Overture (The Who song)

"Overture"
Single by The Who
from the album Tommy
A-side	"See Me, Feel Me"
Released	10 October 1970 (1970-10-10)
Genre	Rock
Length	3:50 (album) 4:01 (single)
Label	Track
Songwriter	Pete Townshend
Producer	Kit Lambert
The Who singles chronology
"Summertime Blues" (1970) "Overture" (1970) "Won't Get Fooled Again" (1971)

"Overture" is a song by English rock band the Who, written by Pete Townshend. The track is one of three instrumentals on Tommy , the other two being "Underture" and "Sparks".

On 9 October 1970, the song was included as the B-side of "See Me, Feel Me" – which did not chart – and was titled "Overture from Tommy". ^[1]

Song structure

As an overture the song features samples of Tommy's themes:

• 0:00 – 0:16 Adapted from "1921"
• 0:17 – 0:32 Adapted from "See Me, Feel Me"
• 0:33 - 0:36 Adapted from “The Hawker”
• 0:36 – 0:58 Adapted from "We're Not Gonna Take It"
• 0:59 – 1:33 Adapted from "Go to the Mirror!"
• 1:34 – 1:55 Adapted from "See Me, Feel Me"
• 1:56 – 2:18 Adapted from "Go to the Mirror!"
• 2:19 – 2:55 Adapted from "Listening to You"
• 2:56 - 3:03 Adapted from “Go to the Mirror!”
• 3:04 – 3:19 Adapted from "We're Not Gonna Take It"
• 3:20 – 3:50 Adapted from "Pinball Wizard”

There is no pause between the tracks "Overture" and "It's a Boy" so the songs are often combined as "Overture".

Personnel

• Pete Townshend  – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, Hammond organ, lead vocals
• John Entwistle  – bass guitar, French horn
• Keith Moon  –drums, percussion

The Assembled Multitude version

The Assembled Multitude, an instrumental ensemble group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, scored with a remake of "Overture" which peaked at No.16 in August, 1970 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. ^[2]

References

1. "The Who Official Band Website – Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon || See Me Feel Me". Thewho.com. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
2. Billboard – Google Books. 1970-08-29. Retrieved 2012-01-07.