Album Information
The cover is divided into panels featuring a photograph by David Montgomery of each of the band members, two on the front and two on the back. On the front is Pete Townshend applying Odorono brand deodorant from an oversized stick, and Roger Daltrey sitting in a bathtub full of Heinz baked beans (holding an oversized tin can of the same). Daltrey claims to have caught pneumonia after sitting for a prolonged period in the bathtub, as the beans had been frozen. On the back is Keith Moon applying Medac from an oversized tube, and John Entwistle in a leopard-skin Tarzan suit, squeezing a blonde woman in a leopard-skin bikini with one arm and a teddy bear with the other (an ad for the Charles Atlas course mentioned in one of the album's faux commercials).
"I Can See for Miles" was released as a single and peaked at #10 in the UK and #9 in the US. Original vinyl copies of Sell Out end with an audio oddity that repeats into a locked groove (In response to The Beatles's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band). The music in the locked groove is an instrumental version of what was originally intended to be a vocal jingle for The Who's UK label Track Records. The opening "Radio London" (Days of the Week) jingle makes use of a device called the Sonovox.
This album is notable in The Who discography for not featuring Daltrey as the sole lead singer on most of the songs; he alone provides lead vocals to "Armenia City in the Sky", "Tattoo", "I Can See for Miles", and "Rael". "Medac", "Heinz Baked Beans" and "Silas Stingy" are sung by Entwistle; "Odorono", "Our Love Was", "I Can't Reach You", and "Sunrise" by Pete Townshend; on "Relax", Daltrey and Townshend share lead vocals. "Rael" features melodic and rhythmic ideas that would reappear later in "Tommy."
The album is notable for featuring many faux-commercials on and in-between songs. Some of the them were real jingles from pirate radio station "Radio London". The majority of the commercial jingles recorded for the album were written and performed by John Entwistle and Keith Moon.
When the LP was released on Track Records in the UK in 1967 (Track 612 002 Mono & Track 613 002 Stereo), a poster was included inside the first 1000 copies (500 stereo and 500 mono). They came with sticker on the front cover stating 'Psychedelic Poster Inside'. Due to its rarity, first pressings with poster and sticker have sold for more than £600, and have been known to sell for much more.
A single LP was re-issued on 140 Gram Clear blue vinyl as a Special Edition in 2008, by Lilth Records LTD Manufactured in the EU. A two-disc Deluxe Edition of the album was released on 16 March 2009 in the UK and 2 June 2009 in the US.
| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Rolling Stone | (favorable) link |
| Allmusic | link |
| Uncut | link |
| Robert Christgau | (A+) link |
Read more about this topic: The Who Sell Out
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