A Quick One was recorded at
IBC Studios,
Pye Studios, and Regent Sound in
London in the fall of 1966 by co-manager and record producer
Kit Lambert. During one of the early October sessions
Chas Chandler brought
Jimi Hendrix, newly arrived in London, to meet the group and seek a recommendation for amplifiers. Townshend suggested both
Hiwatt and
Marshall, only to regret having endorsed such "powerful weapons" to the unknown guitarist he had not seen play live yet. Recorded by the Who during the first week of October at IBC, it is a pounding hard rocker with a flashy, feedback-inflected guitar solo that marked an evolution in the group's sound. A longer stereo version from a Track Records sampler was later rediscovered and included on the 1995 expanded CD release. and was still performed decades later: in later years John often wore a spider necklace, and would have a spider web design inlaid on the body of his custom-made
Alembic bass guitar (the latter is pictured on the cover of Entwistle's 1981 solo studio album
Too Late the Hero).
Keith Moon's "I Need You" was originally titled "I Need You (Like I Need a Hole in the Head)". Moon thought
the Beatles spoke in a secret language behind his back, and this song was his way of getting back at them. Although Moon denied that a vocal part in the song was a
John Lennon imitation, Entwistle said that, in fact, it was spoken by the group's
Liverpudlian roadie "Lurch" for just that purpose. The line "let us come and sitar with you", complete with a raga-esque answering line, refers to
George Harrison's concurrent infatuation with the Indian instrument. The break also features a recreation of a night out at the hip London club Scotch of St. James, with Lambert heard ordering a table for four among other sound effects including clinking glasses. Recorded along with "Boris the Spider" at Pye on 4 October, it is also notable for a prominent harpsichord part played by Entwistle. John Entwistle would later cite "Whiskey Man" as the first song he ever wrote. It tells the story of a drunkard whose best friend is a man he sees only after drinking heavily. The drunkard is eventually locked in padded room in a sanitarium, and he laments not being able to share the room with Whiskey Man or even call him. The song was cut at CBS on 3 October, with Entwistle playing French Horn in addition to bass. The track was recorded at Pye sometime prior to 29 September, with each band member playing a wind instrument: Townshend played the penny-whistle, Entwistle the trumpet and French horn, Daltrey the trombone, and Moon the tuba. Townshend remembers the group having great fun marching around a single mono microphone in the studio as it taped.
The Merseys (released in July 1966),
Shaun Cassidy,
Primal Scream,
the Breeders, Daytona, and
the Jam have recorded studio versions. The Who's version of the track was recorded at IBC sometime in October. "
A Quick One, While He's Away" is a nine-minute suite of six connected song fragments telling a story of infidelity and reconciliation, the first foray into an extended form that led to the
rock operas
Tommy (1969) and
Quadrophenia (1973). After experimenting with a tentative rock opera named
Quads (for which the songs "I'm A Boy" and "Disguises" were written) plus a jokey attempt at the format called "Gratis Amatis", Lambert asked if a more serious attempt could be considered to fill up about ten minutes of needed space on the album. Townshend obliged and the six separate parts of the suite were recorded at IBC, Pye and Regent Sound during the first week of November, the final song completed for the album. The six fragments are titled "Her Man's Gone", "Crying Town", "We Have A Remedy", "Ivor The Engine Driver", "Soon Be Home" and "You Are Forgiven". According to Entwistle, the group wanted to overdub cellos during "You Are Forgiven" but Lambert told them they could not afford it, so they ended up singing "cello cello cello" instead. Other songs recorded during the sessions included "Barbara Ann", "Batman" and "Bucket T." (all released that November on the
Ready Steady Who EP), a cover of
the Everly Brothers' "Man With The Money", acoustic and electric versions of "Happy Jack" (with the electric version released a week prior to the album) and its Entwistle B-side "I've Been Away", a medley of "My Generation/Land Of Hope And Glory" used for an all-Who episode of
Ready Steady Go!, and a longer alternate version of "I'm A Boy" eventually released on the hits compilation
Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy. All these songs (sans "I'm A Boy") would appear as bonus tracks on the expanded 1995 CD reissue. The original title of the album was
Jigsaw Puzzle with an intended track list that included the alternate "I'm A Boy", "Run Run Run", "Don't Look Away", "Circles", "I Need You", "Cobwebs and Strange", "In The City", "Boris The Spider", "Whiskey Man", "See My Way", "Heat Wave" and "Barbara Ann". Townshend also made demos of several other songs considered for the album including "King Rabbit", "Lazy Fat People" and "Join My Gang" but these were scrapped when the idea to involve songs from the other band members was suggested. ==Cover art==