Tommy was released 50 years ago this year, almost 2 years to the day after Sgt. Pepper. Albums like these turned rock and roll into an art form. Tommy has been recast in many forms, as a movie, as a musical, as an orchestral piece, but the original album will always shine through. It was the perfect blend of pop culture and new age spirituality for the year of Woodstock and had a profound effect on my musical path. Recording this cover took the better part of a year of immersion in the album, listening to parts, the original demos, isolated tracks where I could find them, watching The Who both live and here on YT, and culminated in my visit to the former IBC Studios in London where the album was recorded.
0:00 – Overture
5:10 – It’s a Boy
5:53 – 1921
8:44 – Amazing Journey
13:51 – Sparks
16:01 – Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker)
18:19 – Christmas
22:56 – Cousin Kevin
27:08 – Acid Queen
30:52 – Underture
40:49 – Do You Think it’s Alright
41:16 – Uncle Ernie
42:48 – Pinball Wizard
45:49 – There’s a Doctor
46:13 – Go to the Mirror
50:04 – Tommy Can You Hear Me
51:37 – Smash the Mirror
53:10 – Sensation
55:38 – Extra
55:51 – Sally Simpson
1:00:07 – I’m Free
1:02:52 – Welcome
1:07:31 – Tommy’s Holiday Camp
1:08:29 – We’re Not Gonna take It