Who Came First is the debut solo studio album by the English musician Pete Townshend, released in 1972 on Track Records in the UK and Track/Decca in the US.

It includes previously released material as well as tracks that originated as demos for the Who's aborted concept album Lifehouse, which became the basis of Who's Next (1971).

The original release had a gatefold cover and included a poster with additional photos of Meher Baba from the Louis van Gasteren film Beyond Words (1967). The cover photo of Townshend standing on eggs is a reference to the eternal question "Which came first: the chicken or the egg?” (although the album title changes it to "Who Came First" as a reference to the Townshend's band the Who).

The album peaked at number 30 on the UK Albums Chart and at number 69 on the US Billboard 200.

Background and content

Townshend had already participated with other artists on two previous albums in tribute to his guru Meher Baba, Happy Birthday and I Am. These albums were distributed in very small quantities between 1970 and 1972 in the UK. Soon after Decca asked Townshend for permission to release the recordings, as inferior copies were circulating in the US as bootlegs. Rather than re-issuing the original albums Townshend decided to change the track list substantially and develop the project into his first "official" solo album. Three of Townshend's demos for Lifehouse were selected, along with two songs each from the earlier tribute albums and two additional songs.

Lifehouse

The Lifehouse demos included are: "Pure and Easy," edited from its original length of 8:35; "Let's See Action"; and (with minor overdubs added) "Time Is Passing." Of these, only "Let's See Action" had seen prior release, as a single by the Who in 1971. The Who's versions of the remaining two Lifehouse songs were eventually released on Odds & Sods (1974) and its reissued version. All of Townshend's Lifehouse demos were eventually released on Lifehouse Chronicles in 2000.

Tribute albums

From the tribute album Happy Birthday came Townshend's "Content" and Ronnie Lane's "Evolution." The latter is a reworking of the track "Stone" from the Faces' debut studio album First Step in 1970; the Happy Birthday version, over six minutes long, was edited to 3:36. From the follow-up tribute album I Am, Billy Nicholls' "Forever's No Time at All" and Townshend's "Parvardigar" were selected; the latter's lyrics are adapted from Meher Baba's "Universal Prayer."

Remainder

The track list was rounded out with Townshend's composition "Sheraton Gibson" and his cover of "Heartache," a.k.a. "There's a Heartache Following Me," which had been a UK number 6 hit in 1964 by the American country singer Jim Reeves and a favorite of Meher Baba, according to Townshend's notes on the album's back cover.

The songs were recorded at Townshend's home studio,

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2Score = A−

Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: <blockquote>Townshend sounds as relaxed in this rather folkish Meher Baba tribute cum 'gynormouse ego trip' as Paul McCartney in his do-it-yourself studio, and a lot less self-absorbed—other musical gurumongers sound 'Content' (title of worst song here), but Pete seems happy, too. So much so that some of this music is a little lightweight—expressing the kind of undiscriminating joy in the everyday one might expect from somebody who considers 'You always were, you always are, and you always will be' both a profound sentiment and a snappy way to finish off a concept album. But I'm encouraged that Ronnie Lane (singer-songwriter on 'Evolution') offers a drink (alcohol, get it?) to the Master and his Truth. And in the end the homely sweetness and frailty of his music prevails.

| style="text-align:center;"| 35

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| United Kingdom (Official Charts Company)

| style="text-align:center;"| 30

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| United States (Billboard 200)

| style="text-align:center;"| 69

|}

References

  • Pete Townshend solo album index
  • Meher Baba Tribute Albums by Pete Townshend