The bulk of this appears to have been lifted directly from Hiwatt’s Townshend demos overview The Genuine Scoop, although if you don’t have that sprawling set and have an affinity for the good-but-flawed Who Are You? album this is highly recommended – as is any collection of Townshend demos that illuminate the songwriter’s working process. In fact, two songs here, an acoustic banjo ditty “Love Is Wine” and another mostly-acoustic guitar ballad,” I Like It That Way,” didn’t make it to the Who album proper.
Three tracks are not held in common with Genuine Scoop: an oft-booted full-band outtake of “Who Are You” (judging by Daltrey’s vocal, however, it sounds speeded-up); a shambling band outtake cover of the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann” (it clocks in at 2:45 compared to the 1:59 version that turned up as a bonus track on the CD reissue of A Quick One); and “Peppermint Lump,” a genuine Townshend oddity, penned and recorded by PT in for fledgling pop diva Angie (a somewhat squeaky-sounding schoolgirl who, let’s hope, did not go on to further musical projects) – punk label Stiff Records, of all folks, issued the track as a 45 in 1979.
Good packaging here, full-color digipack with photos taken from the same session that yielded the original album’s artwork. – OSWALD