Musicology

The Who - Odds & Sods 1974

Odds & Sods, a compilation of outtakes and rarities from the Who's first decade, is a rather jumpy listen that harbors few songs that could be termed top of the line. Also, since its 1974 release, several of the tracks have been issued on other compilations, or as bonus tracks to CD reissues of legitimate Who albums. Setting your expectations at the appropriate level, however, you'll find much of this worthwhile. "Pure and Easy," "Naked Eye," and "Long Live Rock" were all concert favorites of the group in the '70s; "Glow Girl" introduced some riffs that would resurface in Tommy; and "Postcard," John Entwistle's tale of rock life on the road, was one of his better compositions. This also has their very first single, "I'm the Face," recorded in 1964 when the group were known as the High Numbers. The 1998 CD reissue is a must-have even if you've got the original LP, as it doubles the album size with a dozen bonus tracks, most previously unreleased. These include some really interesting items: the Motown covers "Leaving Here" and "Baby Don't You Do It" are taken from demos circa late 1964, the latter track featuring some early guitar distortion freak-out in the solo; "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand" is the rare U.S. B-side version; there are late-'60s studio versions of Live at Leeds faves "Summertime Blues" and "Young Man Blues"; the Rolling Stones' cover "Under My Thumb" and "Water" are B-sides that weren't on an album for a long time; and there are less exciting alternates and outtakes from Tommy, Who's Next and Quadrophenia. AMG.

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