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The Who Tour 1969

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The Who Tour 1969
Tour by The Who
Start dateJanuary 17, 1969
End dateDecember 19, 1969
Legs7
No. of shows120 (approximately)
The Who concert chronology

The Who Tour 1969 was a series of performances and tours by The Who, partially in support of their Tommy album.

History

1969 was an extremely transitional year for the band, due almost entirely to Pete Townshend's rock opera Tommy, which they had begun recording the previous autumn. For the first part of the year, the group alternated between recording in the studio during the week and performing in clubs and universities on the weekends. With recording completed in March, the rock opera was reportedly performed for the first time in April at Bolton Institute of Technology and several other times in the United Kingdom through the early part of May. As no recordings of these shows have surfaced, it is not known exactly how much of Tommy was played at this stage, but by the time the group traveled to North America for a tour in May and June they featured roughly 40 minutes of the piece during certain shows, omitting songs like the "Overture", "Cousin Kevin", the "Underture", and "Sally Simpson" because they weren’t considered suitable for live performance. Aside from the new material, songs such as "Happy Jack", "A Quick One, While He's Away", "Young Man Blues", "Summertime Blues", "My Generation", and "Magic Bus" continued to feature heavily in the group’s stage show, among others. Meanwhile, the instrument smashing that had characterized their performances for several years prior diminished considerably by this point.

By the second half of the year, the success of Tommy began to elevate the status of the band, who continued to feature it as the focal point of their act. The group played high-profile shows at London's the Royal Albert Hall and was one of the few acts to be paid for appearing at the Woodstock Festival in August, having traveled back to the United States specifically to perform at this event and just one other date before returning to England; they also were one of the headlining acts at the Isle of Wight Festival 1969. In the fall, they elected to expand the stage presentation of Tommy further, adding songs like the "Overture" and "Sally Simpson" that had been skipped in earlier performances; additionally, show-ending performances of "My Generation" were stretched out to reprise certain parts of the rock opera along with other instrumental passages (such as the chord progression that eventually evolved into "Naked Eye"). Following a second stint in North America, the group took Tommy to the London Coliseum in December, the first in a series of European opera house dates that would continue in early 1970.

Live Releases

Live material from 1969 has appeared on a number of different releases:

Band members

Typical set lists

Winter/Spring

The band performed sporadically in the United Kingdom from January through early May. No recordings of these shows have surfaced, but the group reportedly began playing Tommy (likely in a shortened arrangement) by the end of April.

First North American Tour

A six week tour in North America began with shows at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit starting on May 9th, concluding with the second of two shows at the Fillmore West in San Francisco on June 19th. Set lists varied and many dates featured two shows per night. In addition to material from Tommy, shows from this tour were characterized by long, free-form versions of "Magic Bus". Songs played on the tour were as follows (all songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified):

  1. "Heaven and Hell" (John Entwistle)
  2. "I Can't Explain"
  3. "Fortune Teller" (Naomi Neville)
  4. "Tattoo"
  5. "Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison)
  6. "Substitute"
  7. "Happy Jack"
  8. "I'm a Boy"
  9. "A Quick One, While He's Away" (performed only on the early part of the tour)
  10. "It's a Boy"
  11. "1921"
  12. "Amazing Journey"
  13. "Sparks"
  14. "Eyesight to the Blind" (Sonny Boy Williamson II)
  15. "Christmas"
  16. "The Acid Queen"
  17. "Pinball Wizard"
  18. "Do You Think It's Alright?"
  19. "Fiddle About"
  20. "There's a Doctor"
  21. "Go to the Mirror!"
  22. "Smash the Mirror"
  23. "I'm Free"
  24. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon)
  25. "We're Not Gonna Take It"/"See Me, Feel Me"
  26. "Boris the Spider" (performed occasionally)
  27. "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)
  28. "Shakin' All Over" (Johnny Kidd)
  29. "My Generation" (performed only on the early part of the tour)
  30. "Magic Bus" (sometimes including themes of "Naked Eye")

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during the tour. Many shows only featured a short segment of Tommy. Some other songs were played which are not in the above lists:

  • "Johnny B. Goode" (Chuck Berry)
    • Performed (loosely) during "Magic Bus" on May 19th (early show).
  • "Early One Morning" (Elmore James)
    • Performed during "Shakin' All Over" on June 8th (early show).

July Through Mid-September

A series of shows in England were interrupted by a return to the United States in order to appear at the Tanglewood Music Shed in Lenox, Massachusetts and the Woodstock Festival. Later the group was one of the main attractions at the Isle of Wight Festival 1969. A typical set for these shows is as follows (all songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified):

  1. "Heaven and Hell" (John Entwistle)
  2. "I Can't Explain"
  3. "Fortune Teller" (Naomi Neville)
  4. "Tattoo" (not played at every show)
  5. "Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison)
  6. "It's a Boy"
  7. "1921"
  8. "Amazing Journey"
  9. "Sparks"
  10. "Eyesight to the Blind" (Sonny Boy Williamson II)
  11. "Christmas"
  12. "The Acid Queen"
  13. "Pinball Wizard"
  14. "Do You Think It's Alright?"
  15. "Fiddle About"
  16. "There's a Doctor"
  17. "Go to the Mirror!"
  18. "Smash the Mirror"
  19. "I'm Free"
  20. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon)
  21. "We're Not Gonna Take It"/"See Me, Feel Me"
  22. "Substitute" (occasional)
  23. "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)
  24. "Shakin' All Over" (Johnny Kidd)
  25. "My Generation" (sometimes including themes of "Naked Eye")

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during these shows.

Mid-September Through December

Starting with the show at Fairfield Halls in Croydon, London on September 21, the band added several songs to the Tommy set in order to present the rock opera in more complete form, while shows generally ended with long versions of "My Generation" that included reprised themes from Tommy, along with various other instrumental sections. A live FM radio broadcast from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam followed shortly afterwards, and the group returned to North America for another five-week tour in early October, highlighted by six nights at the Fillmore East in New York. Many shows on this tour were recorded in hopes of compiling a live album, but the band ultimately decided not to use these tapes and opted to record the Live at Leeds album the following year instead. They finished the year with various dates in England and France, including a show at the London Coliseum on December 14th.

A typical set for these shows is as follows (all songs written by Pete Townshend unless otherwise specified):

  1. "Heaven and Hell" (John Entwistle)
  2. "I Can't Explain"
  3. "Fortune Teller" (Naomi Neville)
  4. "Tattoo" (not played at every show)
  5. "Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison)
  6. "Substitute" (not played at every show)
  7. "Happy Jack" (not played at every show)
  8. "I'm a Boy" (not played at every show)
  9. "A Quick One, While He's Away" (not played at every show)
  10. "Overture"
  11. "It's a Boy"
  12. "1921"
  13. "Amazing Journey"
  14. "Sparks"
  15. "Eyesight to the Blind" (Sonny Boy Williamson II)
  16. "Christmas"
  17. "The Acid Queen"
  18. "Pinball Wizard"
  19. "Do You Think It's Alright?"
  20. "Fiddle About"
  21. "Tommy, Can You Hear Me?"
  22. "There's a Doctor"
  23. "Go to the Mirror!"
  24. "Smash the Mirror"
  25. "Miracle Cure"
  26. "Sally Simpson"
  27. "I'm Free"
  28. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (Keith Moon)
  29. "We're Not Gonna Take It"/"See Me, Feel Me"
  30. "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart)
  31. "Shakin' All Over" (Johnny Kidd)
  32. "Spoonful" (Willie Dixon) (not played every night)
  33. "My Generation" (usually including "See Me, Feel Me", "Naked Eye (instrumental)" and "Sparks". "Overture", the opening riff of "Pinball Wizard" and "The Ox" were included on September 29th.)
  34. "Magic Bus" (performed at least once, Fairfield Halls in Croydon on September 21st)

There were some set list substitutions, variations, and order switches during these shows.

Tour dates

Winter/Spring

First North American Tour

July-August U.K. Dates

Tanglewood and Woodstock

August-September U.K. and Amsterdam Dates

Second North American Tour

December U.K. and Paris Dates

References

  • Neill, Andy (2002). Anyway Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicles of The Who 1958-1978. Barnes and Noble. ISBN 1-58663-133-0. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • McMichael, Joe (1997). The Who Concert File. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-6316-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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