The Who - Tommy on vinyl

[huwg]

This double album has been sitting in our record collection for a number of years, and I've only just given it a spin.

The format of the 4 sides is not what I'd expect, and as a result I played it out of sequence.

On our copy, one disc has sides 1 and 4, the other, sides 2 and 3.
Can anyone shed any light on this? were all copies like this, or do we own a rarity?

It is not just the case of the labels being wrong, the actual pieces of vinyl themselves have been pressed like this.

Cheers.

[Nike]

My guess would be so that it can be played in the correct sequence more easily on old players where you were able to 'stack' records so after the 1st had played, the next one would drop down - hence sides A & B on different discs.

[overkill]

This is the norm. I have a copy, my old ma' has one and they are all the same. Many of the doubles did this. I have no idea why. For example, Hendrix's Electric Ladyland is the same.

Still a great album though!

[Kenny Glasgow]

This was common for US releases of double albums as Nike said, it was so you could stack them on the spindle of the automatic record players.

I had seen it on some UK releases mainly Polydor, which distributed TRack, as the Who and Hendrix were on

[huwg]

Damn, there goes my nest egg

Thanks guys

The other doubles I have (Lamb lies down...., Songs in the Key of Life...., Physical Graffiti, The Wall etc) are all 1+2 & 3+4, but they are not original pressings (apart from Stevie Wonder). I guess the stacking player thing must have died out in the mid-late 70's & 80's.