https://youtube/watch?v=XvQr7SnXRMwThe lyrics are written from the perspective of a pinball champion, called Local Lad in the Tommy libretto book, astounded by the skills of the operas eponymous main character, Tommy Walker: What makes him so good?; He aint got no distractions; Cant hear those buzzers and bells; Dont see lights a flashin; Plays by sense of smell.; Always has a replay; Never tilts at all; That deaf dumb and blind kid; Sure plays a mean pin ball., and I thought I was the Bally table king, but I just handed my pinball crown to him. Townshend once called it the most clumsy piece of writing [hed] ever done[1] nevertheless, the song was a commercial success and one of the most recognised tunes from the opera. It was a perpetual concert favourite for Who fans due to its pop sound and familiarity. Position on the album[edit] The song was introduced into Tommy as an afterthought[citation needed]. In late 1968 or early 1969, when The Who played a rough assembly of their new album to critic Nik Cohn, Cohn gave a lukewarm reaction. Following this, Townshend, as Tommys principal composer, discussed the album with Cohn and concluded that, to lighten the load of the rock operas heavy spiritual overtones (Townshend had recently become deeply interested in the teachings of Meher Baba), the title character, a deaf, dumb, and blind boy, should also be particularly good at a certain game. Knowing Cohn was an avid pinball fan, Townshend suggested that Tommy would play pinball, and Cohn immediately declared Tommy to be a masterpiece[citation needed]. The song Pinball Wizard was written and recorded almost immediately. Live performances[edit] This song is one of the bands most famous live songs, being played at almost every Who concert since its debut live performance on 2 May 1969. The live performances rarely deviated from the album arrangement, save for an occasional jam at the end sometimes leading to another song. Bootleg recordings show that this song has been known to last as long as 8 minutes (at a concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London on 3 February 1981), although live versions lasting as long as that are extremely rare.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 02:52:04 +0000
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