23 June 2023 sees the release of the first in a series of half speed mastered studio albums from Pete Townshend, Rough Mix and Empty Glass.
These limited-edition black vinyl versions have been mastered by long-time Who engineer Jon Astley and cut for vinyl by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios with a half-speed mastering technique which produces a superior vinyl cut and are packaged in original sleeves with obi strips and certificates of authenticity. Rough Mix is presented in a gatefold sleeve, and Empty Glass features a full-colour inner bag with full lyrics and a 300mm x 600mm poster.Rough Mix was initially released in September 1977 while The Who were on hiatus and was a collaboration with Small Faces bassist the late Ronnie Lane and features contributions from Who bass guitarist John Entwistle, Eric Clapton, and Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts among others.The orchestral arrangements for the track ‘Street in the City’ were provided by Townshend’s then father-in-law, noted British film and television theme composer Edwin Astley. Edwin’s son, Jon Astley has overseen this new remaster.Produced by Chris Thomas (Roxy Music, Sex Pistols, Pretenders, Wings), Empty Glass was Townshend’s next solo release appearing in April 1980. The songs predominantly deal with issues Townshend was struggling with at the time, including alcohol, drugs, and the death of Keith Moon, The Who’s former drummer.The second single from the album ‘Let My Love Open the Door’ was a US Top Ten hit, propelling the album to #5 on the US Billboard chart, and the first single ‘Rough Boys’, which was dedicated to Pete’s children and The Sex Pistols, was a UK top 40 hit. The album was well received at the time, with some critics even referring to it as a Who album that never was.PETE TOWNSHEND & RONNIE LANEROUGH MIX
HALF SPEED MASTERED VINYL TRACK LIST
SIDE 1
My Baby Gives It Away
Nowhere To Run
Rough Mix
Annie
Keep Me Turning
Catmelody
SIDE 2
Misunderstood
April Fool
Street In The City
Heart To Hang Onto
Till The Rivers All Run Dry
PETE TOWNSHEND EMPTY GLASS
HALF SPEED MASTERED VINYL TRACK LIST
SIDE 1
Rough Boys
I Am An Animal
And I Moved
Let my Love Open The Door
Jools And Jim
SIDE 2
Keep On Working
Cat’s In The Cupboard
A Little Is Enough
Empty Glass
Gonna Get Ya
Recently Pete Townshend has released his first solo single in 29 years. “Can’t Outrun The Truth” was composed and produced by Townshend’s partner Rachel Fuller under the name Charlie Pepper.
It’s a charity single, so all proceeds from vinyl sales — plus a portion of every download — will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust. Out on March 24.
The track was composed and produced by Rachel Fuller under her nom de plume Charlie Pepper, and all proceeds from vinyl sales plus at least 10p from every download will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust.
The vinyl edition is limited to just 200 copies, with each unit signed by Pete Townshend and featuring artwork by Damien Hirst.
The 12” singles will be available exclusively to fans in attendance at the Teenage Cancer Trust shows at The Royal Albert Hall from 21st March to 26th March 2023.
Ahead of its premiere in two weeks, Pete Townshend has shared a 20-second snippet of the video, which will be his first solo video in 40 years:
The song was inspired by the difficulties everyone had encountered emotionally due to the lack of human interaction caused by the pandemic. It also occurred to Rachel that young people undergoing cancer treatment may identify with these feelings of isolation.
Fuller states about the genesis of the song: "We'd just moved house, and Pete was as happy as Larry up in his studio, working every day, and I put my back out, I was just climbing the walls, I couldn't do any creative work and obviously, we couldn't go anywhere. And I really started to think about how unbelievably difficult this period of time was going to be for so many people. I wrote lyrics and then I sat at the piano and wrote the music, and then I thought, 'Oh, I really would like to record it,' because it's really not a bad song at all — and my singing days are long over. So, I asked Pete to record the demo."
Townshend says: "I've helped Rachel make the demos for several of her theatrical projects. She's a really a fast worker. It's not that you say to me, let's go into the studio for two weeks and work on this project. We do it two hours later, or an hour later, it's done. So it's easy to work with her."
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