Editing Tommy (The Who album) (section)

==Recording==
The Who started recording the album at [[IBC Studios]] on 19 September 1968.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=210}} There was no firm title at this point, which was variously referred to as ''Deaf, Dumb and Blind Boy'', ''Amazing Journey'', ''Journey into Space'', ''The Brain Opera'' and ''Omnibus''. Townshend eventually settled on ''Tommy'' because it was a common British name and a nickname for soldiers in the [[First World War]].{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=317}} Kit Lambert took charge of the production, with Damon Lyon-Shaw as engineer. Sessions were block-booked from 2pm – 10pm, but recording often spilled over into the early morning.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=210}}

The album was recorded using an [[Multitrack recording|eight-track system]], which allowed various instruments to be [[overdubbed]]. Townshend used several guitars in the studio but made particular use of the [[Gibson J-200]] acoustic and the [[Gibson SG]].<ref name="www2.gibson.com">{{cite news |url=http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/pinball-wizard-0305-2012.aspx |work=Gibson Guitars |title=Pinball Wizard: Pete Townshend Finds His Signature Guitar Sound |first=Ted |last=Drozdowski |date=3 May 2012 |access-date=9 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419095036/http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/pinball-wizard-0305-2012.aspx |archive-date=19 April 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> As well as their usual instruments, Townshend played [[piano]] and [[Hammond organ|organ]] and bassist [[John Entwistle]] doubled on [[french horn]]. [[Keith Moon]] used a new double bass drum kit owned by roadie Tony Haslam, after [[Premier Percussion|Premier]] had refused to loan him any more equipment due to the items repeatedly being abused.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=210}} Though Townshend wrote the majority of the material, the arrangements came from the entire band. Singer [[Roger Daltrey]] later said that Townshend often came in with a half-finished [[demo recording]], adding "we probably did as much talking as we did recording, sorting out arrangements and things."{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=219}} Townshend asked Entwistle to write two songs ("Cousin Kevin" and "Fiddle About") that covered the darker themes of bullying and abuse. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" was Keith Moon's suggestion of what kind of religious movement Tommy could lead. Moon got the songwriting credit for suggesting the idea, though the music was composed and played by Townshend.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=323}}  A significant amount of material had a lighter style than earlier recordings, with greater prominence put on the vocals. Moon later said, "It was, at the time, very un-Wholike. A lot of the songs were soft. We never played like that."{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=220}}

Some of the material had already been written for other projects. "Sensation" was written about a girl Townshend had met on the Who's tour of Australia in early 1968, "Welcome" and "[[I'm Free (The Who song)|I'm Free]]" were about peace found through [[Meher Baba]] and "Sally Simpson" was based on a gig with [[the Doors]] which was marred by violence.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|pp=316, 318}} Other songs had been previously recorded by the Who and were recycled; "It's A Boy" was derived from "Glow Girl", an out-take from ''[[The Who Sell Out]]'', while "Sparks" and "Underture" re-used and expanded one of the instrumental themes in "Rael".{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=318}} "Amazing Journey" was, according to Townshend, "the absolute beginning" of the opera and summarised the entire plot.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=318}} "The Hawker" was a cover of [[Sonny Boy Williamson II|Sonny Boy Williamson]]'s "Eyesight to the Blind". A cover of [[Mercy Dee Walton]]'s "One Room Country Shack" was also recorded but was scrapped from the final track listing as Townshend could not figure out a way to incorporate it in the plot.{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=114}}

Recording at [[IBC Studios|IBC]] was slow, due to a lack of a full plot and a full selection of songs. The group hoped that the album would be ready by Christmas 1968, but sessions dragged on. ''[[Melody Maker]]''{{'}}s [[Chris Welch]] visited IBC studios in November and while he was impressed with the working environment and the material,{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=321}} the project still did not have a title and there was no coherent plotline.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=323}} The Who's US record company, [[Decca Records]], got so impatient waiting for new product that they released the compilation album ''[[Magic Bus: The Who on Tour]]'' which received a scathing review from Greil Marcus in ''Rolling Stone'' over its poor selection of material and misleading name (as the album contained studio recordings and was not live).{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=319,320}}

The Who took a break from recording at the end of 1968 to tour, including a well received appearance at ''[[The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus]]'' on 10 December.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=216}} They resumed sessions at IBC in January 1969, block booking Monday to Thursday, but had to do gigs every weekend to stop going further into debt.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=324}} A major tour was booked for the end of April, and the group's management insisted that the album would have to be finished by then, as it had been well over a year since ''[[The Who Sell Out]]''.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=325}} Kit Lambert wrote a script, ''Tommy (1914–1984)'', which he professionally printed and gave copies to the band, helping them focus on the storyline and also deciding to make the album a double.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=324}} The group were still coming up with new material; Lambert insisted that the piece should have a proper overture,{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=325}} while Townshend wrote "Pinball Wizard" so that [[Nik Cohn]], a pinball fan, would give the album a favourable review in ''[[The New York Times]]''.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=221}} Lambert wanted an orchestra to appear on the album, but Townshend was strongly against the idea, and time and budget constraints meant it could not happen anyway.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=325}}

By March 1969, some songs had been recorded several times, yet Townshend still thought there were missing pieces.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=327}} Entwistle had become fed up with recording, later saying "we had to keep going back and rejuvenating the numbers&nbsp;... it just started to drive us mad."<ref name="www2.gibson.com"/> The final recording session took place on 7 March, the same day that "Pinball Wizard" was released as a single.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|pp=227, 228}} The group started tour rehearsals and promotional activities for the single and Lambert went on holiday in [[Cairo]]. The mixing was left to Damon Lyon-Shaw and assistant engineer Ted Sharp, who did not think [[IBC Studios|IBC]] was well suited for the task.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=228}} The album overshot its April deadline, as stereo [[Mastering (audio)|mastering]] continued into the end of the month.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=230}}