A Quick One
Encyclopedia
A Quick One is the second album by English rock
band The Who
, released in 1966. The American record company executives at Decca Records
released the album under the title Happy Jack, rather than the sexually suggestive title of the original UK release, and due to "Happy Jack
" being a top 40 hit in the US this track replaced a cover of the Holland–Dozier–Holland hit Heat Wave
) which was included on the original UK version of the album .
This is widely regarded by fans to have been a pivotal album for the group, due to the departure from the R&B/pop formula featured on the band's first release. Part of the marketing push for the album was a requirement that each band member should write at least two of the songs on it (although Roger Daltrey
only wrote one), so this Who album is the least dominated by Pete Townshend
's writing.
The album was also the band's first foray into the form of rock opera
, with "A Quick One, While He's Away
", the title track of the LP, a nine-minute suite of song snippets telling a story of infidelity and reconciliation. The Who would later go on to write and record the full scale rock operas Tommy
and Quadrophenia
.
The album was intended to be pop music, a sonic participant in the pop art
movement. The cover was designed by the pop art exponent Alan Aldridge
, with the front cover depicting the band playing their instruments. The back cover is a black-and-white photo montage of the band members accompanied by a short personality sketch of each (infamous among Who fans for Keith Moon
's humorous assertion that he was keen on "breeding chickens"). A track listing, a couple of paragraphs touting the band, an ad for their first album, and a technical blurb are also crowded onto the back cover.
The blurb reveals the recording technology of the time by announcing "This is a high-fidelity record! For proper reproduction use RIAA or a similar Record Compensator setting." The album was recorded at IBC Studios
, Pye Studios and Regent Sound, in London, England in 1966 with Kit Lambert
as the record producer.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 383 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
.
Side one
Side 2
"Boris the Spider" was written after Entwistle had been out drinking with Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman
. They were making up funny names for animals when Entwistle came up with the song. The chorus utilises vocals that influenced the vocal style of death metal
singers.
"Heat Wave" is a cover of a song by Martha and the Vandellas that was very popular in the UK at the time. For the US release, "Heat Wave" was dropped and "Happy Jack" added in its place. "Heat Wave" was added back on to the album for when Happy Jack was re-issued on the 1974 double album repackaging of A Quick One and The Who Sell Out
as A Quick One (Happy Jack).
"Boris the Spider" quickly became Entwistle's most popular song and was still performed live decades later; in later years, he was almost invariably sporting a spider necklace for photographs. "Happy Jack" is quirky in both lyrics and sound, but is popular nonetheless and remains a favourite of both fans and non-fans alike to this day.
One of Moon's contributions, "I Need You", was originally titled "I Need You (Like I Need A Hole In The Head)". Moon thought The Beatles
spoke in a secret language behind his back, and this song was his way of getting back at them. Although Moon denied that a vocal part in the song was a John Lennon
imitation, Entwistle said, in fact, that it was.
"Cobwebs and Strange" was originally called "Showbiz Sonata". Entwistle claims to have written the melody, but it actually comes from a song from the UK television series Man From Interpol. Unquestionably, the drums come from Moon alone.
One particularly notable track on this album is the mod/pop number "So Sad About Us". Though it is difficult to accurately gauge such phenomena, this song has likely been covered more frequently than any other song on the album. (According to Allmusic, it is "one of the Who's most covered songs"). The Merseys, Shaun Cassidy
, Primal Scream
, The Breeders
, and most notably The Jam
are among the many artists who have recorded studio versions of the song. Beyond the sheer number of covers, it is also one of the Who's most frequently imitated songs.
In addition to their usual instruments, each band member played an orchestral instrument as well to give a marching band effect on "Cobwebs and Strange". Moon played orchestral cymbals, Townshend played penny-whistle, Entwistle played trumpet, and Daltrey played trombone.
Singles
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, released in 1966. The American record company executives at Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
released the album under the title Happy Jack, rather than the sexually suggestive title of the original UK release, and due to "Happy Jack
Happy Jack (song)
"Happy Jack" is a rock song from British rock band, The Who, released in December 1966 in the UK and peaking at #3. It was their first top forty hit in the USA, released in March 1967 and peaking at #24. It was included on the USA version of their second album...
" being a top 40 hit in the US this track replaced a cover of the Holland–Dozier–Holland hit Heat Wave
(Love is Like a) Heat Wave
" Heat Wave" is a 1963 hit single penned by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team and made popular by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. It was originally released in July 1963, on the Motown subsidiary label Gordy, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Hot...
) which was included on the original UK version of the album .
This is widely regarded by fans to have been a pivotal album for the group, due to the departure from the R&B/pop formula featured on the band's first release. Part of the marketing push for the album was a requirement that each band member should write at least two of the songs on it (although Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
only wrote one), so this Who album is the least dominated by Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
's writing.
The album was also the band's first foray into the form of rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
, with "A Quick One, While He's Away
A Quick One, While He's Away
"A Quick One, While He's Away" is a 1966 medley written by Pete Townshend and recorded by The Who for their album A Quick One. The song also appears on the album BBC Sessions. In the performance on their Live at Leeds album Townshend calls the 9 minute "epic" track a "mini-opera" and introduces...
", the title track of the LP, a nine-minute suite of song snippets telling a story of infidelity and reconciliation. The Who would later go on to write and record the full scale rock operas Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
and Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
.
The album was intended to be pop music, a sonic participant in the pop art
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
movement. The cover was designed by the pop art exponent Alan Aldridge
Alan Aldridge
Alan Aldridge is an English artist, graphic designer and illustrator.-Personal life:Born in 1943 in east London, he currently resides in Los Angeles...
, with the front cover depicting the band playing their instruments. The back cover is a black-and-white photo montage of the band members accompanied by a short personality sketch of each (infamous among Who fans for Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
's humorous assertion that he was keen on "breeding chickens"). A track listing, a couple of paragraphs touting the band, an ad for their first album, and a technical blurb are also crowded onto the back cover.
The blurb reveals the recording technology of the time by announcing "This is a high-fidelity record! For proper reproduction use RIAA or a similar Record Compensator setting." The album was recorded at IBC Studios
IBC Studios
The IBC Recording Studios were recording studios in 35 Portland Place, London, England. After the Second World War it was the address of the leading independent studio in London and the British Isles...
, Pye Studios and Regent Sound, in London, England in 1966 with Kit Lambert
Kit Lambert
Christopher "Kit" Sebastian Lambert was a record producer and the manager for The Who.-Early life:Kit Lambert was the son of noted composer, Constant Lambert...
as the record producer.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 383 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
A Quick One
Happy Jack
All songs written by Townshend except where noted.Side one
- "Run Run Run"
- "Boris the Spider" (Entwistle)
- "I Need You" (Moon)
- "Whiskey Man" (Entwistle)
- "Cobwebs and Strange" (Moon)
- "Happy Jack"
Side 2
- "Don't Look Away]"
- "See My Way" (Daltrey)
- "So Sad About Us"
- "A Quick One, While He's Away"
1974 re-release
All songs written by Townshend except where noted.- "Run Run Run"
- "Boris the Spider" (Entwistle)
- "I Need You" (Moon)
- "Whiskey Man" (Entwistle)
- "Heat Wave" (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
- "Cobwebs and Strange" (Moon)
- "Don't Look Away"
- "See My Way" (Daltrey)
- "So Sad About Us"
- "A Quick One, While He's Away"
- "Happy Jack"
Personnel
- Roger DaltreyRoger DaltreyRoger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
– lead vocals, tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
and bass drumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
on "Cobwebs and Strange" - John EntwistleJohn EntwistleJohn Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, keyboards, French hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, vocals - Pete TownshendPete TownshendPeter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, penny-whistleTin whistleThe tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
, keyboards, vocals - Keith MoonKeith MoonKeith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
– drums, percussion, tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, vocals
Composition and production
A Quick One includes the very first songs Entwistle wrote for the Who, albeit in reverse order."Boris the Spider" was written after Entwistle had been out drinking with Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings...
. They were making up funny names for animals when Entwistle came up with the song. The chorus utilises vocals that influenced the vocal style of death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
singers.
"Heat Wave" is a cover of a song by Martha and the Vandellas that was very popular in the UK at the time. For the US release, "Heat Wave" was dropped and "Happy Jack" added in its place. "Heat Wave" was added back on to the album for when Happy Jack was re-issued on the 1974 double album repackaging of A Quick One and The Who Sell Out
The Who Sell Out
-Track listing:All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted. The between song jingles apparently have no official titles and are not listed anywhere on the original album packaging, though they are listed in the inner booklet of the 1995 remaster.Side one...
as A Quick One (Happy Jack).
"Boris the Spider" quickly became Entwistle's most popular song and was still performed live decades later; in later years, he was almost invariably sporting a spider necklace for photographs. "Happy Jack" is quirky in both lyrics and sound, but is popular nonetheless and remains a favourite of both fans and non-fans alike to this day.
One of Moon's contributions, "I Need You", was originally titled "I Need You (Like I Need A Hole In The Head)". Moon thought The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
spoke in a secret language behind his back, and this song was his way of getting back at them. Although Moon denied that a vocal part in the song was a John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
imitation, Entwistle said, in fact, that it was.
"Cobwebs and Strange" was originally called "Showbiz Sonata". Entwistle claims to have written the melody, but it actually comes from a song from the UK television series Man From Interpol. Unquestionably, the drums come from Moon alone.
One particularly notable track on this album is the mod/pop number "So Sad About Us". Though it is difficult to accurately gauge such phenomena, this song has likely been covered more frequently than any other song on the album. (According to Allmusic, it is "one of the Who's most covered songs"). The Merseys, Shaun Cassidy
Shaun Cassidy
Shaun Paul Cassidy is an American actor, singer, writer, and producer. He is the eldest son of Academy Award winning actress Shirley Jones, and the second son of Tony award-winning actor Jack Cassidy...
, Primal Scream
Primal Scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...
, The Breeders
The Breeders
The Breeders are an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 by Kim Deal of the Pixies and Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses. The band has experienced a number of line-up changes; the current line-up consists of Kim Deal , her twin sister Kelley Deal , Jose Medeles , Mando Lopez Todd the Fox...
, and most notably The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
are among the many artists who have recorded studio versions of the song. Beyond the sheer number of covers, it is also one of the Who's most frequently imitated songs.
In addition to their usual instruments, each band member played an orchestral instrument as well to give a marching band effect on "Cobwebs and Strange". Moon played orchestral cymbals, Townshend played penny-whistle, Entwistle played trumpet, and Daltrey played trombone.
Jigsaw Puzzle
An early version of the Who's second album was to be titled Jigsaw Puzzle. Its preliminary running order consisted of the following tracks:- "I'm a Boy" (Slow version, released on Meaty Beaty Big and BouncyMeaty Beaty Big and BouncyMeaty Beaty Big and Bouncy is a compilation album of singles by British rock band The Who, released in 1971 as Track 2406 006 in the UK and as Decca DL 79184 in the US. It entered the US Billboard 200 chart on 20 November 1971, peaking at #11, and the UK chart on 3 December 1971, peaking at #9...
) - "Run Run Run"
- "Don't Look Away"
- "Circles" (Version 2)
- "I Need You"
- "Cobwebs and Strange"
- "In the City"
- "Boris the Spider"
- "Whiskey Man"
- "See My Way"
- "Heat Wave"
- "Barbara Ann"
Sales chart performance
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1966 | UK Chart Albums | 4 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | "Happy Jack Happy Jack (song) "Happy Jack" is a rock song from British rock band, The Who, released in December 1966 in the UK and peaking at #3. It was their first top forty hit in the USA, released in March 1967 and peaking at #24. It was included on the USA version of their second album... " |
Billboard Pop Singles | 24 |
| 1966 | "Happy Jack" | UK Singles Charts | 3 |