Pinball Wizard

"Pinball Wizard" is a song by the British rock band The Who . The song appeared in 1969 on the rock opera " Tommy "written by songwriter - guitarist Pete Townshend .The original appeared on single in 1969 and reached number # 4 on the charts in the United Kingdom .

Contents

 * 1 Storyline
 * 2 Success and level
 * 3 Put on the album
 * 4 Hitnotering
 * 4.1 Radio 2 Top 2000
 * 5 Cover

Storyline
The lyrics are written from the perspective of the local pinball champion who is defeated by the protagonist of the rock opera called Tommy Walker (Pinball Wizard). So sang the champion: "That deaf, dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball '(- which deaf and blind young plays a mean game of that pinball, but also translatable as: Die deaf blind boy plays a good / strong game on the pinball machine, which is the slang of the time). The deaf-blind flipperaar is paradoxical, because someone who is deaf, dumb and blind pinball can not. That's why he sings continued: "He plays by intuition" (he plays on his intuition ) and  'Plays by sense of smell "(he uses his sense of smell ). Finally, he sings: "I thought I was the Bally table king, but I just handed my pinball crown to him" (- I thought I was the champion of pinball, but I like my pinball crown to him).

Success and level
Townshend, who previously made ​​controversial statements about his work, once said, "It's one of the worst songs I've ever written." Nevertheless, the song was a greatcommercial success and also one of the most recognized songs from the rock opera. The song also was from the beginning an endless concert favorite for many Who-fans, because of the great pop sound and identity.

This recognition is caused by the instrumental opening, which is a musical reproduction of the mechanical pinball on an acoustic and electric guitars . The rhythm of that element is one of the opera's leitmotifs, with similar patterns at the end of the songs "Overture" and "I'm Free" also be played (on acoustic guitar). Townshend once said that this riff was derived from one of the works of the English baroque - composer Henry Purcell .

Place on the album
"Pinball Wizard" was later added to the album "Tommy". Late 1968 and early 1969 so, when The Who played a rough representation of their new album for a critic Nik Cohn, this gave a lukewarm response.Following this event Townshend discussed as primary songwriter album with Cohn and concluded with him, to the heavy spiritual songs predominated (Townshend was particularly interested in the Indian avatarsMeher Baba illuminate), his title character Tommy ( deaf dumb and blind) had to be good at a particular game. Because Townshend knew Cohn was an avid fan of pinball and pinball machines, he suggested that Tommy should be able to play pinball. Cohn later called "Tommy" a masterpiece and "Pinball Wizard" was written and recorded almost immediately.

The song was, along with "See Me, Feel Me" (also from "Tommy"), then a new record medley used by the British easy-listening pop group The New Seekers in 1973 . This version drew number # 16 in the UK charts and had a Pinball Wizard / See Me, Feel Me included medley.

Cover
The song was by Elton John retreaded in Ken Russell 's film version of "Tommy" in 1975 . In this movie he played namely Pinball Champion in person (a role but John initially refused eventually hired anyway). This version of the song a year later was also released as a single and reached # 7 spot in the UK (this is the only The Who cover that has achieved this). Instead of the acoustic guitar used Elton John but his trusty piano(in a higher key) and there is an additional piece of text added to the number, which Townshend had written especially for the film. Elton is the only artist in the film whose own band also appeared in that film. There is a brief excerpt from The Who's first hit single, " I Can not Explain "to hear. John used the number moreover in his Las Vegas Red Piano Show and on his tour. The song was played in 2006 by the band Tenacious D.