Young Vic Deluxe

["Sigel, James J" <james.sigel@xxxxxx>]

>Actually, it's barely a Who list at the moment.....

Very true Wink, so I'll try a feeble attempt at some Who talk.  I've had
Who's Next Deluxe for a while now and after enough listenings, here's a
few tidbits that stood out for me.  First, I haven't even listened to
the re-re-remaster of the original album; it's been the Young Vic show
that's been playing nonstop for me.  So in direct imitation of our very
own record reviewer, Wink Schradendale, I'll have a go.

This wasn't one of The Who's greatest performances, but it certainly
wasn't their worst.  Have you ever noticed that even on an "off" night,
The Who is still better than most?  As a musician who keeps his day job,
I envy that greatness.  But I digress...

Listening to it on the way home yesterday, it was the majestic "Time is
Passing" that inspired me to comment on the disc in general.
Specifically, the second little solo Pete does toward the end of the
song.  He's doing that country style picking and The Ox is playing along
with him beautifully.  There's a point where Pete plays one note too
many and Ox brings him back without missing the timing.  Wonderful
testament to Ox; a lot of musicians would've missed that.  As Jon said:

>We miss you John.

I deeply and sincerely second that.

Great renditions of Pure and Easy, Time is Passing, Getting in Tune,
Young Man Blues (even with Pete's mysterious guitar disappearance).
Some not so great renditions too.

Bargain - Pete states before starting Bargain (or "Bar-jin" as he called
it) that some of the 'newer' songs were coming off a bit lame.  He
should've waited until after Barjin was over to say that.  This is the
poorest performance on the disc, but you have to forgive them for it, as
it was new at the time.  The tempo shifts like my first band did on
every song, and for some strange reason, I feel personally embarrassed
when I hear it.  Ironically, there are some great moments in this song
though.  As Wink said yesterday:

>to the famous double
>bass patterns in both the studio version & the live version of
"Bargain" -
>who would dare insinuate that Moon used one of his bass drums "just for

>show?"

Says it all.

Roadrunner - Daltrey saves the day on this song, as his blistering
vocals always make this song one of my favorite Who tunes.  Sorry Bo
Diddly, I love your original version too, but The Who did it better.
One distinct reason why this stands out to me as one of the weaker
versions I've heard of this song, is Pete forgetting how to play the
Roadrunner riff.  I totally relate to his brain fart though.  Maybe some
of you guitar players here can relate too.  Have you ever had a simple
song in your set list and when it comes time to play that song, you
forget how it goes?  I think that's what happened to Pete during this
one.  But Pete, you are forgiven...

All in all it's a treat to hear.  I've heard several Young Vic
renditions/boots and the sound was always crappy.  The sound quality on
this disc is exceptional and at times, the cacophony is delightful, as
only our boys can do it.

And a little side note:  When did John Densmore become such a pissy and
bitter guy?  Did they forget to mail his royalty check or something?

Jim in Colorado