WCSX Classic Cuts : Magic Bus
WCSX Classic Cuts
The Who: “Magic Bus”
The Hook: Pete Townshend wrote the song because he had nothing better to do.
Album: The studio version was included on The Who’s fourth American album, a studio record oddly titled Magic Bus: The Who on Tour. Ironically, the version most people know is the concert version from Live at Leeds.
Years: Studio version – 1968; live version – 1970
Writer: Pete Townshend
Stats: The studio version peaked at number-25 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Background: “Magic Bus” was written around the time of The Who’s 1965 debut album in Pete Townshend’s London apartment, where he’d set up his own demo studio. He explains how he came to write the song, which the band recorded three years later.
Pete Townshend on writing “Magic Bus.” OC:…my mind. :24
“I’d come back from gigs and I’d kind of be in this room all on my own and all I had to do was, really, make demos. And sometimes I didn’t have a song in my head – I certainly didn’t have a ‘My Generation’ or a ‘Kids Are Alright’ or an ‘I Can See for Miles’ – but I wanted to pass the time and I wanted to play. Some quite interesting songs came out of that requirement to just knock something out, which will enable me to make a demo. I’d chug away with the guitar and I’ll say the first thing that comes into my mind.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snaEEYQCRdw
