60 Years Later: The Who Debut With ‘My Generation’

Listening to The Who’s debut album, My Generation (released 12/3/65) with a six-decade perspective, it is hard to believe this band would evolve into the creators of some of the most enduring works in contemporary rock, i.e., Tommy and Who’s Next. 

Then again, the very title song of the LP is a statement of recognition and admiration that author Pete Townshend aimed at the band’s audience, a fanbase he would revisit in much greater detail eight years later with the magnum opus that is Quadrophenia.

That said, the tracks on the album that initially catch the eye are those that ratify the band’s early self-publicity as ‘Maximum R&B’. “I Don’t Mind” is one of two (!) songs by the ‘Godfather of Soul,’ James Brown, and the other, “Please, Please, Please,” precedes a Bo Diddley cover “I’m A Man.”

If producer Shel Talmy’s only tangible contribution to this Who album is the sequencing of the tracks (and the latter-day remastering of them), he deserves more than a bit of recognition for his work with the Kinks. “My Generation” arrives at the end of side one, while “The Kids Are Alright” immediately follows at the very beginning of side two; the pairing is simultaneously a statement of allegiance to the Who’s audience and, consciously or unconsciously, a sign of the growing distance between the band and its followers.

The massive power chords of chief songwriter Pete Townshend that would eventually distinguish the majesty inherent in Who style do not appear here until, tellingly, that title song, where the intrusion of feedback over furious Keith Moon drumming follows the quartet’s already well-honed vocal harmonies. 

John Entwistle’s buzz saw bass is more felt than heard during this cacophonous interval, as is also the case with the instrumental closer implicitly dedicated to him via his nickname “The Ox.” Composed by the band’s three instrumentalists and pianist Nicky Hopkins, it documents what would become the latter’s many appearances on Who albums over the years (erstwhile Yardbird and Led Zeppelin co-founder Jimmy Page also played guitar during the studio sessions). 

Released as a single roughly a year prior to My Generation, “I Can’t Explain” is an expression of teenage angst of a piece with the anthems on the album. It is thus a far cry from “A Legal Matter,” one of Townshend’s earliest narratives in song, predating the longer suite of tunes co-manager Kit Lambert encouraged him to write for the Who’s sophomore album A Quick One; importantly too, it’s a  precursor to other tragi-comedies in songs such as “I’m A Boy,” “Tattoo” and “Substitute.”

The latter was one of the early Who numbers that failed to make much of a splash in the United States. Hence, the Top 40 success of “Happy Jack” helped keep the foursome afloat along with their reputation for incendiary live performances, often including the rampant smashing of equipment (see Live at the Fillmore East 1968). 

The watershed moment known as the rock opera rescued the Who from impending anonymity, and the rest is indeed history, right up to and including The Song Is Over farewell tour of 2025. A five-CD 2016 Deluxe Edition of My Generation features variations on the many track listings that have emerged over the years, not least of which is a collection of Townshend’s demo recordings.

The multiple mixes and sequences of cuts thereof hint at how prolific the Who would become in just the next decade, an expanse of time ironically much shorter than the sixty-year perspective illuminated by hearing their first longplayer.