The Song:
This song is the 11th track on The Who's 1966 album, A Quick One (called Happy Jack in America). It was the third single off the album, and was the first Who single to make the American Top 40 ("I Can't Explain" and "My Generation" had previously made the Billboard singles charts). It reached #24 there and #3 in the U.K. It's also It was the name of my cat. :(
Strangely enough, there's an unreleased acoustic version of this song where Pete Townshend plays cello...
Happy Jack
(Townshend)
Happy Jack wasn't old, but he was a man
He lived in the sand at the Isle of Man
The kids would all sing, he would take the wrong key
So they rode on his head on their furry donkey
The kids couldn't hurt Jack
They tried and tried and tried
They dropped things on his back
And lied and lied and lied and lied and lied
But they couldn't stop Jack, or the waters lapping
And they couldn't prevent Jack from feeling happy
But they couldn't stop Jack, or the waters lapping
And they couldn't prevent Jack from feeling happy
The kids couldn't hurt Jack
They tried and tried and tried
They dropped things on his back
And lied and lied and lied and lied and lied
But they couldn't stop Jack, or the waters lapping
And they couldn't prevent Jack from feeling happy
(I saw ya!)*
*Interesting fact:
The Who had recorded a basic instrumental track for "Happy Jack" before laying down the vocal track. Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle then recorded a vocal track, with Keith Moon in the control booth because-well, he can't really sing. So, throughout the whole song, he was making silly faces and jumping around, making the others laugh. So, Kit Lambert, their manager, made Keith lie down on the floor. As the song was closing, Keith crept up, just so they could see his head....and Pete yelled out "I saw ya!". Yeah, that was my random factoid of the day.
The Album:
Should be noded here, but a few noteable things:
Happy Jack has had 6 different releases, starting with the Reaction labels' in 1966.
Two releases by Decca followed the following year (1967) along with two by Polydor. It was released by MCA in 1988 and 1995.
CST Approved