Background and Content
Townshend had already participated with other artists on two previous albums in tribute to his Avatar Meher Baba, Happy Birthday and I Am. These albums were privately distributed in very small quantities between 1970 and 1972 in the UK. Soon after Decca asked Townshend for release rights, as inferior copies were circulating in the US as bootlegs. Rather than re-issuing the original albums Townshend decided to change the track list substantially for his first "official" solo album.
The songs were recorded at Townshend's home studio, which was among the most advanced home studios in England at the time. Two songs each from the earlier albums appear on Who Came First, including the contributions by Ronnie Lane and Billy Nicholls, "Evolution" and "Forever's No Time at All". Townshend's "Content" had been issued on Happy Birthday and "Parvardigar" had appeared on I Am.
The demos "Pure and Easy" and "Let's See Action" had been recorded by The Who for Lifehouse, but were not used for Who's Next. Both versions by the Who would be released, "Let's See Action" as a single in 1971, making it to number 16 on the British singles chart, and "Pure and Easy" on Odds & Sods in 1974. "Evolution" by Lane is a reworking of the track "Stone" which had appeared on The Faces' debut album First Step in 1970. "There's a Heartache Following Me" had been a UK number 6 hit in 1964 by the American country singer Jim Reeves. Townshend does not appear on the Nicholls track, but does play guitar on the Lane track; he plays all other instruments on the remainder of the album. One dollar from each sale of the 1972 album went to charities.
Read more about this topic: Who Came First
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