Roger Daltrey to release 'The Who's Tommy: Orchestral'; touring now

In the of Summer 2018, Roger Daltrey and his band toured the U.S.A. performing The Who's classic album Tommy with symphony orchestras, an experience that Daltrey described as ‘magical.'

Featuring a new orchestration by the composer and arranger David Campbell this incarnation of Tommy celebrates the 50th anniversary of the album’s first release. Preview "Pinball Wizard" here.

The album, which was recorded in Budapest and Bethel in upstate New York, the scene of the first Woodstock festival 50 years ago, was produced by Roger Daltrey and Keith Levenson (who worked on the touring version of the Tommy Musical) and features the core band of Simon Townshend – Vocals / Guitar, Frank Simes – Guitar, Scott Devours – Drums, Jon Button – Bass, and Loren Gold – keyboards, all of whom have played with The Who live. Keith Levenson conducted The Budapest Scoring Orchestra from new orchestrations by David Campbell.

Roger Daltrey on Tommy’s enduring appeal after 50 years and why it sounds better with an orchestra “Pete’s music is particularly suited to being embellished by the sounds that an orchestra can add to the band. Tommy can mean whatever you want it to mean, I use the characters in it as metaphors for parts of the human condition, so it’s a kind of a story of the human spirit. Even though it is 50 years on, I approach it as though I'm singing it for the first time.”

Since it was first debuted at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho London in early May 1969, Tommy has had many different live outings; it was performed in full at the Woodstock and Isle Of Wight Festivals in 1969, it was the basis for a ballet in Canada in 1970, it was a full-blown opera in Seattle in 1971, in 1972 it was recorded as an orchestral piece by the London Symphony Orchestra featuring Stevie Winwood, Rod Stewart, Richie Havens, Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr, there was the infamous 1975 movie directed by Ken Russell starring Elton John, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Ann-Margaret, Oliver Reed, Jack Nicholson and Roger Daltrey. After that, the band didn't perform it again until 1989 in Los Angeles when guests such as Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Elton John & Patti Labelle were part of the show. In 1993, the musical version opened on Broadway and won five Tony awards before transferring to The West End where it went on to win three Olivier awards.

The band played it in full, for what they have said is the last time for the Teen Cancer Trust at The Royal Albert Hall in 2017 but will be performing parts of their classic rock opera on their 2019 North American tour, The Who: Moving On!, utilizing up to 50 local musicians from the greatest symphonies across the country at every show starting with May 7 in Grand Rapids, MN. $1 from each ticket sold online for the tour will benefit Teen Cancer America. After successfully establishing the Teen Cancer Trust in London, Daltrey and Townshend launched Teen Cancer America in 2012. The charity has devoted Teen Cancer units being opened in hospitals across the U.S. TCA’s work has impacted more than 5,000 young people and their families nationwide during the last six years. More info on TCA, teencanceramerica.org or the WHO tour dates, thewho.com.

Keith Levenson, co-producer of Tommy Orchestral is currently on the road as coordinator and conductor for the orchestra for the Who’s Moving On! Tour. Levenson has worked with Daltrey since 1994, when he worked on the ‘Daltrey Sings Townshend’ Summer Tour and went on to conduct more symphony tours with Daltrey including the ‘British Rock Symphony’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at Lincoln Center.

Keith Levenson has conducted and created arrangements for KISS, Meatloaf, Alice Cooper, Yes, The British Rock Symphony, Peter Frampton, Paul Rodgers, Darlene Love and Nigel Kennedy among many others. As a Broadway/National Tour Music Director/Supervisor, Keith has conducted the musicals ‘Annie’ with Nell Carter and Sally Struthers, ‘The Best Little Whorehouse’ in Texas with Ann-Margret, Jason Robert Brown’s ‘The Bridges of Madison County,’ Franco Dragone’s ‘India!,’ ‘Grease,’ ‘Peter and Pan’ with Cathy Rigby.

Track listing:

01 Overture
02 It's A Boy
03 1921
04 Amazing Journey
05 Sparks
06 Eyesight To The Blind
07 Christmas
08 Cousin Kevin
09 The Acid Queen
10 Do You Think It's Alright
11 Fiddle About
12 Pinball Wizard
13 There's A Doctor
14 Go To The Mirror
15 Tommy, Can You Hear
16 Smash The Mirror
17 Refrain - It's A Boy
18 I'm Free
19 Miracle Cure
20 Sensation
21 Sally Simpson
22 Welcome
23 Tommy's Holiday Camp
24 We're Not Gonna Take It

'The Who: Moving On! Live' Tour Dates:

May 16 - Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
May 18 - Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
May 21 - Tinley Park, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
May 23 - St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
May 25 - Philadelphia, PA @ Citizens Bank Park
May 28 - Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
May 30 - Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
June 1 - Toronto, CA @ Scotiabank Arena
July 6 - London, UK @ Wembley Stadium
Sept 6 - Saint Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
Sept 8- Elkhorn, WI @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre
Sept 10 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
Sept 13 - Boston, MA @ Fenway Park
Sept 15 - Wantagh, NY @ Northwell Health At Jones Beach Theater
Sept 18 - Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
Sept 20 - Sunrise, FL @ BB&T Center
Sept 22 - Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
Sept 25 - Houston, TX @ Houston Toyota Center
Sept 27 - Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
Sept 29 - Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
Oct 9 - San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
Oct 11 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
Oct 13 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
Oct 16 - San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena
Oct 19 - Seattle, WA @ T-Mobile Park
Oct 21 - Vancouver, CA @ Rogers Arena
Oct 23 - Edmonton, CA @ Rogers Place

www.thewho.com