’s Hard (1982), with drummer Kenney Jones, before disbanding in 1983. They re-formed at events such as Live Aid and for reunion tours such as their 25th anniversary tour (1989) and the Quadrophenia tours of 1996 and 1997. In 2000, the three surviving original members discussed recording an album of new material, but their plans temporarily stalled upon Entwistle’s death at the age of 57 in 2002. Townshend and Daltrey continue to perform as The Who, and in 2006 they released the studio album Endless Wire, which reached the top ten in the UK and US.

The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their first year of eligibility; the display describes them as “Prime contenders, in the minds of many, for the title of World’s Greatest Rock Band.” Time magazine wrote in 1979 that “No other group has ever pushed rock so far, or asked so much from it.” Rolling Stone magazine wrote: “Along with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, The Who complete the holy trinity of British rock.” They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988, and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001, for creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. In 2008 surviving members Townshend and Daltrey were honoured at the 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors. That same year VH1 Rock Honors paid tribute to The Who where Jack Black of Tenacious D called them “the greatest band of all time.”

My Generation is the debut album by English rock band The Who, released by Brunswick Records in the United Kingdom in December 1965. In the United States, it was released by Decca Records as The Who Sings My Generation in April 1966, with a different cover and a slightly altered track listing.

The album was made immediately after the Who got their first singles on the charts and according to the booklet in the Deluxe Edition, it was later dismissed by the band as something of a rush job that did not accurately represent their stage performance of the time. On the other hand, critics often rate it as one of the best rock albums of all time: in 2003, the album was ranked number 236 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and named the second greatest guitar album of all time by Mojo magazine. In 2004, it was #18 in Q magazine’s list of the 50 Best British Albums Ever. In 2006, it was ranked No. 9 in NME’s list of the 100 Greatest British Albums. In 2004, the title track was No. 11 in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. In 2006, “The Kids Are Alright” was No. 34 in Pitchfork’s list of the 200 greatest songs of the 1960s.

Track listing

All songs written by Pete Townshend, except where noted.

Side one

1. “Out in the Street” – 2:31
2. “I Don’t Mind” (James Brown) – 2:36
3. “The Good’s Gone” – 4:02
4. “La-La-La-Lies” – 2:17
5. “Much Too Much” – 2:47
6. “My Generation” – 3:18

Side two

7. “The Kids Are Alright” – 3:04
8. “Please, Please, Please” (Brown, Johnny Terry) – 2:45
9. “It’s Not True” – 2:31
10. “I’m a Man” (Bo Diddley) – 3:21
11. “A Legal Matter” – 2:48
12. “The Ox” (Townshend, Keith Moon, John Entwistle, Nicky Hopkins) – 3:50

Personnel

The Who

• Roger Daltrey – lead vocals, harmonica
• John Entwistle – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Keith Moon – drums, percussion, backing vocals on “Instant Party Mixture”
• Pete Townshend – six and twelve-string acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on “A Legal Matter”

Additional musicians

• Perry Ford – piano on “I Can’t Explain”
• Nicky Hopkins – piano (except on “I Can’t Explain”)
• The Ivy League – backing vocals on “I Can’t Explain” and “Bald Headed Woman”
• Jimmy Page – lead guitar on “Bald Headed Woman”, rhythm guitar on “I Can’t Explain”