Tommy – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Who – Christmas

The Who isn’t exactly known for traditional Christmas tunes, but they do have a song that fits the season.

This song is on the album Tommy about the deaf, dumb, and blind kid. This is not a Christmas song you will hear on the radio at this time of year…it’s just part of the story of Tommy. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album along with Sally Simpson.

Tommy’s father has concerns about his son on Christmas morning. Tommy is deaf, dumb, and blind, and doesn’t appear to have much of a future, but that Christmas, he gets a game of pinball and his life changes when he becomes the Pinball Wizard. This was written by Pete Townshend and it fits perfectly on that album.

It’s the backup vocals that always catch my attention. Also the drums by Mr. Moon plus Townshend’s slashing guitar. They also go into the refrain of “Tommy Can You Hear Me” and “See Me Feel Me.” The song is powerful and also very catchy. I always listen to it around Christmas.

I don’t think any band in rock could have touched them during this time live. On the tour of Tommy is where Live At Leeds came from and it is the tightest I’ve heard a rock band.

Tommy peaked at #2 in the UK, #4 on the Billboard 100, and #6 in Canada in 1969.

Christmas

Did you ever see the faces of children
They get so excited.
Waking up on Christmas morning
Hours before the winter sun’s ignited.
They believe in dreams and all they mean
Including heavens generosity.
Peeping round the door
to see what parcels are for free
In curiosity.

And Tommy doesn’t know what day it is.
Doesn’t know who Jesus was or what praying is.
How can he be saved?
From the eternal grave.

Surrounded by his friends he sits so silently,
And unaware of everything.
Playing poxy pin ball
picks his nose and smiles and
Pokes his tongue at everything.
I believe in love
but how can men who’ve never seen
Light be enlightened.
Only if he’s cured
will his spirits future level ever heighten.

And Tommy doesn’t know what day it is.
Doesn’t know who Jesus was or what praying is.
How can he be saved?
>From the eternal grave.
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
How can he be saved?

[Tommy:]

See me, feel me
Touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me
Touch me, heal me!

Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
How can he be saved?

Who – Go To The Mirror

I just can’t get enough of this band. Not counting the Beatles…this is the band I would take to a deserted island and listen to. Not only in the studio but especially live. In their concert prime, between 69-76, they were untouchable in pure rock.

This song is on their Tommy album. I just listened to the album again and I have only one complaint. The production is thin and they don’t sound like The WHO. I have the studio and live version at the bottom. When they took this album on the road it really blossomed and turned into a Who mini opera. Their next album Live At Leeds and Who’s Next made them, along with Led Zeppelin, two of the biggest bands of the 70s.

Tommy is about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who plays pinball. He is not really deaf, dumb, or blind but he dissociates himself from society and those around him. No one can break through his shell.

This song is about him seeing a doctor. The doctor confirms that there is nothing physically wrong with Tommy and his condition is caused by mental blocks from trauma as a kid. The doctor says Tommy will come out naturally. He is encouraged to go to the mirror where they know he is getting some kind of stimulation. In the mirror Tommy sings to his enlightened self “listening to you”, furthering his spiritual journey.

It’s a song that you will hear the familiar refrains running through this concept album. The “See Me, Feel Me” and “Listening to you, I get the music” parts.

Go To The Mirror

He seems to be completely unreceptiveThe tests I gave him show no sense at allHis eyes react to light the dials detect itHe hears but cannot answer to your call

See me, feel me, touch me, heal meSee me, feel me, touch me, heal me

There is no chance no untried operationAll hope lies with him and none with meImagine though the shock from isolationWhen he suddenly can hear and speak and see

See me, feel me, touch me, heal meSee me, feel me, touch me, heal me

His eyes can seeHis ears can hear his lips speakAll the time the needles flick and rockNo machine can give the kind of stimulationNeeded to remove his inner block

Go to the mirror boy!Go to the mirror boy!

I often wonder what he is feelingHas he ever heard a word I’ve said?Look at him in the mirror dreamingWhat is happening in his head?

Listening to you, I get the musicGazing at you, I get the heatFollowing you, I climb the mountainI get excitement at your feet!

Right behind you, I see the millionsOn you, I see the gloryFrom you, I get opinionsFrom you, I get the story

What is happening in his headOoooh I wish I knew, I wish I knew

Who – Christmas

I don’t think any band in rock could have touched them during this time live. On the tour of Tommy is where Live At Leeds came from and it is the tightest I’ve heard a rock band.

Tommy peaked at #2 in the UK, #4 on the Billboard 100, and #6 in Canada in 1969.

Christmas

And Tommy doesn’t know what day it is.
Doesn’t know who Jesus was or what praying is.
How can he be saved?
From the eternal grave.

[Tommy:]

See me, feel me
Touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me
Touch me, heal me!

Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
Tommy can you hear me?
How can he be saved?

Who – Tommy Can You Hear Me

A short song off of their 1968 album Tommy.

The rock opera Tommy tells the story of a “deaf, dumb, and blind” kid who becomes a Pinball Wizard and then a spiritual leader. The double album was The Who’s break though album. They performed the album in concert halls and opera theaters.

On their second album A Quick One, they were short of material, Kit Lambert (manager) encouraged Pete to create a mini-opera called A Quick One, While He’s Away by combining a suite of song snippets. By 1968 he was developing a full-album concept called Deaf, Dumb And Blind Boy, inspired by Indian spiritual mentor Meher Baba.

When the album was released to the world it was a huge hit… It was their first album to get into the top ten or the top forty for that matter in America. It wasn’t for the lack of trying. They released some great albums that only the UK enjoyed..they also had singles that rivaled the Kinks, Beatles, and Stones but were not heard here until the compilation album Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy was released in 1971.

I like the Tommy album although it’s not my favorite Who album…that would be Who’s Next. I always thought the album sounded thin compared to the live version they played in 1969 and 70.

Unlike other bands such as the Stones…Townshend encouraged the others to write because he carried most of the burden. Entwistle was the most prolific writer next to Townshend. Daltrey and Moon only wrote occasionally.

All of them contributed vocals to this one.

From Songfacts

“Tommy Can You Hear Me?” is the sixth track on the first side of the second album (third side overall) and acts as a transition between two narratively important songs, “Go To The Mirror!” and “Smash the Mirror.”

In “Go to the Mirror!” a doctor (played by Jack Nicholson in the film version) tells Tommy’s parents that their son’s lifelong handicap is entirely psychosomatic, basically meaning it’s all in his head. That song leads into “Tommy Can You Hear Me?” In this track, the lyrics are meant to be the words of Tommy’s mother, who is extra frustrated by Tommy’s inability to hear her now that she knows it’s all in his head.

“Tommy Can You Hear Me” leads into “Smash the Mirror,” in which Tommy can indeed see his own reflection, but still doesn’t register seeing his mother, which enrages her so much, she shoves Tommy through a mirror. This scene leads to Tommy’s eventual awakening as a spiritual figure..

Bob Dylan references this song in “Murder Most Foul” with the lyric, “Tommy, can you hear me? I’m the Acid Queen.” That line also mentions “The Acid Queen,” which is another track on Tommy.

Tommy Can You Hear Me

Tommy can you hear me?
Can you feel me near you?
Tommy can you see me?
Can I help to cheer you?
Ooooh Tommy
Tommy
Tommy
Tommy

Tommy can you hear me?
Can you feel me near you?
Tommy can you see me?
Can I help to cheer you?
Ooooh Tommy

Tommy
Tommy
Tommy
Tommy
Tommy
Tommy

Tommy
Tommy
Tommy
Tommy
Tommy

Who – Sally Simpson

This song is one of my favorite songs off the 1969 Tommy album along with the song Christmas. I never thought Tommy was their best album by any means but it is the one that broke them to a mass audience.

While Townshend was backstage at a Door’s concert, a security guard roughly handled a girl who was attempting to touch Jim Morrison, just as Sally was attempting to touch Tommy. There is a video of the real “Sally Simpson” back stage and Jim Morrison is trying to help her. I have the video at the bottom. I never knew a video existed of this until recently.

The song was never released as a single but is a great section of the story of Tommy. In Baba O’Riley there is a lyric that mentions Sally or a different Sally. “Sally, take my hand we’ll travel south ‘cross land”…could it be? I doubt it but you never know.

The Who during this time were touring and including opera houses. They were as tight as a band can be…it was soon after that they released what I think is the greatest live album ever…Live At Leeds.

Here is video of Jim Morrison tending to “Sally” backstage. Yep, real footage of the girl that inspired Pete to write Sally Simpson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-u_EFyKAC8

Sally Simpson

Outside the house Mr. Simpson announced
that Sally couldn’t go to the meeting.
He went on cleaning his blue Rolls Royce
and she ran inside weeping.
She got to her room and tears splashed the picture
of the new Messiah.
She picked up a book of her fathers life
and threw it on the fire!

She knew from the start
Deep down in her heart
That she and Tommy were worlds apart,
But her Mother said never mind your part…
Is to be what you’ll be.

The theme of the sermon was come unto me,
Love will find a way,
So Sally decided to ignore her dad,
and sneak out anyway!
She spent all afternoon getting ready,
and decided she’d try to touch him,
Maybe he’d see that she was free
and talk to her this Sunday.

She knew from the start
Deep down in her heart
That she and Tommy were worlds apart,
But her Mother said never mind your part…
Is to be what you’ll be.

She arrived at six and the place was swinging
to gospel music by nine.
Group after group appeared on the stage
and Sally just sat there crying.
She bit her nails looking pretty as a picture
right in the very front row
And then a DJ wearing a blazer with a badge
ran on and said ‘here we go!’

The crowd went crazy
As Tommy hit the stage!
Little Sally got lost as the police bossed
The crowd back in a rage!

But soon the atmosphere was cooler
as Tommy gave a lesson.
Sally just had to let him know she loved him
and leapt up on the rostrum!
She ran cross stage to the spotlit figure
and touched him on the face
Tommy whirled around as a uniformed man,
threw her of the stage.

She knew from the start
Deep down in her heart
That she and Tommy were worlds apart,
But her Mother said never mind your part…
Is to be what you’ll be.
Her cheek hit a chair and blood trickled down,
mingling with her tears,
Tommy carried on preaching
and his voice filled Sally’s ear
She caught his eye she had to try
but couldn’t see through the lights
Her face was gashed and the ambulance men
had to carry her out that night.

The crowd went crazy
As Tommy left the stage!
Little Sally was lost for the price of a touch
And a gash across her face! OOoooh.

Sixteen stitches put her right and her Dad said
‘don’t say I didn’t warn yer’.
Sally got married to a rock musician
she met in California
Tommy always talks about the day
the disciples all went wild!
Sally still carries a scar on her cheek
to remind her of his smile.

She knew from the start
Deep down in her heart
That she and Tommy were worlds apart,
But her Mother said never mind your part…
Is to be what you’ll be.

Who – I’m Free

After reading the John Entwistle biography I’ve been listening to the Who for the past week and a half. Tommy is not my favorite Who album…but the album does contain a lot of good songs. Tommy did make a huge mark in pop culture…a movie and Broadway play has been made from the story.

The riff is simple and powerful. A very good song that adds to Tommy. Like some of the other songs…I’m Free was written before Tommy was thought of but Pete fit what songs he had with the new ones to make the story.

Tommy was the breakthrough album for the Who in America. A concept album about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who…you guessed it…loves pinball. On the album the Who’s sound is subdued but on tour, they presented it loud and aggressive as only the Who could be.

The album peaked at #4 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1970. I’m Free peaked at #37 in the Billboard 100 in 1969.

Pete Townshend: ‘I’m Free’ came from ‘Street Fighting Man.’ This has a weird time/shape and when I finally discovered how it went, I thought ‘well blimey, it can’t be that simple,’ but it was and it was a gas and I wanted to do it myself.

The guitar sound in this version sends shivers down my spine. Compare it to the album version below this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRD_gIoVOmY

I’m Free

I’m free
I’m free
And freedom tastes of reality
I’m free
I’m free
An’ I’m waiting for you to follow me

If I told you what it takes
To reach the highest high
You’d laugh and say ‘nothing’s that simple’
But you’ve been told many times before
Messiahs pointed to the door
And no one had the guts to leave the temple!

I’m free
I’m free
And freedom tastes of reality

I’m free
I’m free
An’ I’m waiting for you to follow me

How can we follow?
How can we follow?

The Who – Pinball Wizard

It wasn’t the highest-charting song (See Me, Feel Me peaked at #12) but probably the most well-known song off their concept album Tommy.

It was the last song written for Tommy. Townshend wrote it when he found out influential UK rock critic Nik Cohn was coming to review the project. Townshend knew Cohn was a pinball fanatic, so he put this together to ensure a good review. Cohn gave it a great review, and pinball became the main theme of the rock opera.

After writing this song for Nik Cohn, Townshend almost didn’t even mention it to the band because he hated it so much. They told him to play it and told him he had written a hit. Meanwhile, he thought it was a mindless, badly written song.

The song peaked at #19 in the Billboard 100, #4 in the UK, #6 in Canada, and #8 in New Zealand.

From Songfacts

This is part of Tommy, the first “rock opera.” Tommy is about a young man who is deaf, dumb, and blind, but becomes a pinball champion and gains hordes of adoring fans. It was made into a play and continues to run as an off-Broadway production.

Tommy was made into a movie in 1975 starring Jack Nicholson, Ann Margaret, Tina Turner, and Roger Daltrey (who played Tommy). Elton John made an appearance as The Pinball Wizard and performed this song. His version hit UK #7.

Pete Townshend wrote this. It existed mostly in his head while they were recording it, and the other members of The Who had no idea how most of the story would end until they finished it. Townshend was not credited as the only songwriter on the project – John Entwistle wrote “Cousin Kevin” and “Fiddle About,” and Keith Moon got credit for “Tommy’s Holiday Camp.”

The character Tommy played pinball by feeling the vibrations of the machine. Townshend liked how that related to listeners picking up the vibrations of the music to feel the story.

The single version was sped up to make it more radio-friendly.

This was the most famous and enduring song from the Tommy project. Along with “See Me, Feel Me,” it is one of 2 songs from the album that The Who played throughout their career.

The Who performed this at Woodstock in 1969. The song was still fairly new, so many in the crowd did not recognize it. The Who were given the early morning slot, so they ended up playing this as the sun came up.

The Who performed the entire album from start to finish on their subsequent tour. Two of the dates were in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

The famous guitar riff was sampled by The Shocking Blue on their 1969 hit “Venus,” which was covered by Bananarama in 1986.

The album got The Who out of a financial mess. After a legal battle with their manager, Shel Talmy, and some bad business deals in England, they were facing bankruptcy if it didn’t sell.

According to the book The Duh Awards by Bob Fenster, Rod Stewart asked Elton John if he should accept an offer to sing in Tommy. Elton told him no way, “Don’t touch it with a barge pole.” A year later, The Who asked Elton John to sing the same song. Elton grabbed his barge pole and took the offer. “I don’t think Rod’s quite forgiven me for that,” he commented years later.

The Dutch group The Shocking Blue used the guitar riff from this song for their 1969 hit “Venus.”

Townshend played a 1968 Gibson SG Special guitar on this song.

This features in a commercial for the Toyota Supra GR that debuted during the 2019 Super Bowl between the Rams and Patriots. In the spot, a driver navigates a life-size pinball game in the vehicle.

Pinball Wizard

Ever since I was a young boy
I’ve played the silver ball
From Soho down to Brighton
I must have played them all
But I ain’t seen nothing like him
In any amusement hall

That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!

He stands like a statue
Becomes part of the machine
Feeling all the bumpers
Always playing clean
Plays by intuition
The digit counters fall

That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!

He’s a pinball wizard
There has to be a twist
A pinball wizard’s got such a supple wrist

‘How do you think he does it?
I don’t know
What makes him so good?’

Ain’t got no distractions
Can’t hear no buzzers and bells
Don’t see no lights a-flashin’
Plays by sense of smell
Always gets the replay
Never seen him fall

That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!

I thought I was The Bally table king
But I just handed my pinball crown to him

Even on my favorite table
He can beat my best
His disciples lead him in
And he just does the rest
He’s got crazy flipper fingers
Never seen him fall

That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!