The Who – A Quick One (1966)

This is The Who’s second album after the landmark debut album release My Generation in 1965. This wasn’t as well received as other releases around this time of The Who’s career. Still, it deserves listening all the same, so let’s take some time to listen to it, and see where this album takes us.

We begin with Run Run Run which is a really punchy and awesome song that sounds really 1960s and excellent listening here. A catchy and clever song that continues the glory of the My Generation album, this has some powerful electric guitar playing and soloing in it. A real different and fresh sounding tune, this sounds like a really great 1960s piece that is still amazing today. It has a key change in it towards the end, before ending with some crazy guitar fills. Good job.

Next here is Boris the Spider which sounds interesting, with a descending set of playing here about said spider who has an adventure of his own. It has some interesting singing and instrumentation here, especially in the chorus, with the demonic sounding voice here. A quirky and odd sounding piece that sounds rather different to many other musical tunes of the time here, it is short, sharp and odd. Good but very different here.

I Need You begins with pounding drums and clanging guitars, and some decent singing by Roger Daltrey here. It’s about love based relationship issues and has some nice harpsichord here which makes this a little different. An intermission styled section with the sound of people drinking is here, and this is a wonderful sounding piece of music. It ends with some interesting drum parts and some more village like harpsichord to complete it. Different.

Whiskey Man comes next, with some clean guitar parts and a pounding set of drum playing here. It’s about an imaginary drinking partner, which sounds really different. A funny, cool and energetic piece of music that has a good lyrical twist here. It’s about a guy who goes nuts without his whiskey man friend, listen carefully and you’ll understand why. There is some dramatic trumpet here as well, and this piece has a dramatic conclusion.

Next along is Heat Wave which is a pounding and energetic listen, definitely good for summer time. It has some excellent singing here by Roger Daltrey and the piece here is uptempo and awesome. Less than two minutes long, this sounds really excellent here. A great 1960s tune that sounds excellent, it is short, sweet and listenable. Good tune.

Following is Cobwebs and Strange which begins with some unusual melodies and banging drums, to say the least. It sounds like a military march on drugs, to be fair. All the same, it is ridiculously weird, but good. An odd listen, it leads into a brief drum solo, along with some speedy guitar playing. This sounds like a silly piece for Keith Moon’s drumming that sounds really ridiculous. It has more drum rolls towards the end, and some really weird sounds to match. Different, for sure.

Don’t Look Away is next, with some strummed acoustic guitars and beats, before some nice singing by Roger Daltrey enters. A different and tremendously good song that, like the rest of the album, is very underrated here. A really cool sounding piece of music, it has some strangely psychedelic lyrics here but hey, it was the era for it. Some excellent clean guitar solos then emerge from Pete Townshend, and this piece ends very nicely.

See My Way is next, and is another intermission style piece that sounds electrified and tremendous here. It has more trumpet and strange musicality about it, but is rather catchy too. The Who were great at creating quirky little numbers such as this one, and this is no exception. Lively, different and brilliant, with some different percussion and horns. Excellent stuff.

Next song here is So Sad About Us which has some call-and-response guitars and drums, before launching into a typical 1960s sounding piece that is energetic, wonderful and brilliant here. It’s a Pop piece about breaking up in a relationship, but is more textural and sound based than a proper song. Still, it is very, very good. Some nice harmonies are here at the end, and this piece has some powerful drumming. Decent and brief tune.

Last song here is A Quick One, While He’s Away which begins with some interesting multitracked singing, before launching into some really good clean guitar riffing and some tambourine. This launches into a classic 1960s music piece that has the vocals mixed down, so this is supposedly required to be played loud. Still, it is has some awesome guitars and other textures to keep it going. It quickly goes into a piano driven section that sounds really enjoyable and different here. Some awesome harmonies emerge here, which power this part of the song along. Chanted vocals are here, before going into the next section which is quite funny, to be honest. It goes into the climax of the song here, and sounds excellent and brilliant here, with plenty of laugh out loud humour here. It then goes into a section that sounds a lot like The Beach Boys here with some harmonies, guitar playing and warped keyboards here that are completely different. A clever and witty piece of music, this sounds hilarious and weird. It has a good progression and interesting conclusion to this song, which is hilarious and very different, with a sped up climax here.

This is a bit of an oddity in The Who’s back catalogue. However, it is a very good piece for a laugh and a good listen now and again. All the same, a really awesome and different 1960s release that still sounds good today. Fans of The Who will like to hear that there are re-releases with many extra tracks, so seek them out if you keen.

Weird and wacky.

9/10