Good evening everyone! I'm back, here we go again. I was going to do this yesterday, but duty calls and I was at the station. Let me go over to the shelf and let's see what I'm going to listen to and then ramble about...

Well it's about damn time! I ended up with something less obscure!

Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy by The Who. A compilation album of singles, most of which that were unavailable on any other 33. It was released in October of 1971. The title is supposedly referring to Roger, Keith, John, and Pete respectively. I read that on the internet so who knows if it's true.

The cover is a gatefold. Or at least the original pressings were. I have one of those, but I will be playing a later reissue for this. The front cover has a black and white photo of 4 little bastards hanging out on a front stoop. The window next to them has the 4 band members looking out at the kids in full glorious color. The whole shtick was about them looking back at their earlier lives. Why? The original name for this record was 'Looking Back'. Now the cover makes sense. The gatefold has a picture of the Railway Hotel, a pub they played regularly back in the day. There's a poster pimping a Who performance in 1964 for on the wall. Fits well with the original name of the album. The back cover is the opposite of the front cover. The band members hanging out on the stoop in color and the bastards looking out at them in black and white. It's a neat cover, suitable for framing. OK, time to pump the jams!

I Can't Explain: Starting off with a classic song about the feel called lub. Their first single as The Who. It's pretty tame by Who standards. Still bad ass though. Full of early 60's crappy sound quality.

The Kids Are Alright: Wow, another single! Imagine that! Jingly jangly guitar sound. Drums are a little more aggressive this time around. It's about the whole mod scene, teenage angst, and about his girl. Cliche by today's standard but it's a classic.

Happy Jack: This one was on 'Happy Jack', because 'A Quick One' was way to suggestive for an album title in 1964. If they could only see us now... It's a goofy one. Playful but a little dark. It's about little shits picking on a beach bum. Heavy drums and bass, a taste of things to come. Looks like Keith tried to sneak in some singing in this one, but he got caught.

I Can See for Miles: From 'The Who Sell Out' comes a trippy ass one. A song about a guy catching his girl cheating on him. It seems to me they were going for a raga rock sound but using western instruments. It has lots of drone, bends, and busy drums. It's close but not close enough. That being said, it's one of my all time favorite Who songs.

Pictures of Lily: Ha! A song about a kid getting prons from his dad. When he falls in love with her, he asks his dad about her. Turns out she's been dead for years! Original troll dad? Possibly. Trollolololol...

My Generation: Do I really need to say anything about this one? First bass solo. Studdering. Pete using a microphone stand as a slide. Nuf said.

The Seeker: Remeber this from Rock Band? Yeah, that was the first time I had heard of this one too. He's looking for something, not sure what. Inspiration? Drugs? Ass? Who knows. It mentions some high profile people at the time. Much like that Simon and Garfunkel song. The one with the long ass name.

Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: Side 2! It's a call and answer type song. It's about a man doing what he wants, when he want, how he wants. Screw everyone and the horses they rode in on. It's another early tame one.

Pinball Wizard: This was the first Who song I ever heard. It made absolutely no sense to me until I eventually heard the rest of Tommy. It's another one I don't need to say much about. It's the oddball of this album. The rest of the songs except for 'The Seeker' are from their early career. This song is polished and pretty, the others are raw and the sound quality is questionable.

A Legal Matter: A song about divorce! A fresh idea now as it was back then. All about screwing that bitch out of as much money as he can. He loves the wiminz and doesn't want to be tied down anymore. Pretty much a vocalization of every married man's thoughts about marraige.

Boris the Spider: This is a weird one. Kind of a twisted nursery rhyme. Very dark and very very bass heavy. John sings lead on this one, including the low growl of the chorus. I hate spiders. A lot. Even songs about spiders make my skin crawl. He killed it! Mega win!

Magic Bus: An acid trip about a bus. A guy wants to buy a bus to drive to visit his girlfriend. Who wants to buy a damn bus for a vehicle? Unless you're stoned out of your mind. This song is actually different from the rest of their early songs. It has claves to keep the beat and uses an acoustic guitar for most of it. The version on this album is an alternate cut. It's much different than the single version. I prefer the single.

Substitute: A guy wants to be with some chick, but she's taken. It's a pretty typical Who song, heavy bass and drums. Ooo, acoustic guitar. Rare for an early Who song. It seems that they had to force lyrics in to make everything rhyme. They don't quite make sense from time to time.

I'm A Boy: Um, this is different. I have know idea what is going on here. I don't get the lyrics. OK, I used the internet on this one. Apparently it was part of a scrapped rock opera about parents in the future being able to chose their kid's gender. The kid is born a boy but the family wanted a girl. The mom is in denial and makes the boy act like a girl... OK then...

That was a pretty good record. Much better than the first 2 I ended up with. Let's take a look in the book. Alrighty then, an original Decca pressing should run you $30 in near mint and a MCA reissue is about $8. That's typical of anything, originals are worth more. $30 bucks for a record is nothing compared to some I have in my collection. I have a hella rare album stashed away that is worth an ass load. It's not a Beatles 1st state butcher cover, but it's damn close. If this little thing I'm doing here turns out well, I may have to break it out. Maybe to mark a milestone or something, who knows.

Back on topic here. Most of these songs are available on greatest hits albums so buying this one isn't usually required. If you happen to come across the CD in your travels or are contemplating downloading it, ask yourself these questions:

Do I like The Who?

Do I like classic rock?

Is it cheap?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then go for it. You definately won't be disappointed if you pick this one up. Since most of the songs are from their early career, a lot of them sound very similar. But they each have something that makes them special and worth a listen. All right y'all, that's gonna call it a night. Later.