Who’s Ready for Two Live Releases from Legendary U.K. Rockers?

If you’re sitting out next year’s tour from The Who (this time centered on playing Quadrophenia in its entirety) but you still want to experience them live somehow, you’re in luck, thanks to two upcoming catalogue titles for the holiday season.

Coming from Geffen/UMe on November 6, there’s the first-ever standalone release of Live at Hull. The band’s incendiary performance at Kingston Upon Hull on February 14, 1970 was considered by the group to be one of their best performances on the tour in promotion of their ambitious concept album Tommy. Unfortunately, despite great acoustics and a great reaction from the crowd, technical problems prevented John Entwistle’s bass lines at the beginning of the set (from “Heaven and Hell” to “Substitute”) from being properly recorded, and the decision was made to release a live album from the following night’s show at the University of Leeds. (Live at Leeds, of course, peaked in the Top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic, sold more than two million copies in the U.S. and is still known as one of the greatest live albums of all time.)

The beloved Hull show was finally resurrected as part of UMe’s super-deluxe version of Live at Leeds released in 2010 for the original album’s 40th anniversary. For that release, the missing bass lines were filled in by grafting Entwistle’s bass parts for the same songs at the Leeds show on the original recordings. This two-disc release – identical in set list to Leeds but for the omission of “Magic Bus” – now enables fans to listen to the show without going above budget on a super-sized box set.

After the jump, learn about a later live show from Eagle Rock that’s coming to DVD for the first time!

Five years after the Leeds and Hull shows, The Who were still going strong, releasing another strong rock album (Who’s Next (1971)) and another concept piece (1973’s Quadrophenia). Another straightforward rocker, 1975’s The Who by Numbers featured pop hit “Squeeze Box” and a few hidden gems like “Slip Kid.” That year, the band’s latest tour took them to The Summit in Houston, Texas on November 20, 1975. Live footage from the 25-song set was recorded, but the sands of time had its way with the often-blurry quality of the set.

On October 9, that’s about to change with the official release of The Who Live in Texas ’75 from Eagle Rock Entertainment. The picture and sound have been entirely cleaned up, with the soundtrack restored in Dolby Digital Stereo under the supervision of Jon Astley, co-producer of the band’s Who Are You (1978) and longtime overseer of the band’s catalogue on CD and beyond.

Coupled with Townshend’s forthcoming memoir, it’s quite a time to be a Who fan. Amazon links and track lists are below.

Live at Hull 1970 (Geffen/UMe, 2012)

Disc 1

  1. Heaven and Hell
  2. I Can’t Explain
  3. Fortune Teller
  4. Tattoo
  5. Young Man Blues
  6. Substitute
  7. Happy Jack
  8. I’m a Boy
  9. A Quick One, While He’s Away
  10. Summertime Blues
  11. Shakin’ All Over
  12. My Generation

Disc 2: Tommy

  1. Overture
  2. It’s a Boy
  3. 1921
  4. Amazing Journey
  5. Sparks
  6. Eyesight to the Blind
  7. Christmas
  8. The Acid Queen
  9. Pinball Wizard
  10. Do You Think It’s Alright?
  11. Fiddle About
  12. Tommy, Can You Hear Me?
  13. There’s a Doctor
  14. Go to the Mirror!
  15. Smash the Mirror
  16. Miracle Cure
  17. Sally Simpson
  18. I’m Free
  19. Tommy’s Holiday Camp
  20. We’re Not Gonna Take It

Live in Texas ’75 (Eagle Rock, 2012)

  1. Substitute
  2. I Can’t Explain
  3. Squeeze Box
  4. Baba O’Riley
  5. Boris the Spider
  6. Drowned
  7. However Much I Booze
  8. Dreaming from the Waist
  9. Behind Blue Eyes
  10. Amazing Journey
  11. Sparks
  12. Acid Queen
  13. Fiddle About
  14. Pinball Wizard
  15. I’m Free
  16. Tommy’s Holiday Camp
  17. We’re Not Going To Take It/See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You
  18. Summertime Blues
  19. My Generation
  20. Join Together
  21. Naked Eye
  22. Roadrunner
  23. Won’t Get Fooled Again
  24. Magic Bus
  25. My Generation Blues
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Mike Duquette
Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, having written at and worked for all three major catalogue music labels and contributing to Allmusic, Billboard, Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Classic Rock. He's penned liner notes for Verve, Chess, Mondo and Soul Music Records.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

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0 thoughts on “Who’s Ready for Two Live Releases from Legendary U.K. Rockers?”

  1. Magnus Hägermyr

    Some say “Live In Hull” is even better than “Live At Leeds”. Now I’m gonna find out.

    Thanks for all the good news, Second Disc!

    1. Not sure how I feel about the bass lines being taken from the Leeds show. Better to have that than to not be able to hear Ox at all, but it’s still cheating. Sort of.

      I hope these new releases are the first salvos in opening the Who vaults. I’d like to see one (or both?) of the Oakland 1976 shows (where they shared the bill with the Grateful Dead) released. The GD shows were released as part of their Dick’s Picks series, and now I’d love to hear The Who sets too. Supposed to be great shows.

    1. Me too… DVD releases without accompanying CDs are a drag. I might actually sit and watch the DVD a couple of times, or I might have it on while I’m doing stuff at home (like I would a CD) but I’d also like to have the audio on my iPod, or be able to play the CD in my car, etc.

      1. Is the audio from the Texas show even in stereo? I haven’t heard whether or not it is anything other than the audio from the video feed.

  2. Why not the Charlton or Swansee shows? Tracks made it the Maximun R&B box, Who By Numbers and their fan club CDs.

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