Pete Townshend - Who Came First (Deluxe) (1972/2018) [Hi-Res]

"Who Came First" is the debut solo record by Pete Townshend, first released in 1972. The album collected together tracks from Pete's private pressings of his tributes to Meher Baba, Happy Birthday and I Am, as well as demos from the unrealized concept album Lifehouse, part of which became The Who's classic Who's Next album.

To celebrate the 45th Anniversary, the album will be released as a double expanded album version, featuring eight previously unreleased tracks, new edits, alternative versions and live performances.

"Who Came First" has been remastered by long-term Pete Townshend and The Who collaborator Jon Astley using the original master tapes. The first album consists of a remastered version of the original album and second includes unreleased tracks, alternative versions and live performances.

"Pete Townshend's first solo album was a homespun, charming forum for low-key, personal songs that weren't deemed suitable for the Who, as well as spiritual paeans (direct and indirect) to his spiritual guru Meher Baba. Who fans will be immediately attracted by the presence of a couple of songs from the aborted Who concept album Lifehouse (much of which ended up on Who's Next), "Pure & Easy" and "Let's See Action." The Who did eventually release their own versions of both those songs. But Townshend's own versions aren't the highlights of this record, which shows a folkier and gentler side to the Who's chief muse than his albums with the group. "Sheraton Gibson" is a neat tune about rock & roll road life, and "Time Is Passing" takes very subtle inspiration from Baba. Most of the rest of the album contains some of the most unusual pieces Townshend has released: his acoustic cover of Jim Reeves' "There's a Heartache Following Me" (recorded because it was one of Baba's favorite tunes), "Evolution" (which is actually pretty much a solo track by his buddy Ronnie Lane of the Faces), "Parvardigar" (adapted from Baba's Universal Prayer), and "Content" (a philosophical poem by Maud Kennedy that Townshend put to music). The 1993 reissue of this LP for compact disc fleshes out the program considerably with six previously unreleased tracks, including Townshend's demo of the Who single "The Seeker." The other bonus cuts are by no means filler; meditative and melancholy originals, they're just as strong as the tracks on the original release." (Richie Unterberger, AMG)

Pete Townshend, vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar, drums, percussion, harmonica
Ronnie Lane, vocals, guitar on "Evolution"
Billy Nicholls, vocals, guitar on "Forever's No Time at All"
Caleb Quaye, guitars, bass, percussion on "Forever's No Time at All"

Produced by Pete Townshend