Overture (The Who song)

"Overture"
Single by The Who
from the album Tommy
A-side	"See Me, Feel Me"
Released	10 October 1970
Format	7-inch single
Genre	Rock
Length	4:00
Label	Track
Writer(s)	Pete Townshend
Producer(s)	Kit Lambert
The Who singles chronology
"Summertime Blues" (1970) "See Me, Feel Me" (1970) "Won't Get Fooled Again" (1971)
Tommy track listing 24 tracks Side one "Overture" "It's a Boy" "1921" "Amazing Journey" "Sparks" "The Hawker" Side two "Christmas" "Cousin Kevin" "The Acid Queen" "Underture" Side three "Do You Think It's Alright?" "Fiddle About" "Pinball Wizard" "There's a Doctor" "Go to the Mirror!" "Tommy Can You Hear Me?" "Smash the Mirror" "Sensation" Side four "Miracle Cure" "Sally Simpson" "I'm Free" "Welcome" "Tommy's Holiday Camp" "We're Not Gonna Take It"

"Overture" is a song by English rock band The Who, written by Pete Townshend. The track is one of three instrumental tracks released on Tommy, although it does feature some lyrics towards the end; the other two being "Underture" and "Sparks".

On 9 October 1970 song was released as the b-side of "See Me, Feel Me" - which did not chart - and was titled "Overture from Tommy".^[1]

Song Structure

As an overture the song features samples of Tommy's most famous songs:

• 0:00 - 0:34 Adapted from "1921"
• 0:35 - 1:01 Adapted from "We're Not Gonna Take It"
• 1:02 - 1:35 Adapted from "Go to the Mirror!"
• 1:36 - 1:52 Adapted from "See Me, Feel Me"
• 1:53 - 2:20 Adapted from "Go to the Mirror!" with "Pinball Wizard"
• 2:21 - 2:58 Adapted from "Listening to You"
• 2:59 - 3:22 Adapted from "We're Not Gonna Take It"
• 3:23 - 3:50 Adapted from "Pinball Wizard"
• 3:50 - 5:21 Adapted from "Amazing Journey"

There is no pause between the tracks "Overture" and "It's a Boy" so the songs are often combined as "Overture".

The Assembled Multitude version

The Assembled Multitude, an instrumental ensemble group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, scored with a remake of "Overture" which peaked at #16 in August, 1970 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[2]

References

1. "The Who Official Band Website - Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon | | See Me Feel Me". Thewho.com. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
2. Billboard - Google Books. Books.google.com. 1970-08-29. Retrieved 2012-01-07.