The song was performed by Elton John in Ken Russell's 1975 film adaptation of Tommy. This version was released as a single in 1975 in the US, and in 1976 in the UK, where it reached number 7. Bootleg recordings show that this song has been known to last as long as 8 minutes (at a concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London on 3 February 1981), although live versions lasting as long as that are extremely rare. The live performances rarely deviated from the album arrangement, save for an occasional jam at the end sometimes leading to another song. This song is one of the band's most famous live songs, being played at almost every Who concert since its debut live performance on. The song "Pinball Wizard" was written and recorded almost immediately. Knowing Cohn was an avid pinball fan, Townshend suggested that Tommy would play pinball, and Cohn immediately declared Tommy to be a masterpiece. Following this, Townshend, as Tommy's principal composer, discussed the album with Cohn and concluded that, to lighten the load of the rock opera's heavy spiritual overtones (Townshend had recently become deeply interested in the teachings of Meher Baba), the title character, a "deaf, dumb, and blind" boy, should also be particularly good at a certain game. In late 1968 or early 1969, when The Who played a rough assembly of their new album to critic Nik Cohn, Cohn gave a lukewarm reaction. The song was introduced into Tommy as an afterthought. It was a perpetual concert favourite for Who fans due to its pop sound and familiarity. Townshend once called it "the most clumsy piece of writing ever done" nevertheless, the song was a commercial success and one of the most recognised tunes from the opera. Always has a replay Never tilts at all That deaf dumb and blind kid Sure plays a mean pin ball.", and " I thought I was the Bally table king, but I just handed my pinball crown to him". I feel that "Tommy" as a whole - the music, words, story etc can only be fully appreciated if you listen to and watch as many versions as you can in order to make your own opinion of it.The lyrics are written from the perspective of a pinball champion, called "Local Lad" in the Tommy libretto book, astounded by the skills of the opera's eponymous main character, Tommy Walker: " What makes him so good? He ain't got no distractions Can't hear those buzzers and bells Don't see lights a flashin' Plays by sense of smell. As for Roger Daltrey, what a voice and what a body!! I think it's important not to take the film too seriously though, like I said it's just one interpretation. I think Ann Margret is fantastic as Nora - it's obvious that as Tommy's mother she feels torn between the love for her son and the love for fame and money, and she portrays that really well. However I feel that this only adds to the sleaziness of their characters, especially Reed's - I think if he was note perfect it would be out of character. A lot of people criticise the film for its cast, particularly Oliver Reed and Jack Nicholsons' debatable singing abilities. However, what I will say is that the imagery he uses in the film really does spark a lot of interest, for example the hypocrisy of organised religion and icon worship (particularly when Tommy causes Marlyin Monroe to crash to the floor after the rest of the church have been "brainwashed" by the priests). Having not seen any of Russell's other work, it's impossible for me to say that this is typical of him. When you listen to the original Who album a lot is left open to the imagination as regards plot, and I think its important to realise that Ken Russell's film version is merely one interpretation of the story told by the music. Now I'm a little older (and hopefully wiser), I have watched the film a lot in the past couple of years and all I can say is WOW! The music is fantastic, Pete Townshend is a genius, and the way he uses it to tell the story is awesome. I did watch the film pretty soon after but was constantly comparing it to the show and to me it didn't even come close. However, at the time I was only 11 years old and couldn't really appreciate the many levels to Tommy. I first came across Tommy when I saw the West End theatre production about 10 years ago, and I instantly fell in love with the music and the plot.
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