Happy Birthday (1970 album)
Encyclopedia
Happy Birthday is a collaboration album by Pete Townshend
and friends including Ronnie Lane
, pressed and released in 1970 by Universal Spiritual League. The album was originally released in February 1970 (in commemoration of Meher Baba's birthday on February 25) as the first in a series of tribute albums dedicated to Pete Townshend's spiritual mentor Meher Baba
. Only about 2,500 copies were pressed in the original 1970 issue. The album was reissued in similar numbers in 1977. Later albums by Townshend and friends dedicated to Meher Baba included I Am
, With Love
, and Avatar (a compilation of the previous three albums, later released as Jai Baba
). Several songs from Happy Birthday and I Am reappeared in the 1972 Townshend solo album Who Came First
.
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...
and friends including Ronnie Lane
Ronnie Lane
Ronald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two prominent English rock and roll bands; the Small Faces where he was nicknamed "Plonk", – and, after losing the band's frontman, Faces, with two new...
, pressed and released in 1970 by Universal Spiritual League. The album was originally released in February 1970 (in commemoration of Meher Baba's birthday on February 25) as the first in a series of tribute albums dedicated to Pete Townshend's spiritual mentor Meher Baba
Meher Baba
Meher Baba , , born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an Indian mystic and spiritual master who declared publicly in 1954 that he was the Avatar of the age....
. Only about 2,500 copies were pressed in the original 1970 issue. The album was reissued in similar numbers in 1977. Later albums by Townshend and friends dedicated to Meher Baba included I Am
I am (Pete Townshend album)
I Am is a collaboration concept album by Pete Townshend and friends pressed in 1972. The album includes the original version of "Baba O'Riley" played by Townshend alone without lyrics, which, at 9:48, is almost twice as long as the augmented version which opens Who's Next. I Am was produced as a...
, With Love
With Love (1976 album)
With Love is a 1976 album by Pete Townshend and friends dedicated to Townshend's spiritual mentor Meher Baba. Appearances and backup artists include Billy Nicholls, Steve Humphries, Ronnie Lane, Ron Wood, Bruce Rowland, Lol Benbow, Paul Wyld, Peter Hope-Evans , Sydney Foxx, among others...
, and Avatar (a compilation of the previous three albums, later released as Jai Baba
Jai Baba
Jai Baba is an expression used by followers of Meher Baba and means "Praise Baba." It is used as a greeting, as a salutation, or as an outward expression of appreciation of Meher Baba's life and qualities...
). Several songs from Happy Birthday and I Am reappeared in the 1972 Townshend solo album Who Came First
Who Came First
Who Came First is the first major-label solo album by Pete Townshend, released in 1972 on Track Records in the UK and Track/Decca in the US. It includes demos from the aborted concept album Lifehouse, part of which became Who's Next...
.
Side one
- "Content" (poem by Maud Kennedy, music by Pete Townshend)
- "Evolution" (Ronnie LaneRonnie LaneRonald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two prominent English rock and roll bands; the Small Faces where he was nicknamed "Plonk", – and, after losing the band's frontman, Faces, with two new...
) - "Day of Silence"
- "Allan Cohen Speaks" (sitar accompliment Vytas Serelis)
- "Mary Jane"
- "Allan Cohen Speaks" (words by Meher Baba)
- "The SeekerThe Seeker (song)"The Seeker" is a song written by Pete Townshend and performed by English rock band The Who, and featured on their 1971 compilation album Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.-Background and writing:...
" (demo) - "Meditation" (written and performed by Mike Da Costa)
Side two
- "Begin the BeguineBegin the Beguine"Begin the Beguine" is a song written by Cole Porter . Porter composed the song at the piano in the bar of the Ritz Hotel in Paris. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.-Music:The beguine music and dance...
" (by Cole PorterCole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
, sung by Pete Townshend) - "With a Smile Up His Nose They Entered" (instrumental by Ron GeesinRon GeesinRonald 'Ron' Geesin is a British musician and composer, noted for his quirky creations and novel applications of sound. He is probably best known as the orchestrator and organizer of Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother" in 1970, after the band found themselves hopelessly deadlocked over how to...
) - "The Love Man"