Liverpool Sound and Vision * * * *
The chances of a new studio album from The Who are to say the least minute, an almost impossibility, that whilst would be welcomed by the fans, would surely be argued would go against the grain of declaring that the latest tour is certainly the final time we would see them live; a studio album would deflect that certainty, it would be an expectation of bank balance taking priority over ethics and high music morals.
Yet that said, the opportunity to hear the band in their prime, strutting, significantly on top of the world after several high profile performances, including a session at the much loved, although chaotic, Woodstock gathering in 1969, is to be grateful that the technology was available that certain gigs were recorded, and which can now be released on vinyl in all their animated and broadcast glory.
The Who’s Live At The Oval – 1971 is a case in point of history being reheard for some, but an invitation to be part of something for others that they were not able to experience at the time, and as the flow of music from the band shakes the foundation of one of England’s premier cricketing venues, as the sacred stumps and bails are given a tumultuous clattering and removed from the pitch, history is once more given the opportunity to be renewed and loved.
As part of an all day festival that included Atomic Rooster, Mott The Hoople, and Lindisfarne, and which was set up to raise money for the famine victims of Bangladesh, The Who’s set, whilst a little on the grainy side, and not surprising after such a long period of time in the can so to speak, is nevertheless a long-awaited reminder of the group at the pinnacle of their career.
It is an opportune reminder on the album that sees perhaps the lesser-known songs from the band’s discography take precedence in appreciation and running order, and with the album kicking off with the stirring Eddie Cochran song of Summertime Blues, My Wife, and Love Ain’t For Keeping, the stage at The Oval was set for an evening of rock that would no doubt have some members of the grand old grand muttering their discontent at having their venue usurped by the loud and the dramatically cool.
With tracks such as Substitute, Behind Blue Eyes, Won’t Get Fooled Again, Pinball Wizard, My Generation, and Magic Bus weaving a sorcery of sound and imagery to the night, another night of high-octane performance has been assuredly captured for posterity, for future generations to form a definitive opinion on the band’s legacy by having all available live recordings frame the narrative.
A release that does suffer from the sound issues of the day, but is a testament to the fury of aggressive brilliance that the foursome were able to join together, and did so well in south London as the future of Rock flowered as the 1970s began.
Ian D. Hall