Through many hours, pondering ways in which I could pay tribute to my favorite music, the notion of doing songs or whole albums a cappella has crossed this mind more than once. No, it’s not my invention. Bobby McFerrin is a genius at it. For me it was a natural extension of my own curiosity, especially given my propensity for mimicking people, instruments and sounds. I’ve probably come within minutes of booting my old Mac and pulling up Pro-Tools to attempt on my own what Petra Haden has ultimately achieved with naiveté, sexiness and grace. Another most essential component of this particular effort is the fact that a woman has with great aptitude and originality appropriated music that is inarguably oriented by and for those with a penis.
According to the liner notes for "Petra Haden Sings The Who Sell Out," a San Pedro California-based radio host, Mike Watt, gave Petra (his close friend and past collaborator) a Tascam 8 track recorder. He dedicated track number 8 to the original Who album for Petra to reference the music and lyrics. Furthermore Watt contends that Petra was not previously familiar with the album. The endearing richness and detail evident on this CD would render such an assertion of dubious legitimacy, were it not for her absolutely silly cases of mis-heard and misunderstood lyrics. While these little foul-ups are forgivable, they are about as idiosyncratically weird as is this homage in totality. They codify the gloriously innocent but widely pervasive syndrome of confused rock lyrics. It’s the “excuse me while I kiss this guy,” or “revved up like a douche you know the rowner in the night” type thing. In short, either Watt or Haden herself would have done well to reference the correct lyrics for these songs, which are widely available on the internet. I am mystified by such obvious blunders as “I can’t remember” being mistaken for “I danced with Linda,” in Maryanne With The Shaky Hands, other than the fact that both phrases share equivalence in syllables.
There are some jarring moments where the edits and transitions are sloppy and ill-attended to. Some clue to this peppering of neglect in production may lie in an interview Watt conducted with Petra on his web-based show. Petra comes off as an extremely casual and dispassionate artist; sort of a stoner for lack of a better term. No indictments. There is a genuine charm, albeit momentary distraction in all these snags of cogency and continuity; wrinkles which could’ve easily been remedied by allowing a fan to listen before the J-cards and discs were printed – yikes! But regardless, the confidence with which these songs are rendered, screw-ups and all, ultimately fuels the likeability of Ms. Haden, and this CD.
Petra’s ample vocal range is evident throughout the piece as she ambitiously employs complex and meticulous over-dubs and lots of funny babbling to achieve both the vocals and instrumentals of the Who classic. At times she employs an ethereal whispery call; while at others summons an almost dazed or brooding affectation, colored with chocolaty timbre. Her falsettos are sometimes hauntingly reminiscent of John Entwhistle’s fruitfully youthful voice on the original album. She fancies herself a talent of mimicry. At once she strives to perfectly imitate the precise rhythms present on The Who Sell Out with disarmingly cute and unabashedly, almost childish wow-wow-wow-ing and dubbi-da dubbi-da dubbi-da vocalizations. She has fun emulating the studio tricks (originally achieved with the now famous “twiddling knobs” as immortalized in the film *The Kids Are Alright) - resulting in the musical gossamer which Pete Townshend along with Who producer Kit Lambert undoubtedly spent days inventing back in 1967.
Characteristic of taking on a project of this size, are the inevitable and impossible-to-satisfy expectations and unforgiving ears infecting each seasoned Who fan. However one must neither underestimate nor dismiss this work as an imperfect copy of the Who album. The ages have seen manifold interpretations of classic music and art. It’s possible that Petra’s tour de force is the most appropriate testament to the understated and unsung importance of The Who Sell Out as part of that very particular genre of pop psychedelia. After all it was a neighborhood inhabited by the likes of Pink Floyd’s "Piper at The Gates of Dawn," The Beach Boys’ "Pet Sounds" and the inimitable 'Sgt. Pepper.' Yet for many of these now defunct bands applying their musical prowess as means to find their way around a world torn by social revolution, war, or commenting on the advent of commercialized rock, by contrast this was not The Who’s swan song. Rather it was a harbinger of such opuses as Tommy and Who’s Next. The sounds and spirit present on Sell Out are interminably and shortsightedly misunderstood through superficial critiques on the usage of actual commercials on the album. The truth is that The Who was practically ready to call it quits and came up with the idea of utilizing their sponsorship as a creative medium. The notion of painting an A.M. radio-like big top tent on vinyl was a tip of the cap to pirate radio on a dial otherwise monopolized by the British government. It was also a vehicle for some of Townshend’s finest writing. If you've never heard the original album, you are missing something great.
On a recent trip to the john I found myself, whistling the tune to Silas Stingy, and so it occurred to me in a veritable thought bubble appearing over the stall, "yes, The Who Sell Out done as multi-tracked whistles!!!" Back off man, it was my idea! I felt the same way after about 30 seconds watching the animated feature “Waking Life,” when I realized that someone else beat me to the goal of achieving a novel form of computer-aided rotoscoping on the big screen. I had spent several weeks on such tests, using the aforementioned old Mac a couple of years before I saw that film, and my results were strikingly similar. It’s okay AND I digress.
Make no mistake: Petra Haden has taken a casual challenge to copy a classic specimen of late ‘60’s rock eccentricity and re-ignited a carnivalesque journey, with results fresh, unexpected, and even tear-jerkingly fabulous.
-Chaim Singer-Frankes
2/24/05
It also occurred to me to test this idea of over-tracking my own voice while watching my brother Izzy lay down dubs on his Tascam. Ah the Tascam – that phenomenal device which has provided a path to easy multi-track recording, fortunately or not for both the able, *talented musical limners as well as those incompetent, know-nothings with a little too much time and spending money on their hands.
*Yes, Who fans, the twiddling which Pete discusses with Russell Hardy are those in which he and Kit engaged whilst recording “A Quick One,” however given the period, the spirit of such experimentation was certainly not limited to any particular album.
*Izzy is among the talented ones – pouring his heart with honesty and flare into his material.
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