53. A Quick One- The Who
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Hello again! I love it when I look up the next record on my list and it is by a band that I enjoy, but the album is one I have never heard of. Such is the case for the Who's second studio album "A Quick One". A quick glance at the track listing reveals that I am only familiar with one of the offerings. I will expand on that shortly.
The album starts off with a song, "Run Run Run", that has the classic Who sound to it. I really like the way the bass and drums are so prominent. The rhythm guitar is right in step and any lead lines seem like window dressing to pretty the tune up, as opposed to being the showcase. The music sounds so … solid.
The next track is "Boris The Spider". This is the song I knew previous to listening to this record. In fact, my daughter and I would put on an animation video from YouTube based on this song when she was just a toddler. We watched that video around fifty times at the least. Funnily enough, we were in the car on Halloween day, and the radio was playing 'spooky' songs. They played this one, and we sang along. I figured that she was probably the only eight year old in the area who knew every word to that particular song. It is seemingly a tale of a hapless spider that picked the wrong place to hang out that afternoon. It being Entwistle's tune, unsurprisingly, the bass is at the forefront. The 'creepy crawly' sequence is unconventional, and the song shows that the Who are ready to push the boundaries like many of the bands at the time. I love it.
More straightforward is "I Need You". Wikipedia alleges that this one was written by Keith Moon as a snub to the Beatles, and the voice in the middle has a resemblance to John Lennon and I'm pretty sure I heard a reference to Sgt. Pepper in there. Apparently the full title was "I Need You (Like I Need A Hole In The Head), so draw your own conclusions. Moon and Ringo Starr were apparently close friends, so maybe this was all in fun. "Whiskey Man" is the next track, a rather dark tune that is pleasant sounding enough but is tempered with themes of alcoholism and insanity. John Entwistle handles the lead vocal on this one, and does an excellent job of it.
"Heat Wave" is a cover of the popular song made famous by Martha and the Vandellas. It is pretty much true to the original. The bass jumps out on this one too. The vocals blend together nicely and it is unmistakably Who. Obviously this one was put on the album to lull us into a sense of the familiar, because next up is "Cobwebs and Strange" which sounds like a ride on a carousel of the damned, complete with screams and trumpet bleats and manic drums. It sounds like a marching band with a crazed guitarist in the lead, who have all taken magic mushrooms and decided to get some practice in anyway.
"Don't Look Away" seems blissfully straightforward in comparison. She's gone away and he can't seem to get her back, but there's always hope, right? The imagery of a lion holding him back by his head is compelling. "See My Way" is possibly a companion piece where he gets free of the lion's jaws, and manages to get some of his confidence back. Maybe he is making himself feel better by using tactics learned in his previous experience and projecting his misery onto an unsuspecting rebound relationship. Maybe not, but it is nice contrast in the tone of this pair of tracks, and who doesn't like a happy ending? Probably not the poor lass he is treating like shit, that's who. But, it could be about something altogether different.
"So Sad About Us" is a straight ahead pop tune that has a guitar part reminiscent of the Byrds or Tom Petty. I suppose this came first, so perhaps this album was influential to those who came later. I don't see why not. It's a good album. This song comes in at three minutes and one second, marking the first time on the album we have gone over three minutes. Short and sweet, right? Well, my friends,
the time has come for the epic title track "A Quick One, While He's Away".
The track starts with some nice harmonies letting us know that there is a lady in need of companionship. She seems quite sad that her man is away. The music is straightforward, with aggressive acoustic guitar and a full sound. Oh! The complete tone just changed to an upbeat sound where she's getting some assistance from some folks with a remedy! I wonder what that could be?
Well, Ivor the Engine driver is going to help her out, since he's late. This rascal is definitely on the make here. The song keeps switching gears, and it sounds really great on the headphones. Uh-oh!!!! I just switched over to Wikipedia to read up on this song. It has it's roots in MOLESTATION! The entire vibe changes. The final refrains of " You are forgiven" are taking on a whole new depth. Wow! I didn't see that coming. This is the sort of thing that people may have missed prior to the internet, they may have just thought this was a cheeky song about a railwayman getting it on with another fella's wife. With a happy ending where everyone can live with the situation. But really its a stark acknowledgement of some ugly shit that went on in Townshend's early life, and his acceptance of the fact that it wasn't his fault, as difficult as that might be. Jesus.
Well, there are several other tracks on the extended version on Spotify, including Barbara Ann , and Batman! But I'm gonna stick to the songs on the original release. This album is short, (not necessarily sweet) at just over 30 minutes of material. I liked it. The Who sound is poppy, but gritty. The harmonies work nicely and there is always that powerful rhythm section doing their thing.
Rolling Stone Magazine ranked this album at 383 on their original 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003).
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