The Who charted with "Behind Blue Eyes"

Behind Blue Eyes The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend (see lyrics here) First Charted: October 30, 1971 Peak: 34 US, 24 CB, 27 HR, 1 CL (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.2 UK, 0.65 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 39.2 video, 147.66 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: This was the second single from the Who’s 1971 album Who’s Next. Like most of the songs on that album, this was written for the intended Lifehouse sci-fi rock opera, but abandoned when guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend struggled to bring clarity to the concept. This song was written for the villain, Jumbo. He laments that no one understands the pressure he faces. He “was forced to subsume his more noble impulses in the serve of corrupt power structure.” AMG Townshend said it was about “how lonely it is to be powerful” SF and that the character “felt…he was forced into a position of being a villain whereas he felt he was a good guy.” WK In the context of Who’s Next, “Behind Blue Eyes” had to stand on its own instead of being part of a greater story. It became a “meditation of one man’s dual nature, and the result was one of the most powerful and mature performances on the album.” AMG Townshend’s initial inspiration came from being tempted by a groupie and writing a prayer asking for help in resisting temptation. SF The song starts out quietly with Roger Daltrey, “in the clear voice of a schoolboy,” AMG singing “No one knows what it’s like / To be the bad man / To be the sad man / Behind blue eyes.” John Entwistle comes in with his bass, but subtly instead of with “his usual dive-bombing fretboard runs.” AMG Daltrey then “conjures the image of a man desperately holding himself back from an explosion of anger and wrath.” AMG “A little more than two minutes in, the dam finally breaks.” AMG Keith Moon’s drums “burst onto the scene, Townshend’s guitar wails and full force” AMG and the song “breaks out into a full-scale rock anthem” WK before eventually returning to the quieter theme that opened the song. This was a technique Townshend had also employed on songs for the Who’s 1969 rock opera Tommy. WK It was a contrast to the band’s reputation for the “bash-and-crash amphetamine overdrive of their live show.” AMG Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Who AMG All Music Guide review by Mark Deming SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 8/12/2021; last updated 8/3/2022.

The Who released “Baba O’Riley”

Baba O’Riley The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend (see lyrics here) Released: October 23, 1971 First Charted: -- Peak: 1 CL, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 1.0 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 123.28 video, 580.85 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: After the Who found success with their 1969 rock opera Tommy, Pete Townshend embarked on another rock opera, “a wildly ambitious science-fiction” SS project called Lifehouse. However, Townshend nearly suffered a nervous breakdown for being too ambitious and dissension amongst the band halted the project. UCR The best tracks, though, survived to resurface on the more conventional Who’s Next album. The lead track, “Baba O’Riley,” was originally nine minutes in the context of the Lifehouse project. TC It is “a beautiful ode to that painful, lost feeling known as adolescence.” TM It has also been called “a bitter remonstrations towards a society that seemed hell-bent on hanging an entire generation of kids out to rot.” DT It is is often referred to as “Teenage Wasteland” because of the chorus. The song was inspired by Meher Baba, an Indian spiritual guru “who advocated divine love, spiritual understanding, and selfless service to mankind.” SS Townshed was also interested in integrating “the kind of repetitive, modal sounds produced by minimalist composer Terry Riley” TM – hence the song title. Riley’s influence is particularly apparent in “Baba O’Riley” via “a dramatic flurry of notes from ARP synthesizer, then a very new instrument that Riley was teaching the Who guitarist to play.” TC It “expanded the range of sounds and tempos that could be created by the guitarist/composer.” SS The song is also marked by a “smashing violin solo [and]…Roger Daltrey’s powerful lead vocals juxtaposed beautifully with Townshend’s softer voice on the famous ‘Don’t cry; don’t raise your eye’ segment. Together with Keith Moon’s explosive drum work and John Entwistle's rumbling low end, it all adds up to one mammoth rock anthem.” UCR Moon also suggested the fiddle solo at the end RS500 in “what can only be described as an Irish romp.” TM Most notable, though, is how the song “expanded the Who’s power-trio sound with synthesizer.” RS500 The opening loop “works as an immediately ear-catching hook, but it was no mere gimmick, also serving as the fundamental foundation of the song. Townshend's cyclic synthesizer rhythm track was considered unprecedented at the time, with his work on this…track pre-dating Stevie Wonder’s similar experiments by nearly a year.” UCR Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Who TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 212. RS500 Rolling Stone (2004). “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 492-3. DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 270. TM Time magazine (10/24/2011). “All Time 100 Songs” UCR UltimateClassicRock.com (6/20/2013). “Top 100 Classic Rock Songs” Related Links: Last updated 4/30/2024.

John Lennon charted with “Imagine”

Imagine John Lennon

Writer(s): John Lennon (see lyrics here) Released: October 11, 1971 First Charted: September 24, 1971 Peak: 3 US, 2 CB, 2 GR, 11 HR, 7 AC, 1 CL, 20 AR, 14 UK, 12 CN, 15 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 1.79 UK, 1.96 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 5.0 radio, 331.37 video, 338.98 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: One morning early in 1971, Lennon sat at the white grand piano in his bedroom and virtually completed “his greatest musical gift to the world.” RS500 He considered “Imagine” to rate as high as anything he wrote with the Beatles. RS500 He wasn’t wrong. It was “a sweetened variant of the political songwriting that Lennon engaged in before and after.” TB This “is the record that saved John Lennon’s post-Beatles reputation.” TB It “became something more than a pop song. It has become an anthem that people sing when they need hope for mankind.” TC It was “a simple but moving hymn-like creation” SS “geared to…people’s utopian ideals but designed to be palatable to the masses.” TB His wife Yoko Ono told Rolling Stone that it was “just what John believed – that we are all one country, one world, one people.” RS500 While Lennon is “advocating an atheistic, anarchist utopia,” TC he had the foresight to soften the message via his approach. Poetic lyrics, intimate instrumentation, and a heartfelt vocal provided an accessibility that “emphasized the song’s fundamental humanity.” RS500 Lennon told broadcaster Andy Peebles, that the song “should be credited as a Lennon/Ono song. A lot of it, the lyric and the concept, came from Yoko, but those days I was a bit more selfish…and I omitted to mention her contribution, which was right out of Grapefruit.’” HL That book of poems, published by Ono in 1964, used “imagine” as a recurrent word. The song was produced by Phil Spector, known for his legendary “Wall of Sound” layering technique. SS However, for the “Imagine” song and album, he showed uncharacteristic restraint, because he trusted Lennon’s musical sense. It was recorded at Lennon’s home studio in his mansion just outside of London. Lennon sings and plays the grand piano while accompanied by Klaus Voorman on bass and Alan White on drums. Spector later added strings. SS The song had an interesting chart life. It went to #3 on the U.S. charts in 1971, but took four more years to hit in Lennon’s native England, reaching #6. In the wake of Lennon’s murder on December 8, 1980, “Imagine” stormed the U.K. charts once again, this time going all the way to the top. In fact, as is more common on the other side of the pond, Lennon’s ode to the power of possibilities has been released a couple more times, landing in or just outside the top ten. Resources: TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 697-8. HL Michael Heatley and Spencer Leigh (1998). Behind the Song: The Stories of 100 Great Pop & Rock Classics. Blandford Books: London, UK. Page 134. DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 100. RS500 Rolling Stone (2004). “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 231-2. DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 241. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 126. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/12/2014; last updated 4/14/2023.