Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere


"Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" was the second single released by The Who in 1965. It features call-and-response lyrics and some of the first ever recorded guitar feedback. The song was composed by lead singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend, the only time they wrote together. The guitar feedback, although not the first to be heard on a record, is thought to be the first solo with feedback. This is the first Who release with Nicky Hopkins playing piano.

Overview

Composition

"Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" features a significant similarity to "Out in the Street", which appears on their debut album My Generation. Both songs feature a three-chord strum before "blasting into an uptempo rhythm"; Despite this, "Out in the Street" is a marginally older song, and both tracks originates from the same recording sessions between 13 and 14 April 1965. The use of feedback that appears throughout the song was crucial to the song according to Townshend, who stated that the group "were trying to achieve the sound which we get on the stage at present, all in a commercial song that will sell. He would later claim that "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" was an attempt to write a very spiritual song.

Release

"Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" was released on 21 May 1965 with "Daddy Rolling Stone", written by Otis Blackwell, on the B-Side. The release coincided with an appearance at Ready Steady Go! by the group, in which they perform this and "Shout and Shimmy". It fit the groove for Ready Steady Go! so good that the show adapted it as their intro for a while. For the US release, the feedback present startled Decca Records, who believed they'd received a faulty tape of the song. The song was released on 5 June 1965 in the US. "Daddy Rolling Stone" was substituted by "Anytime You Want Me" for this release.
The single became the Who's second top-ten single after "I Can't Explain", reaching number ten on the UK Singles Chart. It remained in the top-forty for eleven weeks, being in the top-twenty for six, and the top-ten for one. It also became a top-forty single in France, reaching number thirty-eight. Despite this success, it failed to recipocate the success that "I Can't Explain" had in the US, whereas that was a top-hundred hit, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. It sold approximately eighty-eight thousand copies in the United Kingdom.
The song was rarely played live for most of The Who's career past 1965, but since 1999 has become a staple for their live shows; it appears on the album Live at the Royal Albert Hall. It can also be found on BBC Sessions and The Kids Are Alright.

Personnel

The Who
Additional musicians
recorded a version of this song for his Pin Ups album in 1973.
The Flaming Lips recorded a version of this song which appeared on a Mojo magazine CD of Who covers called Mojo: The Who Covered.
A version of this song has also been recorded by Ocean Colour Scene for The Who tribute album Substitute - The Songs of The Who.