Who Came First

Who Came First is the debut 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. The original release had a gatefold cover and included a poster with additional photos of Meher Baba from the Louis van Gasteren film Beyond Words. The cover photo of Townshend standing on eggs is a reference to the eternal question "Who came first: the chicken or the egg?" It peaked at number 30 on the UK album chart and at number 69 on the US Billboard 200.[3]

Who Came First
Studio album by Pete Townshend
Released	October 1972
Recorded	1969-72
Studio	Eel Pie Sound, London, England
Genre	Rock
Length	38:04
Label	Track/Polydor (UK) Track/Decca/MCA (US)
Producer	Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend chronology
I Am (1972) Who Came First (1972) With Love (1976)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	A–[2]

Background and content

Townshend had already participated with other artists on two previous albums in tribute to his guru Meher Baba, Happy Birthday and I Am.[4] These albums were privately distributed in very small quantities[5] between 1970 and 1972 in the UK. Soon after Decca asked Townshend for permission to release the recordings, as inferior copies were circulating in the US as bootlegs. Rather than re-issuing the original albums Townshend decided to change the track list substantially and develop the project into his first "official" solo album. Three of Townshend's demos for Lifehouse were selected, along with two songs each from the earlier tribute albums and two additional songs.

The Lifehouse demos included are: "Pure and Easy," edited from its original length of 8:35; "Let's See Action"; and (with minor overdubs added) "Time Is Passing." Of these, only "Let's See Action" had seen prior release, as a single by the Who in 1971.[6] The Who's versions of the remaining two Lifehouse songs were eventually released on Odds & Sods and on reissued versions of Who's Next.[7][8] All of Townshend's Lifehouse demos were eventually released on Lifehouse Chronicles in 2000.

From the tribute album Happy Birthday came Townshend's "Content" and Ronnie Lane's "Evolution." The latter is a reworking of the track "Stone" from The Faces' debut album First Step in 1970; the Happy Birthday version, over six minutes long, was edited to 3:36. From the follow-up tribute album I Am, Billy Nicholls' "Forever's No Time at All" and Townshend's "Parvardigar" were selected; the latter's lyrics are adapted from Meher Baba's "Universal Prayer." The track list was rounded out with Townshend's composition "Sheraton Gibson" and his cover of "Heartache," a.k.a. "There's a Heartache Following Me," which had been a UK number 6 hit in 1964 by the American country singer Jim Reeves and a favorite of Meher Baba, according to Townshend's notes on the album's back cover.

The songs were recorded at Townshend's home studio,[5] which was among the most advanced home studios in England at the time. Townshend does not appear on the Nicholls track, but does play guitar on the Lane track; he plays all other instruments on the remainder of the album.

One dollar from each sale of the 1972 album went to charities.

Release history

Original UK copies were on Track Records, reissued by Polydor Records after Track ceased operations in 1978. The first US issue appeared on the silver Track/Decca label. In 1973 it was reissued in the US on the MCA Records black with rainbow label, but without the gatefold cover or the poster.

The first compact disc release by Rykodisc appeared in 1992 with six bonus tracks taken from the privately distributed albums, also issued in a limited edition deluxe version with extra artwork. A remastered edition appeared in 2006 on Hip-O Records, the legacy division of the Universal Music Group, with nine bonus tracks, the first six being the ones from the Rykodisc reissue. The nine bonus songs on the Hip-O reissue comprise the remaining Townshend performances from Happy Birthday and the 1976 record, With Love, along with the track "I Always Say" recorded between 1968 and 1970.

Critical reception

Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "Townshend sounds as relaxed in this rather folkish Meher Baba tribute cum 'gynormouse ego trip' as Paul McCartney in his do-it-yourself studio, and a lot less self-absorbed—other musical gurumongers sound 'Content' (title of worst song here), but Pete seems happy, too. So much so that some of this music is a little lightweight—expressing the kind of undiscriminating joy in the everyday one might expect from somebody who considers 'You always were, you always are, and you always will be' both a profound sentiment and a snappy way to finish off a concept album. But I'm encouraged that Ronnie Lane (singer-songwriter on 'Evolution') offers a drink (alcohol, get it?) to the Master and his Truth. And in the end the homely sweetness and frailty of his music prevails."[2]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Pure and Easy"	Pete Townshend	5:32
2.	"Evolution"	Ronnie Lane	3:44
3.	"Forever's No Time at All"	Billy Nicholls, Katie McInnerny	3:06
4.	"Nothing Is Everything (Let's See Action)"	Pete Townshend	6:25

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Time Is Passing"	Pete Townshend	3:27
2.	"There's a Heartache Following Me"	Ray Baker	3:23
3.	"Sheraton Gibson"	Pete Townshend	2:37
4.	"Content"	Maud Kennedy, Pete Townshend	2:58
5.	"Parvardigar"	Meher Baba, Pete Townshend	6:46

2006 bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"His Hands"	Pete Townshend	2:11
11.	"The Seeker"	Pete Townshend	4:34
12.	"Day of Silence"	Pete Townshend	2:53
13.	"Sleeping Dog"	Pete Townshend	2:59
14.	"The Love Man"	Pete Townshend	4:59
15.	"Lantern Cabin"	Pete Townshend	4:12
16.	"Mary Jane"	Pete Townshend	2:35
17.	"I Always Say"	Pete Townshend	5:50
18.	"Begin the Beguine"	Cole Porter	4:49

45th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (2018)

Disc One (2017 Remaster of Original Album)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Pure & Easy"	Pete Townshend	5:32
2.	"Evolution"	Ronnie Lane	3:43
3.	"Forever’s No Time At All"	Billy Nicholls, Katie McInnerny	3:05
4.	"Let's See Action"	Townshend	6:22
5.	"Time is Passing"	Townshend	3:25
6.	"There’s a Heartache Following Me"	Ray Baker	3:21
7.	"Sheraton Gibson"	Townshend	2:36
8.	"Content"	Maud Kennedy, Townshend	2:43
9.	"Parvardigar"	Meher Baba, Townshend	6:49

Disc Two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"His Hands"	Pete Townshend	2:07
2.	"The Seeker" (2017 Edit)	Townshend	4:36
3.	"Day of Silence"	Townshend	2:57
4.	"Sleeping Dog"	Townshend	2:56
5.	"Mary Jane" (Stage A, Alternate Take)	Townshend	2:35
6.	"I Always Say" (2017 Edit)	Townshend	4:58
7.	"Begin the Beguine" (2017 Mix)	Cole Porter	4:41
8.	"Baba O'Riley" (Instrumental)	Townshend	9:49
9.	"The Love Man" (Stage C)	Townshend	4:54
10.	"Content" (Stage A)	Maud Kennedy, Townshend	2:46
11.	"Day of Silence" (Alternate Version)	Townshend	4:38
12.	"Parvardigar" (Alternate Take)	Meher Baba, Townshend	7:12
13.	"Nothing is Everything" (Earlier Take)	Townshend	3:57
14.	"There’s a Fortune in Those Hills"	Townshend	4:09
15.	"Meher Baba in Italy" (Instrumental)	Townshend	2:20
16.	"Drowned" (Live in India)	Townshend	2:02
17.	"Evolution (Stone)" (Live at Ronnie Lane Memorial, Royal Albert Hall, London, 8 April 2004)	Ronnie Lane	6:12

Personnel

• Pete Townshend — vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar, drums, percussion; harmonica on "Day of Silence"
• Ronnie Lane — vocals and guitar on "Evolution"
• Billy Nicholls — vocals and guitar on "Forever's No Time at All"
• Caleb Quaye — guitars, bass guitar, and percussion on "Forever's No Time at All"

Charts

Chart (1972)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[9]	35
United Kingdom (Official Charts Company)	30
United States (Billboard 200)	69

References

1. Who Came First at AllMusic
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: T". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 16 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
3. UK Chart Stats
4. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pete-townshend-details-massive-who-came-first-reissue-204710/
5. https://ultimateclassicrock.com/pete-townshend-who-came-first/
6. https://www.thewho.com/music/lets-see-action-2/
7. Who's Next, TheWho.com, retrieved 18 June 2016
8. Atkins, John (1 February 2000), The Who on Record: A Critical History, 1963-1998, McFarland & Company, ISBN 9780786440979, retrieved 18 June 2016
9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 312. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

External links

• Pete Townshend solo album index
• Meher Baba Tribute Albums by Pete Townshend