Editing A Quick One (section)

==Compositions and recording==
''A Quick One'' was recorded at [[IBC Studios]], [[Pye Records|Pye Studios]], and Regent Sound in [[London]] in the fall of 1966 by co-manager and record producer [[Kit Lambert]]. During one of the early October sessions [[Chas Chandler]] brought [[Jimi Hendrix]], newly arrived in London, to meet the group and seek a recommendation for amplifiers. Townshend suggested both [[Hiwatt]] and [[Marshall Amplification|Marshall]], only to regret having endorsed such "powerful weapons" to the unknown guitarist he had not seen play live yet.<ref name=whoami/> 

The album's opening track "Run Run Run" had been demoed earlier in the year and first given to a band called The Cat, who released their version in May 1966.<ref name=quick>''A Quick One'' 1995 re-release liner notes</ref> Recorded by The Who during the first week of October at IBC, it is a pounding hard rocker with a flashy, feedback-inflected guitar solo that marked an evolution in the group's sound. A longer stereo version from a Track Records sampler was later rediscovered and included on the 1995 expanded CD release.<ref name=quick/>

"[[Boris the Spider]]" was written after [[John Entwistle]] had been out drinking with [[the Rolling Stones]]' bassist [[Bill Wyman]]. They were making up funny names for animals when Entwistle came up with the title for a song. The next day in the studio, Townshend asked Entwistle if he had any more material for the album; John mentioned his spider idea as if he'd already written the song, only to go home that night and hurriedly compose the music in less than ten minutes, with its recording taking place on 4 October at Pye Studios.<ref name=Crawdaddy>{{cite web|last=Swenson|first=John|title=The Who Puts the Bomp|url=http://www.thewho.net/articles/townshen/crawdaddy_71.htm|work=[[Crawdaddy!|Crawdaddy]]|publisher=(Online archive) The Hypertext Who|access-date=2021-12-15|date=5 December 1971|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219112115/http://www.thewho.net/articles/townshen/crawdaddy_71.htm|archive-date=2014-12-19}}</ref><ref name=chronicle/> "Boris the Spider" quickly became Entwistle's most popular song, named by Hendrix as his favorite Who number,<ref name="Rolling Stone 3 March 2016">{{cite news | title= The Who's 50 Greatest Songs |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-whos-50-greatest-songs-20160303/boris-the-spider-a-quick-one-1966-20160303| last1= Browne | first1= David|last2= Fricke| first2= David|last3= Dolan| first3= Jon| last4= Grow| first4= Kory| last5= Gehr| first5= Richard| last6= Greene| first6= Andy| last7= Hermes| first7= Will | date=3 March 2016| magazine= Rolling Stone | access-date= 9 May 2018 }}</ref> and was still performed decades later: in later years John often wore a spider necklace, and would have a spider web design inlaid on the body of his custom-made [[Alembic Inc|Alembic]] bass guitar (the latter is pictured on the cover of Entwistle's 1981 solo studio album ''[[Too Late the Hero (album)|Too Late the Hero]]'').

[[Keith Moon]]'s "I Need You" was originally titled "I Need You (Like I Need a Hole in the Head)". Moon thought [[the Beatles]] spoke in a secret language behind his back, and this song was his way of getting back at them. Although Moon denied that a vocal part in the song was a [[John Lennon]] imitation, Entwistle said that, in fact, it was spoken by the group's Liverpulian roadie "Lurch" for just that purpose.<ref name="thewho.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.thewho.net/linernotes/AQuickOne.htm |title=The Hypertext Who&nbsp;– Liner Notes&nbsp;– A Quick One |publisher=Thewho.net |access-date=15 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606091547/http://www.thewho.net/linernotes/AQuickOne.htm |archive-date=6 June 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=chronicle>{{cite book |last1=Neill |first1=Andrew |last2=Kent |first2=Matthew |title=Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of the Who |date=2005 |publisher=Sterling |location=New York}}</ref> The line "let us come and sitar with you", complete with a raga-esque answering line, refers to [[George Harrison]]'s concurrent infatuation with the Indian instrument. The break also features a recreation of a night out at the hip London club Scotch of St. James, with Lambert heard ordering a table for four among other sound effects including clinking glasses. Recorded along with "Boris the Spider" at Pye on 4 October, it is also notable for a prominent harpsichord part played by Entwistle.  

John Entwistle would later cite "Whiskey Man" as the first song he ever wrote. It tells the story of a drunkard whose best friend is a man he sees only after drinking heavily. The drunkard is eventually locked in padded room in a sanitarium, and he laments not being able to share the room with Whiskey Man or even call him. The song was cut at CBS on 3 October, with Entwistle playing French Horn in addition to bass.<ref name=chronicle/> In the first line of the song, Entwistle accidentally sings the word "friend" as "fwend"; not wanting to record an entirely new take, he instead opted to double-track the vocal and sing "flend" as a quick fix.<ref name=quick/> 

"Heat Wave", the only [[cover version|cover track]] and the only nod to the group's [[Soul music|soul]] influences on the album, was originally written by [[Tamla]]'s [[Holland–Dozier–Holland]] team and performed by [[Martha and the Vandellas]]. Originally attempted by The Who for their 1965 debut album, it was the first song cut for ''A Quick One'' on 31 August 1966 along with the EP tracks "[[Barbara Ann]]" and "Batman".<ref name=chronicle/> It was replaced by "Happy Jack" on the original US release but later included on the 1974 double album repackaging of ''A Quick One'' and ''[[The Who Sell Out]]'' (1967).

"Cobwebs and Strange" was originally called "Showbiz Sonata". Entwistle claimed that the melody came from the 1960 UK television series ''[[Man from Interpol]]'' (1960).<ref name="thewho.net"/> The instrumental was written for this series by [[Tony Crombie]], who released it under its original title "Eastern journey".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-23 |title=Eastern journey|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/work/78363/all}}</ref> The track was recorded at Pye sometime prior to 29 September, with each band member playing a wind instrument: Townshend played the penny-whistle, Entwistle the trumpet and French horn, Daltrey the trombone, and Moon the tuba.<ref>Mark Wilkerson, ''Who Are You: The Life of Pete Townshend'' (London: [[Omnibus Press]], 2008), p. 68.</ref> Townshend remembers the group having great fun marching around a single mono microphone in the studio as it taped.<ref name=whoami/> However, this idea didn't work and Entwistle recalls the final take was recorded with them standing still. 

One of just four Townshend compositions on the album, "Don't Look Away" opened side two and was recorded at CBS on 3 October. 

"See My Way", Roger Daltrey's only writing contribution to the album, is a pastiche of [[Buddy Holly]] compositions. Townshend helped Roger demo the song at his Soho apartment studio with later overdubs taped at IBC sometime before 29 September.<ref name=chronicle/> In order to achieve a deadened tom-tom sound like that of [[The Crickets|Crickets]] drummer [[Jerry Allison]]'s distinctive paradiddles on "Peggy Sue", towels were placed on Moon's drum kit. When this resulted in a sound that did not satisfy the band, Moon instead played the tom fills on cardboard boxes.<ref name=quick/> 

The [[Mod (subculture)|mod]] and power pop number "So Sad About Us", according to [[AllMusic]], is "one of the Who's most covered songs".<ref>{{AllMusic|class=song|id=t3563653|pure_url=yes}}</ref> [[The Merseys]] (released in July 1966), [[Shaun Cassidy]], [[Primal Scream]], [[the Breeders]], Daytona, and [[the Jam]] have recorded studio versions. The Who's version of the track was recorded at IBC sometime in October. 

"[[A Quick One, While He's Away]]" is a nine-minute suite of six connected song fragments telling a story of infidelity and reconciliation, the first foray into an extended form that led to the [[rock opera]]s ''[[Tommy (The Who album)|Tommy]]'' (1969) and ''[[Quadrophenia]]'' (1973). After experimenting with a tentative rock opera named ''Quads'' (for which the songs "I'm A Boy" and "Disguises" were written) plus a jokey attempt at the format called "Gratis Amatis", Lambert asked if a more serious attempt could be considered to fill up about ten minutes of needed space on the album.<ref name=whoami/> Townshend obliged and the six separate parts of the suite were recorded at IBC, Pye and Regent Sound during the first week of November, the final song completed for the album.<ref name=chronicle/> The six fragments are titled "Her Man's Gone", "Crying Town", "We Have A Remedy", "Ivor The Engine Driver", "Soon Be Home" and "You Are Forgiven". According to Entwistle, the group wanted to overdub cellos during "You Are Forgiven" but Lambert told them they couldn't afford it, so they ended up singing "cello cello cello" instead.<ref name=quick/> 

Other songs recorded during the sessions included "Barbara Ann", "Batman" and "Bucket T." (all released that November on the ''[[Ready Steady Who]]'' EP), a cover of [[The Everly Brothers]]' "Man With The Money", acoustic and electric versions of "Happy Jack" (with the electric version released a week prior to the album) and its Entwistle B-side "I've Been Away", a medley of "My Generation/Land Of Hope And Glory" used for an all-Who episode of ''[[Ready Steady Go!]]'', and a longer alternate version of "I'm A Boy" eventually released on the hits compilation ''[[ Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy]]''. All these songs (sans "I'm A Boy") would appear as bonus tracks on the expanded 1995 CD reissue. The original title of the album was ''Jigsaw Puzzle'' with an intended track list that included the alternate "I'm A Boy", "Run Run Run", "Don't Look Away", "Circles", "I Need You", "Cobwebs and Strange", "In The City", "Boris The Spider", "Whiskey Man", "See My Way", "Heat Wave" and "Barbara Ann." Townshend also made demos of several other songs considered for the album including "King Rabbit", "Lazy Fat People" and "Join My Gang" but these were scrapped when the idea to involve songs from the other band members was suggested.