Editing Live at Leeds (section)

==Background==
By the end of the 1960s, particularly after releasing ''[[Tommy (The Who album)|Tommy]]'' in May 1969, The Who had become cited by many as one of the best live rock acts in the world. According to biographer Chris Charlesworth, "a sixth sense seemed to take over", leading them to "a kind of rock nirvana that most bands can only dream about".{{sfn|Charlesworth|1995|p=5}} The band were rehearsing and touring regularly, and Townshend had settled on using the [[Gibson SG Special]] as his main stage instrument; its lightweight and thin body allowed him to play faster than other guitars.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2011|p=247}} He began using [[Hiwatt]] amplifiers that allowed him to get a variety of tones simply by adjusting the guitar's volume level.{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=132}}{{efn|Moon normally sang a few backing vocals during this period of the Who's career, particularly on "[[I Can't Explain]]", though sound engineer Bob Pridden frequently muted his vocal microphone.{{sfn|Charlesworth|1995|p=7}} This appears to have been done for the Leeds show, with Townshend making light of it before announcing "[[A Quick One, While He's Away]]", stating "We do feature normally Keith Moon singing, but today we'll just have to feature him."<ref>{{cite AV media |people=[[Pete Townshend]] |year=1970 |title=Live at Leeds (1995 CD reissue) |id=527-169-2 |type=CD |time=Track 8, 4:23}}</ref>}}

The group were concerned that ''Tommy'' had been promoted as "high art" by manager [[Kit Lambert]] and thought their stage show stood in equal importance to that album's rock-opera format.{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=24}} The group returned to England at the end of 1969 with a desire to release a live album from concerts recorded earlier in the US. However, Townshend balked at the prospect of listening to all the accumulated recordings to decide which would make the best album, and, according to Charlesworth, instructed sound engineer Bob Pridden to burn the tapes,{{sfn|Charlesworth|1995|p=5}}{{efn|Townshend later suggested the tapes were indeed burnt in his back garden,{{sfn|Townshend|2012|pp=185–186}} though archive live recordings of the ''Tommy'' tour have since been officially released.}} an order Townshend retrospectively called "one of the stupidest decisions of my life."{{sfn|Townshend|2012|p=185}}

Two shows were consequently scheduled, one at the [[University of Leeds]] and the other in [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]], for the express purpose of recording and releasing a live album. The Leeds concert was booked and arranged by Simon Brogan, who later became an assistant manager on tour with [[Jethro Tull (band)|Jethro Tull]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5091660.stm |title=Rockers thrill their generation |author=Mark Simpson |date=18 June 2006 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=14 December 2012 |archive-date=25 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625213136/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5091660.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The shows were performed on 14 February 1970 at Leeds and on 15 February at Hull, but technical problems with the recordings from the Hull gig&nbsp;— the bass guitar had not been recorded on some of the songs&nbsp;— made it all the more necessary for the show from the 14th to be released as the album.{{sfn|Charlesworth|1995|p=5}} Townshend subsequently mixed the live tapes, intending to release a [[double album]], but then decided on a single album with six tracks.{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=129}} The full show opened with Entwistle's "Heaven And Hell" and included most of ''Tommy'', but these were left off the album in place of earlier hits and more obscure material.{{sfn|Harison|2014|pp=96–97}} According to [[David Hepworth]], because there was no microphone pointed towards the audience, crowd noise was a "distant presence, as distant as the traffic outside," making the recording "a faithful account of what the band played and nothing more."{{sfn|Hepworth|2016|p=62}}