Today in Music (1969): The Who released Tommy

Tommy The Who

Released: May 19, 1969 Peak: 4 US, 2 UK, 6 CN, 8 AU, 7 DW Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 2.5 US, 0.1 UK, 20.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock

Tracks: Click on a song titled for more details. Overture [3:50] It’s a Boy [2:07] 1921 (aka “You Didn't Hear It”) [3:14] Amazing Journey [3:25] Sparks [3:45] The Hawker (Eyesight to the Blind) [2:15] Christmas [5:30] Cousin Kevin [4:03] The Acid Queen [3:31] Underture [9:55] Do You Think It’s Alright? [0:24] Fiddle About [1:26] Pinball Wizard [3:50] There’s a Doctor [0:25] Go to the Mirror! [3:50] Tommy, Can You Hear Me? [1:35] Smash the Mirror [1:20] Sensation [2:32] Miracle Cure [0:10] Sally Simpson [4:10] I’m Free [2:40] Welcome [4:30] Tommy’s Holiday Camp [0:57] We’re Not Gonna Take It [6:45] Total Running Time: 75:15 The Players: Roger Daltrey (vocals) Pete Townshend (guitar, vocals) John Entwistle (bass) Keith Moon (drums)

Rating: 4.278 out of 5.00 (average of 41 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Before Tommy The Who formed in London in 1964. The lineup consisted of guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, singer Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. Over the next few years, they became one of England’s most successful rock bands, landing eight top-ten hits from 1964 to ‘68 that included now rock classics like “I Can’t Explain,” “My Generation,” and “Substitute.” While they became associated with the British invasion in America, their only U.S. top 10 was “I Can See for Miles.” The Who also released a pair of top-five UK albums during that time, but failed to chart any higher than #48 in the United States. That all changed with their fourth album – a top-five, double-platinum seller in the United States that established the Who as one of the premiere rock bands. In 1968, “the band were creatively and financially in a fix.” TB They were “generally regarded as more attitude than substance…the Who were just another loud British band riding the coattails of their predecessors.” CS “With the onset of heavy blues rock and psychedelia, a gulf between chart pop and album rock opened up. To maintain credibility The Who needed to make a play for the latter audience…The Who’s manager, Kit Lambert, repeatedly pushed the idea of a rock-opera at Townshend until it took hold.” TB The First Rock Opera “Pete Townshend’s lyrical and compositional gifts would not be denied, and the swirling cacophony of sound the band produced – with Townshend’s solid guitar skills providing a foundation for Keith Moon’s chaotic drumming, John Entwistle’s adventurous bass, and Roger Daltrey’s vocal acrobatics – would find grounding and maturity in Tommy.” CS Author Tom Moon calls Tommy the first rock opera and still the best” TM although “many rock aficionados regard [the Pretty Things’] S.F. Sorrow as the first true rock opera.” CS Townshend does acknowledge the influence the album had on him and the creation of Tommy. CS Regardless of whether or not it was first, it was “a major leap forward in the artistic capacity of the rock world.” CS It would influence “Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd to create story albums of their own, ultimately inspiring rock musicals such as Godspell, Grease, and Jesus Christ Superstar.” CS “Townshend’s ability to construct a lengthy conceptual narrative brought new possibilities to rock music. Despite the complexity of the project, he and the Who never lost sight of solid pop melodies, harmonies, and forceful instrumentation, imbuing the material with a suitably powerful grace.” AM “These are more than songs – they’re affirmations of rock as a path to understanding and maybe even redemption.” TM When initially released, some critics hailed it as a masterpiece and “the beginnings of a new genre” WK Life magazine said, “for sheer power, invention and brilliance of performance, Tommy outstrips anything that has ever come out of a rock recording studio.” WK It has come to be regarded as “the quintessential rock opera, and to many fans, the quintessential record from The Who.” PM The Recording Recording took place at IBC in London through the autumn and winter of 1968. Thanks to multitracking, the four-piece band could build a much bigger sound. The band tried to stick to instruments they could play, but eventually orchestral parts – although Townshend was reluctant. TB A debate was “already underway about the artistic merits of rock as the bands King Crimson, Procol Harum, the Moody Blues, and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were incorporating classical structures and instruments into their music,” CS giving birth to the progressive rock movement. In addition, “Entwistle added French horn, there are backward tapes on ‘Amazing Journey,’ buried sitar on ‘Cousin Kevin,’ and fairground barrel-organ for ‘Tommy’s Holiday Camp.’” TB The Story The double album, written almost entirely by Townshend, “launched the band to international superstardom.” AM The story focuses on Tommy Walker, a deaf, dumb, and blind kid suffering from childhood trauma who becomes a Messiah-like figure. This gave Townshend a chance to explore “the larger themes of emotional scars, freedom and religion.” RV Townshend said, “When you listen to the music you can actually become aware of the boy, and aware of what he is all about, because we are creating him as we play.” PM Negative Reaction Some critics, however, considered it exploitative. The BBC and some U.S. radio stations even banned it. Detractors also cite the “pretensions of the concept and…the insubstantial nature of some of the songs that functioned as little more than devices to advance the rather sketchy plot.” AM Other Songs The album has some other “excellent songs, including…Sensation, Christmas, We're Not Gonna Take It, and the dramatic ten-minute instrumental Underture.” AM Other Editions and Productions The group has frequently played the entire album live in concert, but not as a staged theatrical show. Several live performances have been released in their entirety, including the 2002 Deluxe Edition of the 1970 live album Live at Leeds and the Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 release in 1996. In 1975, the album was adapted into a film with major stars such as Ann-Margret, Elton John, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, and Jack Nicholson. Elton John’s performance of “Pinball Wizard” became a top 10 hit in the U.K. The band re-released a soundtrack version of the album. In 1993, Townshend and theatrical director Des McAnuff adapted the album for a Broadway musical. The show initially received mixed reviews, but won five Tony Awards that year, including Best Original Score. A 2003 edition added a second disc of demos and outtakes. A 2013 edition added a full live performance of Tommy from October 15, 1969 at the Capitol Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and the Swansea City Football Club on June 12, 1976. The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Overture The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 7.39 streaming About the Song: “The ‘Overture’ is mostly instrumental, incorporating themes from ‘1921,’ ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It,’ ‘Go to the Mirror!,’ ‘See Me, Feel Me,’ ‘Pinball Wizard,’ ‘Listening to You,’ and ‘Sparks.’ Another musical highlight is John Entwistle’s French horn. The song ends with one verse sung by Townshend, establishing that Tommy’s father, Captain Walker, is missing in action in WWI and presumed dead.” MG

It’s a Boy The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: 16 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.56 streaming About the Song: This barely thirty-second snippet serves as our introduction to Tommy, as his birth is announced. There is a certain glee in the vocal here which doesn’t prepare the listener for the trauma that Tommy will endure at a young age.

1921 (aka “You Didn’t Hear It”) The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: 32 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.83 streaming About the Song: “Tommy’s mother, left to raise the boy alone, takes on a lover. Though the year is 1921 in the album’s version of the story, Russell’s film changes the year to 1951; the war is thus changed to WWII.” MG “On the album, Captain Walker kills his wife’s paramour, in the film, killer and killed are reversed.” MG Young Tommy witnesses the killing, but the man and woman scream at the boy, “You didn’t see it, you didn’t hear it” which brings on his “psychosomatic deafness/muteness/blindness.” MG Tommy is effectively cut off from society because he is denied the ability to express his trauma.

Amazing Journey The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: 11 CL Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 3.47 streaming About the Song: As traumatized as Tommy is by his “loss of connectedness with the social and sensory worlds,” MG there is a “blissful, mystical aspect of his experience” MG as expressed via the “mystical/visionary ‘Amazing Journey.’” MG Tommy lives in “a quiet vibration land” where “the unifying vibrations…are his only connection with everything around him but they are also a powerful connection with it, because [it is] a connection not requiring the senses.” MG “These vibrations will be the mystical source of Tommy’s incredible talent at pinball.” MG

Sparks The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: 11 CL Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 6.14 streaming About the Song: “Bursts of acoustic suspense and hard rock rapture on songs like ‘Sparks’ and I’m Free’ demonstrate the band’s approach to sound-driven storytelling.” PM This instrumental is typically paired with “Amazing Journey.”

The Hawker (Eyesight to the Blind) The Who

Writer(s): Sonny Boy Williamson II Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.37 streaming About the Song: “A quack/pimp known as The Hawker claims his wife, a drug addict/prostitute known as the ‘Acid Queen’ can cure Tommy. The use of the lyrics to Sonny Boy Williamson’s blues song ‘Eyesight to the Blind,’ which refer to how the beautiful prostitute’s sexy walk is so compelling that it would restore a man’s eyesight, his ability to talk and to hear.” MG

Christmas The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.98 streaming About the Song: In the song “Christmas,” Tommy’s parents “fret about how the boy’s disconnect from the world around him means he doesn’t know about Jesus, and therefore cannot be ‘saved from the eternal grave.’” MG Of course, as the instigators of his trauma, they “are in no position to judge whether Tommy, or anyone, for that matter, needs to be saved by Christ or not.” MG

Cousin Kevin The Who

Writer(s): John Entwistle Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: 16 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.94 streaming About the Song: Instead of legitimately “making a decent attempt at curing him, his parents emotionally neglect him” MG convincing themselves it’s okay “to leave the deaf, dumb, and blind boy in the more-than-questionable care of, first, his bullying ‘Cousin Kevin’ and his drunk, child molester Uncle Ernie, thus compounding Tommy’s childhood traumas.” MG Pete Townshend and John Entwistle sing the song on the original album. In the movie, Paul Nicholas plays the part of Cousin Kevin and he sings the song. During the Who’s 1989 tour, Billy Idol “did a profanity-laced performance as Cousin Kevin.” MG

The Acid Queen The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: 27 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.90 streaming About the Song: “The sexual allure of the Acid Queen (played by Tina Turner in the film), as well as the hedonistic escape that her drugs represent” MG “act as a replacement, a transference, for the Oedipally-desired mother.” MG “If she succeeds, she theoretically could cure [Tommy] of his mental block.” MG

Underture The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.86 streaming About the Song: Tommy experiences “an intense LSD trip, as musically expressed in ‘Underture’ with musical themes similar to those of ‘Sparks’ (implying the similarity between a drug trip and a blissful mystical experience of universal oneness).” MG “Still, drugs won’t cure Tommy of his trauma any better than sex will…These fleeting pleasures are the opposite of a cure, for they are only a manic defense against facing the pain, which is the only real cure.” MG

Do You Think It’s Alright? The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: 20 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song: This song continues the concept introduced in “Cousin Kevin,” where Tommy’s parents consider their incredibly questionable decisions to leave Tommy in the care of family members who are bullies and child molesters.

Fiddle About The Who

Writer(s): John Entwistle Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: 20 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.48 streaming About the Song: In “Cousin Kevin,” Tommy is bullied by his cousin while in “Fiddle About” Tommy is the victim of his child molesting Uncle Ernie. The song is sung by John Entwistle, although in the movie “the lyrics are growled by Moon, who plays Uncle Ernie.” MG Phil Collins played the role during the Who’s 1989 tour, “dressed in the stereotypical pervert’s bathrobe, underwear, and with messy hair and glasses.” MG

Pinball Wizard The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: single (3/7/1969), Tommy 5/19/1969), Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy (compilation, 1971), Hooligans (compilation, 1981), Greatest Hits (compilation, 1983), Who’s Better Who’s Best (compilation, 1988), My Generation: The Very Best of (compilation, 1996), The Ultimate Collection (compilation, 2002), Then & Now (compilation, 2004), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2009), Hits 50! (compilation, 2014) B-side: “Dogs Part II” Peak: 19 BB, 15 CB, 11 GR, 15 HR, 1 CL, 4 UK, 6 CN, 45 AU, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 27.0 video, 233.57 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: According to singer Roger Daltrey, the idea to do a rock opera came from Kit Lambert, the Who’s co-manager. He pushed Pete Townshend, the band’s songwriter and guitarist, to “write something grander than a pop song.” TC In 1966, Townshend wrote the nine-minute mini-opera “A Quick One.” Three years later, he went all in with Tommy, a rock opera about a kid so stricken by childhood abuse that he has shut down his senses. He becomes a messiah figure when he starts amassing fans amazed by his inexplicable pinball skills. The song explains how Tommy played so well because there were no distractions via his senses, such as the lights and sounds of the machine. He plays based on vibration and, as the song says, “sense of smell.” Townshend called it “the most clumsy piece of writing I’ve ever done.” WK He considered it a “mindless, badly written song.” SF It was inspired by the Meher Baba. Townshend followed the teachings of the Indian spiritual master, who lived in silence the final 44 years of his life. He explained that “Tommy’s real self represents the aim – God – and the…way, the path and all of this.” FO Daltrey says, though, that the story line came more from Lambert than Townshend. TC Music author Toby Creswell describes it as “an extraordinary piece. Townshend uses a wall of acoustic guitars in a almost flamenco style of lightning-fast strumming to set the atmosphere, which is then pierced with fat chords of electric guitar peeled off and then allowed to float through the air.” TC This was the last song written for Tommy. The Who previewed the album for rock critic Nik Cohn, who wasn’t overly impressed. Townshend recognized that the project was heavy and the spiritual side and needed something to lighten the tone. He decided Tommy needed to possess a special skill. Knowing that Cohn was a pinball fanatic, Townshend made his protagonist excel at the game. Cohn then gave the project a glowing review, FO saying “It’ll be a masterpiece.” RV On the original album, Daltrey sings most of the song. In the movie, it is memorably performed by Elton John, whose recording of the song was a top ten hit in the UK. “Visually it’s hard to disassociate Tommy’s greatest hit from the scene in the movie, with the hyper-platformed Elton John leading the band through a manic reconstruction of the deaf, dumb, and blind boy’s most potent anthem. But musically, the original is still the one that matters.” DT

There’s a Doctor The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song: His parents find a doctor (played by Jack Nicholson in the film) who they hope can cure Tommy. “In the song on the album, we hear a refrain of Tommy’s ‘See me, feel me…,’ a reflection of his trauma; then soon after, ‘Listening to you…,’ a reflection of his mystical, visionary state of mind.” MG

Go to the Mirror! The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: 27 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.96 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Realizing that Tommy’s disabilities are all psychosomatic and not at all biological, the doctor et al advise that Tommy ‘Go to the Mirror!’” MG “It is interesting…that blind Tommy would be brought before a mirror…as an essential part of his cure. An infant establishes its ego, its unified sense of self…by seeing itself in the mirror reflection for the first time.” MG

Tommy, Can You Hear Me? The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: B-side of “I’m Free” (Europe, 7/5/1969), Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: 29 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 2.81 streaming About the Song: “Having Tommy stand before a mirror and stare at himself…is a temporary indulging of narcissism…before gently weaning him of this indulgence.” MG “The problem is that Tommy’s mother, chanting “Tommy, Can You Hear Me?’ with the others, grows impatient and frustrated herself, and she decides to ‘Smash the Mirror.’” MG

Smash the Mirror The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.70 streaming About the Song: “In the film, Tommy’s oh, so desirable mother is seen in the mirror reflection with Tommy during ‘Smash the Miror.’” MG This reflects Tommy’s “need to establish his ego before the mirror, something his trauma has frustrated. This connection is now key to curing him.” MG

Sensation The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.55 streaming About the Song: “Tommy has already had “disciples” from the discovery of his amazing pinball skills, but now he’s become a ‘Sensation,’ gaining many more followers, including groupie-like ‘Sally Simpson.’” MG

Miracle Cure The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming About the Song: As a result of the smashing of the mirror, “Tommy’s mental block is gone: he can finally see, hear, and speak, but his ‘Miracle Cure’ is a superficial one.” MG “It’s much too sudden and abrupt.” MG “Now, the narcissism of Tommy’s fancying himself as a Messiah-figure is the one thing keeping him from falling apart and having a psychotic break with reality. What’s worse, as we see especially in the film, his family is indulging his megalomania to make a buck or two.” MG

Sally Simpson The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.78 streaming About the Song: Groupie Sally Simpson’s “preacher father disapproves of her involvement in Tommy’s cult. Since he’s ‘free,’ Tommy is trying to get as many followers as he can, people who, devoted to him, are treated as mere extensions of himself. They are the other, a mirroring back to himself of his ego.” MG

I’m Free The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: single (7/5/1969), Tommy 5/19/1969), Who’s Better Who’s Best (compilation, 1988), The Ultimate Collection (compilation, 2002), Hits 50! (compilation, 2014) B-side: “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (US), “Tommy, Can You Hear Me?” (Europe) Peak: 37 BB, 30 CB, 26 GR, 29 HR, 7 CL, 83 AU, 13 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 7.30 streaming About the Song: “I’m Free” is an album highlight. It captures the moment when “frontman Roger Daltrey fully embodies the tortured essence of Tommy, displaying his newfound liberty.” RV

Welcome The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.28 streaming About the Song: Tommy now fully embraces his status as a cult leader, reveling in the narcissism of having so many people following him. He invites his followers to “come to this house and be one of us.”

Tommy’s Holiday Camp The Who

Writer(s): Keith Moon Released: Tommy 5/19/1969) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.28 streaming About the Song: “Wishing to cash in on Tommy’s new celebrity, his Uncle Ernie, his mother and Frank (in the film), set up ‘Tommy’s Holiday Camp.’ This whole set-up would be the rock opera’s satirical take on all those who would exploit the spiritual yearnings of the masses for profit.” MG “At first, the masses go along with it. There’s an ironic twist in having them wear ear plugs, eye shades, and a cork in their mouths…His followers, seeking to be pinball-playing imitators of Tommy as Christians would be imitators of Christ, are being willfully deaf, dumb, and blind followers.” MG

We’re Not Gonna Take It / See Me, Feel Me The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: B-side of “I’m Free” (US, 7/5/1969), single (“See Me, Feel Me” – excerpt from “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” 9/19/1970), Tommy 5/19/1969), Who’s Better Who’s Best (compilation, 1988), The Ultimate Collection (compilation, 2002), ), Then & Now (compilation, 2004), Hits 50! (compilation, 2014) B-side: “Overture” Peak: 12 BB, 8 CB, 4 GR, 9 HR, 5 CL, 4 CN, 70 AU, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 7.12 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “When Tommy starts scolding certain of his followers for drinking, smoking pot, or being ‘Mr. Normal,’ they grow disillusioned with him and his restrictions on their freedoms, realizing he is no different from any other religious leader who becomes too authoritarian and repressive. Thus, they all chant, ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It,’ and reject his phony cult.” MG “Their rejection of Tommy leads to an ironic repeat of his ‘See me, feel me…’ plaintive singing. Before, the traumatized boy had our sympathies; now that he’s not only regained his senses but also become a powerful cult leader, his pleas to be heard and healed fall on…deaf…ears.” MG “The masses’ rejection of Tommy, their refusal to indulge him in his narcissism and megalomania, has made him retreat into himself again.” MG “We’re Not Gonna Take It” was whittled down to “See Me Feel Me” for the singles-friendly radio market with the “immortal refrain ‘see me, hear me, touch me, feel me’ taking on iconic proportions.” CS

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Richie Unterberger TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 432-3. FO Far Out (2021). “The Story Behind the Song: The Who’s anarchic ‘Pinball Wizard’” by Tom Taylor MG Mawrgorshin.com (11/25/2021). “Analysis of Tommy by Mawr Gorshin TM Tom Moon (2008). 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Workman Publishing Company, Inc.: New York, NY. Pages 858-9. NO TheNightOwl.com review by Steve Marshall PM PasteMagazine.com (6/3/2024). “The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time” RV The Review (Oct./Nov. 2001). “The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time” by Clarke Speicher CS Chris Smith (2009). 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music. Oxford University Press. Pages 68-71. SF Songfacts page for “Pinball Wizard” DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 215. TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Pages 118-21. WK Wikipedia page for Tommy WK Wikipedia page for “Pinball Wizard” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/23/2008; last updated 9/5/2025.

 

Today in Music (1969): Led Zeppelin released first album

Led Zeppelin I Led Zeppelin

Released: January 12, 1969 Peak: 7 US, 6 UK, 11 CN, 9 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 10.5 US, -- UK, 14.0 world (includes US and UK), 24.65 EAS Genre: classic rock/metal

Tracks: Click on a song titled for more details. Good Times, Bad Times [2:47] Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You [6:41] You Shook Me [6:27] Dazed and Confused [6:26] Your Time Is Gonna Come [4:34] Black Mountain Side [2:12] Communication Breakdown [2:29] I Can’t Quit You Baby [4:42] How Many More Times [8:28] Total Running Time: 44:17 The Players: Robert Plant (vocals) Jimmy Page (guitar) John Paul Jones (bass, keyboards) John Bonham (drums)

Rating: 4.466 out of 5.00 (average of 32 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

The Birth of Heavy Metal “Over the years, several acts have attempted to lay claim (or have had the claim laid upon them) to the title ‘the definitive heavy-metal band’ – including AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Van Halen, each of whom occupy their own corner…But in terms of pedigree, talent, sales, influence, showmanship, and let’s face it, just plain volume, Led Zeppelin arguably dwarfs them all.” CS “Jimmy Page had worked extensively as an in-demand session guitarist all through the Sixties, playing on countless pop and rock recordings, learning about studio techniques and record making as he went along.” AD He finally started to make a name for himself as a guitarist with a group when he became the third (following Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck) legendary guitarist of the Yardbirds. When that group broke up, Page and manager Peter Grant found “themselves with concert dates to fulfill, so set about forming a new Yardbirds line-up. Enter Robert Plant, session bassist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham.” AD “Early shows saw the soon to be christened Led Zeppelin billed as The Yardbirds but certain supporters were apparently disappointed that it wasn’t really The Yardbirds.” AD “When The Who drummer Keith Moon heard about Jimmy Page’s idea for a bluesy hard-rock band, he said he thought it would go over like a lead zeppelin. He couldn’t have been farther from the truth.” RV They “emerged victorious with one of rock’s most thunderous debuts.” RV “Led Zeppelin had a fully formed, distinctive sound from the outset…Taking the heavy, distorted electric blues of Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Cream to an extreme, Zeppelin created a majestic, powerful brand of guitar rock constructed around simple, memorable riffs and lumbering rhythms.” AM Robert Plant with his furious, all out, sexual roar of a voice” AD and “a rhythm section with an almost telepathic understanding” AD left space “to allow Jimmy to fully express himself.” AD Their Players “Unlike many of their later imitators, Zeppelin benefited from the wide-ranging musical tastes of its members. Bonham and Plant had played blues and R&B; Plant had recorded pop material for CBS on a couple of singles that sounded not unlike Long John Baldry; and both liked the West Coast rock scene of Moby Grape, Love, and Buffalo Springfield. Jones enjoyed jazz and classical, and shared Bonham’s fondness for Motown and Stax, which would have a significant effect on the Zeppelin groove. The fact that Page and Jones were experienced sessioneers-arrangers gave them an ear for detail that made Led Zeppelin remarkably polished for a debut. Zeppelin were a band of virtuosos who knew how to be a team.” TB “The drive and forcefulness of each virtuoso’s performance – Robert Plant’s banshee screams, Page’s imaginative fretwork, John Paul Jones’ thundering bass, and John Bonham’s relentless drumming – was captured on every album, and with their debut, Page made it clear that he was not only one of rock’s top guitarists, but an extremely competent producer.” CS Their First Album Their “debut is a record where many aspects of 1960s music cross-pollinated and bloomed. The immediate sources are late Yardbirds (courtesy of Page), blues (from Cream, Hendrix, British blues), a little touch of art rock, and a real understanding of the greater possibilities the album format offered over the 45rpm single.” TB “The album announced to the world that there was a new sound in rock and roll.” CS “’The statement of our first two weeks together is our first album,’ Page told the English magazine Zig Zag. ‘We recorded them almost exactly as we’d been doing them live.’ Before Zeppelin, a thick line separated studio tracks from live tracks on albums…But for Page and the band, live was the only way to go…and none of the group’s members toned down their sound whether they were facing a studio engineer or a crowd of 50,000.” CS “’I’ve never been so turned on in my life,’ said Plant of the thirty-hour session that produced the album. ‘Although we were all steeped in blues and R&B, we found out in the first hour and a half that we had our own identity.’ That identity, a combination of their American blues and rock influences (Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon, B.B. King, Scotty Moore) and the heavier sounds coming out of their native London (the Yardbirds, the Who, Cream) would fuel Led Zeppelin with a raw energy and explosiveness that was initially derided by the more influential critics, but propelled the band to the top of the rock world.” CS “But while Zeppelin largely had predecessors like the Who and the Rolling Stones to thank for their initial reception in the United States…the group brought a subtlety and variation to hard blues and heavy metal that has never been matched.” CS “Led Zeppelin was but a taste of what the band could do, and provided the momentum to allow them to do it with their follow-up albums, and more importantly, with their live performances.” CS Criticism The original 1969 review from Rolling Stone makes for an interesting in-the-moment perspective. Critic John Mendelsohn accuses the band of being unoriginal in its British blues-rock blueprint method of forming a band: “add, to an excellent guitarist who, since leaving the Yardbirds and/or Mayall, has become a minor musical deity, a competent rhythm section and pretty soul-belter who can do a good spade imitation.” RS He goes on to say that Led Zeppelin “offers little that its twin, the Jeff Beck Group, didn't say as well or better three months ago.” RS While Mendelsohn admits that Page is “an extraordinarily proficient blues guitarist and explorer of his instrument's electronic capabilities,” RS he also calls him “a very limited producer and a writer of weak, unimaginative songs.” RS Elsewhere, Mendelsohn rips on “prissy Robert Plant’s howled vocals” RS and attacks Led Zep as being “perfectly willing to make themselves a two- (or, more accurately, one[-and]-a-half) man show” RS that “will have to find a producer (and editor) and some material worthy of their collective attention” RS if they intend to “help fill the void created by the demise of Cream.” RS While even the album’s supporters may concede that the band’s debut “isn’t as varied as some of their later efforts, it nevertheless marked a significant turning point in the evolution of hard rock and heavy metal.” AM Even bigger than that is the general consensus that Led Zeppelin “receive the credit for inventing heavy metal” AD and it all started here. Reissue A 2014 reissue include a second disc of a live performance at the Olympia in Paris, France on October 10, 1969. The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Good Times, Bad Times Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: single (3/10/1969), Led Zeppelin I (1969), Remasters (compilation, 1992), Early Days (compilation, 1999), Mothership (compilation, 2007) B-side: “Communication Breakdown” Peak: 80 BB, 66 CB, 66 HR, 2 CL, 64 CN, 13 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 346.96 streaming About the Song: “Good Times Bad Times gets the introductions out of the way…Bonham wails on the kick-drum pedal in the opener with an astounding fury, starting his charge to become the greatest drummer in rock history.” RV “But the key to the group’s attack was subtlety: it wasn’t just an onslaught of guitar noise, it was shaded and textured, filled with alternating dynamics and tempos.” AM “You can hear each and every instrument clearly and separately from each other instrument. You can clearly make out every drum roll…every nuance of the bass parts.” AD

Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Anne Bredon, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: Led Zeppelin I (1969), Remasters (compilation, 1992), Early Days (compilation, 1999), Mothership (compilation, 2007) Peak: 4 CL, 4 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 168.98 streaming About the Song: While these “often gather the most attention, the remainder of the album is a better indication of what would come later. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You shifts from folky verses to pummeling choruses.” AM “The descending finger-picking could be the intro to something by Simon & Garfunkel, but there’s no mistaking the band on the crashing choruses.” TB This “traditional song also recorded by Joan Baez is played powerfully.” TB The song came from “an arrangement Jimmy had been working on back in the final days of The Yardbirds. Perhaps no better single example of the sheer glorious dynamics, the quiet to loud, of Led Zeppelin exists.” AD

You Shook Me Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Willie Dixon, J.B. Lenoir Released: Led Zeppelin I (1969) Peak: 10 CL, 21 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 37.21 streaming About the Song: Led Zeppelin offer “two heavily amplified…covers” CS of Willie Dixon songs’ “You Shook Me” and “I Can’t Quit You Babe.” When the album was released, “eyebrows were raised by the fact that the earlier Jeff Beck album Truth – which featured Rod Stewart on vocals – also had a version” TB of “You Shook Me.” “It was said Page and Plant had stolen their thunder – but evidently their thunder wasn’t loud enough. And, as Plant had pointed out, there were hundreds of bands in the U.K. at the time covering the song. In the Zeppelin version everyone except Bonham gets a solo – Plant on harmonica, Jones on the organ, and finally Page on backward-reverb guitar that allows him to pile up chiming lead over Bonham’s drum barrage. Other bands may have played this song but not with Zeppelin’s dramatic sense – which made them immediately successful live.” TB

Dazed and Confused Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page, inspired by Jake Holmes Released: Led Zeppelin I (1969), Remasters (compilation, 1992), Early Days (compilation, 1999), Mothership (compilation, 2007) Peak: 1 CL, 10 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 151.07 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Two Dixon covers and Dazed and Confused showcase Led Zep’s talent at “extended psychedelic blues” AM “Dazed” “a six-minute-long scary sounding epic full of astonishing playing and sounds, not least the ‘walking bass’ sound that introduces it. Robert Plant…sets a template for vocalists that followed.” AD It was originally a folk ballad by Jake Holmes CS that Page and the Yardbirds had developed into the song “I’m Confused.” TB “In the middle section Jones and Bonham play call-and-answer, while Page conjures eerie sounds from the guitar with a violin bow and a wah-wah. The whole track is an artful orchestration of dynamic and ensemble playing.” TB

Your Time Is Gonna Come Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page Released: Led Zeppelin I (1969) Peak: 11 CL, 22 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 29.43 streaming About the Song: “Your Time Is Gonna Come is an anthemic hard rocker.” AD

Black Mountain Side Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Jimmy Page Released: Led Zeppelin I (1969) Peak: 26 CL Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 18.98 streaming About the Song: Throughout the album, Zeppelin showcases their capacity at “multi-layered music” AM with Black Mountain Side, a traditional tune based on “Black Waterside,” an instrumental by Bert Jansch. TB It “is pure English folk.” AM

Communication Breakdown Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: B-side of “Good Times, Bad Times” (3/10/1969), Led Zeppelin I (1969), Remasters (compilation, 1992), Early Days (compilation, 1999), Mothership (compilation, 2007) Peak: 4 CL, 13 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 81.54 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The “two-and-a-half minute riff monster” AD “Communication Breakdown is a frenzied rocker with a nearly punkish attack.” AM It “evoked the energy of the Who’s ‘I Can’t Explain’ an the Kinks ‘All Day and All of the Night.’ It is impeccably played garage rock, a sonic onslaught punctuated by another mad Page solo careering off the splash of Bonham’s cymbal white-noise.” TB

I Can’t Quit You Baby Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): Willie Dixon Released: Led Zeppelin I (1969) Peak: 13 CL, 24 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 52.53 streaming About the Song: Led Zeppelin served up “two heavily amplified…covers” CS of Willie Dixon songs on their first album – “You Shook Me” and “I Can’t Quit You Babe.” The latter “had been covered by John Mayall, whose version is at once more authentic but anemic by comparison.” TB

How Many More Times Led Zeppelin

Writer(s): John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Released: Led Zeppelin I (1969) Peak: 10 CL, 27 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 39.05 streaming About the Song: That song and How Many More Times sport “groovy, bluesy shuffles;” AM This also serves as a great example of Plant’s “habit of improvising and unwittingly including fragments of blues songs in the lyrics as he went along.” AD It fuses Albert King’s “How Many More Years’” TB as covered by Howlin’ Wolf, AD and “’The Hunter’ – the latter written by members of Booker T. and the MGs – it boasts the hardest riff on the album.” TB

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine AD Adrian Denning’s Album Reviews RV The Review (Oct./Nov. 2001). “The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time” by Clarke Speicher RS RollingStone.com review by John Mendelsohn (originally in print issue from 3/16/69) CS Chris Smith (2009). 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music. Oxford University Press. Pages 64-6. TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Page 117. WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/21/2008; last updated 9/11/2025.