I Can See For Miles
Encyclopedia
"I Can See for Miles" is a song written by Pete Townshend
of The Who
, recorded for the band's 1967 album, The Who Sell Out
. It was the only song from the album to be released as a single, on 14 October 1967. It remains The Who's biggest hit single in the US to date, and their only one to reach the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100
.
s were recorded in London, the vocals and overdubbing
were performed in New York at Talentmasters Studios, and the album was mastered in Los Angeles at the Gold Star Studios. The US Decca
single has an overdubbed second bass line.
It reached #10 in the U.K.
and #9 in the U.S.
Though these figures would seem successful to most bands, Townshend was disappointed. He had written the song in 1966 but had held it back as an "ace in the hole", believing it would be The Who's first number one single. He is quoted as saying, "To me it was the ultimate Who record, yet it didn't sell. I spat on the British record buyer."
The song may have inspired The Beatles
' "Helter Skelter". Paul McCartney
recalls writing "Helter Skelter" after reading a review of The Who Sell Out in which the critic claimed that "I Can See for Miles" was the "heaviest" song he'd ever heard. McCartney had not heard the song, but wrote "Helter Skelter" in an attempt to make an even "heavier" song than the one praised in the review.
"I Can See for Miles" was rarely performed live by The Who during the Keith Moon
era; the complex vocal harmonies were difficult to replicate on stage, as was the percussion style found on the original recording. The song was performed on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
, but it was mimed. It was performed more regularly beginning in 1979 when Kenney Jones
became the band's drummer, albeit in a much more straightforward rhythm. It was also played at nearly every show of the group's 1989 tour with Simon Phillips
on drums and has been performed a handful of times with current drummer Zak Starkey
.
Roger Daltrey
has played this song with his band No Plan B since 2009. It is a regular encore for his Tommy
show.
The 1979 compilation/soundtrack album The Kids Are Alright
has an alternate mix of this song.
's "The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made", #37 on NME's
"The Top 100 Singles of All-Time", #162 on Pitchfork Media
's "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s", and #258 on Rolling Stone's
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
".
to the song was used in the film
The Boat that Rocked
during the unsuccessful police raid scene.
The song was used in the soundtrack of the Dennis Hopper
film Easy Rider
.
The opening segment combined with the chorus part at 1:03 was used for an automobile headlights advertisement, by Sylvania
.
Rock singer Tina Turner
covered the song for her 1975 solo album, Acid Queen
.
This song is included in the Apollo 13
soundtrack.
It was covered by Japanese thrash metal band Outrage
for their 2004 album Cause for Pause.
In 2005, "I Can See for Miles" was covered by Styx
for the album Big Bang Theory.
Also in 2005, Petra Haden
covered "I Can See for Miles" on Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out
, an album which reinterpreted The Who Sell Out in its entirety.
In 2007, country music
star Marty Stuart
teamed up with bluegrass
quintet Old Crow Medicine Show
to cover the song on the album Compadres, which consists of Stuart's covers of famous songs with other guest musicians.
"I Can See for Miles" also appeared in Rhino Records' 1995 compilation Golden Throats
: the Great Celebrity Sing Off. The cover was sung by actor Frankie Randall
.
"I Can See for Miles" was also included in a commercial for American Honda Motors in September and October of 2007.
The song, along with "I Can't Explain
", was covered by Incubus
in 2008 at Vh1
's Rock Honors show, which was a tribute to The Who.
This song is part of the soundtrack of Rock Band 3
.
This song is used as the opening and closing credits of the TV sitcom Supernova.
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...
of 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...
, recorded for the band's 1967 album, 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...
. It was the only song from the album to be released as a single, on 14 October 1967. It remains The Who's biggest hit single in the US to date, and their only one to reach the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
Background
Recorded in several separate sessions in studios across two continents, the recording of "I Can See for Miles" exemplifies the increasingly sophisticated studio techniques of rock bands in the late 1960s. The backing trackBacking track
A backing track is an audio or MIDI recording that musicians play or sing along to in order to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live.-Uses:...
s were recorded in London, the vocals and overdubbing
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
were performed in New York at Talentmasters Studios, and the album was mastered in Los Angeles at the Gold Star Studios. The US Decca
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....
single has an overdubbed second bass line.
It reached #10 in the U.K.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and #9 in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Though these figures would seem successful to most bands, Townshend was disappointed. He had written the song in 1966 but had held it back as an "ace in the hole", believing it would be The Who's first number one single. He is quoted as saying, "To me it was the ultimate Who record, yet it didn't sell. I spat on the British record buyer."
The song may have inspired 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...
' "Helter Skelter". Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
recalls writing "Helter Skelter" after reading a review of The Who Sell Out in which the critic claimed that "I Can See for Miles" was the "heaviest" song he'd ever heard. McCartney had not heard the song, but wrote "Helter Skelter" in an attempt to make an even "heavier" song than the one praised in the review.
"I Can See for Miles" was rarely performed live by The Who during the 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...
era; the complex vocal harmonies were difficult to replicate on stage, as was the percussion style found on the original recording. The song was performed on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is an American comedy and variety show hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969.-History:...
, but it was mimed. It was performed more regularly beginning in 1979 when Kenney Jones
Kenney Jones
Kenneth Thomas "Kenney" Jones is a veteran English rock drummer best known for his work in Small Faces, Faces, and The Who.-Small Faces to the Faces:...
became the band's drummer, albeit in a much more straightforward rhythm. It was also played at nearly every show of the group's 1989 tour with Simon Phillips
Simon Phillips
Simon Phillips is an English jazz, pop and rock drummer.-Career:Phillips began to play professionally at the age of twelve in his father's Dixieland band for four years. He was then offered the chance to play in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar...
on drums and has been performed a handful of times with current drummer Zak Starkey
Zak Starkey
Zak Starkey is an English rock drummer. He is the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Starr's first wife Maureen Starkey Tigrett. He is also well known for his unofficial membership in the English rock band The Who, with whom he has performed and recorded since 1996. He is also the third...
.
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...
has played this song with his band No Plan B since 2009. It is a regular encore for his Tommy
Tommy
Tommy is a given name that is usually the English diminutive of Thomas. The name also could refer to:- People with the given name Tommy :* Tommy Alcedo , Venezuelan road cyclist* Tommy G...
show.
The 1979 compilation/soundtrack album The Kids Are Alright
The Kids Are Alright (soundtrack)
The Kids Are Alright is a soundtrack album by British rock band The Who, as a companion to the band's documentary film of the same name.It was originally released as a double album in June 1979 on Polydor Records in the UK and MCA Records in the US...
has an alternate mix of this song.
Critical reception
The song is ranked #40 on Dave MarshDave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
's "The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made", #37 on NME's
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
"The Top 100 Singles of All-Time", #162 on Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s", and #258 on Rolling Stone's
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...
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
".
Miscellaneous
The introIntroduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
to the song was used in the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
The Boat that Rocked
The Boat That Rocked
The Boat That Rocked is a 2009 British comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis, with pirate radio in the United Kingdom during the 1960s as its setting. The film has an ensemble cast featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, and Kenneth Branagh...
during the unsuccessful police raid scene.
The song was used in the soundtrack of the Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
film Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
.
The opening segment combined with the chorus part at 1:03 was used for an automobile headlights advertisement, by Sylvania
Osram Sylvania
Osram Sylvania Inc. is the North American operation of lighting manufacturer Osram GmbH, which is owned by Siemens AG. It was established in January 1993, with the acquisition of GTE’s Sylvania lighting division by Osram GmbH....
.
Rock singer Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
covered the song for her 1975 solo album, Acid Queen
Acid Queen (album)
-Personnel:* Tina Turner – lead vocals* Ike Turner – vocals on "Baby Get it On"* Ed Greene – drums* Henry Davis – bass guitar* Ray Parker Jr. – guitars* Spencer Proffer – guitars* Jerry Peters – keyboard instruments...
.
This song is included in the Apollo 13
Apollo 13 (film)
Apollo 13 is a 1995 American drama film directed by Ron Howard. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris. The screenplay by William Broyles, Jr...
soundtrack.
It was covered by Japanese thrash metal band Outrage
Outrage (band)
Outrage is a thrash metal band formed in Nagoya, Japan in 1982. The band was named after Motörhead's song "Sex & Outrage" from Iron Fist. They were influenced by NWOBHM bands in their early years. Outrage released their debut album in 1988. In 1999 singer Naoki left the band, they continued as a...
for their 2004 album Cause for Pause.
In 2005, "I Can See for Miles" was covered by Styx
Styx (band)
Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
for the album Big Bang Theory.
Also in 2005, Petra Haden
Petra Haden
Petra Haden is an American violinist and singer. She is or has been a member of several bands, including That Dog, Tito & Tarantula, and The Decemberists; has contributed to recordings by The Twilight Singers, Beck, Mike Watt, Luscious Jackson, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Queens of the Stone Age,...
covered "I Can See for Miles" on Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out
Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out
Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out is an album by Petra Haden, an entirely a cappella interpretation of The Who's classic album The Who Sell Out. Haden supplies all of the vocals. Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out was released in 2005 on Bar None Records...
, an album which reinterpreted The Who Sell Out in its entirety.
In 2007, country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
star Marty Stuart
Marty Stuart
John Martin "Marty" Stuart is an American country music singer-songwriter, known for both his traditional style, and eclectic merging of rockabilly, honky tonk, and traditional country music...
teamed up with bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
quintet Old Crow Medicine Show
Old Crow Medicine Show
Old Crow Medicine Show is an old-time string band based in Nashville, Tennessee. Their music has been called bluegrass, Americana, and alt-country, in addition to old-time. Along with original songs, the band performs many pre-World War II blues and folk songs...
to cover the song on the album Compadres, which consists of Stuart's covers of famous songs with other guest musicians.
"I Can See for Miles" also appeared in Rhino Records' 1995 compilation Golden Throats
Golden Throats
Golden Throats is Rhino Records' series of humorous compilations of critically lambasted cover versions of songs, performed mostly either by celebrities known for something other than musical talent or musicians not known for the genre from which the song they are covering comes...
: the Great Celebrity Sing Off. The cover was sung by actor Frankie Randall
Frankie Randall (singer)
Frank Joseph Lisbona, better known as Frankie Randall, is an American singer and actor. His acting credits include The Dean Martin Summer Show and the 1973 film Day of the Wolves....
.
"I Can See for Miles" was also included in a commercial for American Honda Motors in September and October of 2007.
The song, along with "I Can't Explain
I Can't Explain
"I Can't Explain" is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by Pete Townshend, and produced by Shel Talmy. The song was issued as a single in December 1964 in the United States and on 15 January 1965 in the United Kingdom.-Background:...
", was covered by Incubus
Incubus (band)
Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer Jose Pasillas while enrolled in high school and later expanded to include bassist Alex "Dirk Lance" Katunich, and Gavin "DJ Lyfe" Koppell;...
in 2008 at Vh1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's Rock Honors show, which was a tribute to The Who.
This song is part of the soundtrack of Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3 is a music video game, developed by Harmonix Music Systems. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, with Mad Catz taking over both roles a year later. It is the third main game in the Rock Band series...
.
This song is used as the opening and closing credits of the TV sitcom Supernova.