Tommy by The Who released in the US May 19th 1969

[electric_blue68]

(reminded by a reddit post just now)
.
I'd already seen The Who 3xs in 1968 at 15 yrs old. But I think I was so bummed out with the assassinations, and Nixon's election I wasn't paying as much attention in '69 to music on rock radio.
.
So I found out about Tommy [get this] while standing on a pile of junk listening to a guy telling me about it; while cleaning out the backlot of a church in The Bronx as part of a l volunteer project for then Mayor John V Lindsey's (of NYC) reelection. I'm sure a few of you remember him -a genuine liberal republican.
I was "Oh? Oh!" I guess I caught a bit on the radio after that; then ran out, bought it, and was dazzled by it!

Saw them play it at The Filmore East that Oct with the Joshua Light Show. I've seen around 250 concerts, and it's still a favorite show!

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. I so envy you seeing the Who live!

I don't think I got the lp until a couple years after it came out. Still have it but stream it these days!

[electric_blue68]

3. I guess one of "the perks" of being older (vs people in their 40s,50s) is having had some great concert experiences...

from that time -The Who, Eric Burdin and The Animals, The Beatles, The Byrds.
.
Even some years later (midlate 1970s) Springsteen in a theater vs even an arena, let alone a stadium, C,S,N & Y, and in my case the original CBGB's bands; The Ramones, Television, Patti Smith Group, Talking Heads at CBGB's.

Cool, still having the LP. I don't have steril any more. My sister kept a few LPs of mine since she still has a turn table.
I go on line YT for my music, or college radio on I Tune.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

5. Yeah, that's one of the few things I can say for being old! I saw a lot of concerts too.

Wish I could have seen the Beatles and the original Byrds! I did see the original Rolling Stones (a few months after the Gene Pitney Show).

[electric_blue68]

8. Cool! The Beatles were more by luck, i guess. My friend's dad who was...

in rhe restaurant business got us tckets for Shea Std in '65. Yes, I screamed there; but also looked through my friend's binoculars. So we sort of heard them.

The funny thing in '66 we could hear them much better! Turned out decades later Steve Van Zant (Little Steven, Silvio) tells the story he was sitting in the area where we were, and said it was a fluke however the sound was, that we could hear them that well! Lucky us!
.
Decades later I saw Ringo Starr's All Star Band in the early ?'00s for free down in a park in Coney Island. Great fun!

[Henry203]

2. I saw them on June 5th

with Chuck Berry and Albert King.

[electric_blue68]

4. Cool! ....

Were they the headliners at that point?
And Chuck Berry! Very cool!

[mountain grammy]

6. I was in college in DC. 1965-66

hangng with a bunch of young republicans, yikes!!

around 30 of us went up to NYC to volunteer for Lindsey. What an experience, but they never made me a republican.

[electric_blue68]

7. Cool! I could mostly respect Liberal Republicans....but they became extinct!

Last edited Tue May 19, 2026, 05:44 PM - Edit history (1)

🤔 Actually, I was thinking originally of being an Independent because on rare occasion the liberal Republican was better on social issues than the Democrat. But in NYS you had to be a D or R to vote in the primaries. So I became a Democrat.

[Boomerproud]

15. I remember in '72 a reporter asking Lindsey whether he believed in God and he answered "Sometimes."

Can you imagine anyone getting away with that in the last 50 years?

[electric_blue68]

16. Wow, certainly not from Republicans!

[bobalew]

9. I got to interact with a Rock & Roll legend on a stars aligned fluke...

I was headed for a technical work assignment in Puerto Rico and had chosen to connect to the LA Red-eye flight to get there on the very same night as the 50th anniversary of Rock & Roll show in LA. Upon boarding for the flight I was asked if I would like to upgrade to first class for free. What great luck, since it would be a 10 hour flight! Much to my surprise I was seated next to an older Black gentleman with a signature Pork pie leather hat on his grey haired head. Otherwise known and immediately recognizable as Bo Diddley! We had some interesting conversations, but he mostly spent them complaining about how Chuck Berry had behaved during the concert, asking to be paid for each song he performed. Considering how he was treated in the past by the record companies, I said I didn't blame him, but Bo cited the honor of the occasion, a clear dichotomy of the two gentleman's views. After a while Bo fell asleep, & so did I and the crew awoke us when we landed in Miami, where he left to go home to Gainesville, Florida.

[electric_blue68]

12. Bo Diddly! Very cool!

[LuckyCharms]

10. Saw them only once in the early 2000s. Great show. Check out Keith Moon here!

[electric_blue68]

13. Lol, Keith TY

[LuckyCharms]

11. One more for you: Thunderfingers

[electric_blue68]

14. TY! The Ox was an amazing bassist!

Never seen him playing up on the neck like that!