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The Who Expand Leeds With More Tommy Tracks

Superseding 1995 reissue, Live at Leeds grows to two discs.
By archive-Jon-Wiederhorn
July 17, 2001 / 5:12 PM

In 1970, the year after the epic Tommy was released, the Who issued Live at Leeds, considered by many to be one of the most explosive concert recordings of all time — though it clocked in at under 30 minutes and included no Tommy songs.

The CD revolution changed that in 1995 when Live at Leeds was repackaged with eight bonus tracks, including one comprising Tommy's "Amazing Journey" and "Sparks." Now, 31 years after its original release, the album will be reissued again on September 18 as a two-CD package including live takes on 18 of the original 24 songs from the legendary rock opera.

The Tommy tracks are all culled from the same concert that bore the original Live at Leeds, a publicist for the album said. The complicated fable of a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who masters pinball and becomes a messianic figure, Tommy was almost entirely written by guitarist Pete Townshend and set new standards in conceptual and experimental rock. In 1973, Townshend and the Who revisited rock opera territory with Quadrophenia.

The complete track list for the Live at Leeds reissue:

  • "Heaven and Hell"

  • "I Can't Explain"

  • "Fortune Teller"

  • "Tattoo"

  • "Young Man Blues"

  • "Substitute"

  • "Happy Jack"

  • "I'm a Boy"

  • "A Quick One, While He's Away"

  • "Summertime Blues"

  • "Shakin' All Over"

  • "My Generation"

  • "Magic Bus"

  • "Overture"

  • "Captain Walker"

  • "It's a Boy"

  • "1921"

  • "Amazing Journey"

  • "Sparks"

  • "Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker)"

  • "Christmas"

  • "The Acid Queen"

  • "Pinball Wizard"

  • "Fiddle About"

  • "Tommy Can You Hear Me?"

  • "There's a Doctor"

  • "Go to the Mirror"

  • "Miracle Cure"

  • "Sally Simpson"

  • "I'm Free"

  • "Tommy's Holiday Camp"

  • "We're Not Gonna Take It"

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