THE WHO — A Quick One (review)

Album · 1966 · Proto-Metal

4/5 · 2024-06-16
siLLy puPPy

After taking the world by storm as a part of the British Invasion of the USA and abroad, THE WHO didn’t lose any traction after a series of singles and its debut release “My Generation" which catapulted the band up to the top of the charts. The band didn’t waste any time with a proper followup which came in the form of A QUICK ONE which slipped in the calendar year 1966 in December exactly a year after the debut. The album finds THE WHO moving beyond its mod R&B style of the debut and unusual in that guitarist Pete Townsend who was the primary songwriter stepped down and let the other members contribute songs, presumably due to time constraints resulting from touring schedules.

There are actually two versions of this album. As was the case with all the big acts coming from the UK, this album features a US release that was retitled HAPPY JACK and the original UK release titled A QUICK ONE. The only difference is that the US version featured the top 40 song “Happy Jack” whereas the UK version lacks this song and instead has the unusual cover song “Heat Wave” which was a huge hit for Martha & The Vandellas. Other than that the album pretty much follows the same track order and same quirkiness which found the band stepping out of its streamlined 60s mod pop and started experimenting. While not a full blown art rock album that the band would become famous for, A QUICK ONE certainly is a quirky and unexpected sophomore release from one of the British Invasion’s most popular acts.

The album starts innocently enough with the catchy “Run, Run, Run” which implies a return to the same mod pop rock that was the staple of “My Generation” but the album throws a curve ball with the second track “Boris The Spider” which was written by bassist John Entwhistle when he was drunk and wrote a song about a scary spider in his room. The song was so off the wall that it became one of THE WHO’s concert staples. The other Entwhistle oddity is the instrumental track “Cobwebs and Strange” which not only reinforces his obsession with the world of arachnoids but also demonstrated how THE WHO could turn a traditional polka into a bonafide 60s psychedelic rock tune. The oom-paa-paa beat along with the trombone and tuba add another layer of absurdity to the album.

Many of the other tracks are more standard in that they could be released as pop tracks or hit singles. The track “Whiskey Man” was released as a single and hit the top 10 and the track “Happy Jack” on the US version also hit the top 40 but other than that A QUICK ONE really didn’t generate the hit singles action that would begin with the band’s next album “The Who Sell Out.” THE WHO also activate their proto-prog instincts on A QUICK ONE with the six movement closing title track which narrates the story of a girl who had gone missing for period of time. The track includes a harmonized a cappella segmented basically a bunch of different songs stitched together. The track exceeded 9 minutes long and was sort of a proto-rock opera that wouldn’t be fully realized until “Tommy.”

For my tastes this second release by THE WHO is a much more interesting one than the debut. I love the quirky, even silly tracks that just show up when you least expect it. They add a pizazz to the otherwise more standard mod freakbeat style THE WHO was going for at this stage. Really no bad tracks on here except i highly recommend the US version titled HAPPY JACK with its title track rather than the UK version with the ridiculous Martha & The Vandellas cover. That song sounds totally out of place and THE WHO were not even close to sounding like a Motown band from Detroit. Luckily the 60s would see the bigger bands writing all original material with THE WHO being no exception. Sure, this isn’t the best that THE WHO ever created but it’s an interesting second step in their canon before they hit the big time. Personally i like this one.