The Who began 1967 as a scrappy London quartet best known in the U.K. By the end of the year, they were international sensations.
Along with Jimi Hendrix and Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Who were catapulted to superstardom after playing a thrilling set at the Monterey Pop Festival that July. The year was also a creative watershed for the band, during which their live delivery crystallized and they released The Who Sell Out, which yielded their first top-10 single "I Can See for Miles."
For leader Pete Townshend, the period was especially galvanizing. He toughened up the band’s on-stage sound by experimenting with a variety of Gibson guitars, and Selmer and Marshall amps. Legend has it that Townshend even sawed a Marshall 8x12 cabinet in half to create a distinctive set of 4x12s. A tireless sonic warrior, Townsend and bassist John Entwistle’s desire to make the Who the loudest band in London compelled Jim Marshall to create his first 100-watt head. Hendrix’s arrival on the scene both inspired Townshend and increased his competitiveness.
In part to differentiate his playing from Hendrix’s, Townshend turned to an arsenal of six strings leading up to The Who Sell Out’s sessions, which made him an emperor of tone. Townsend’s most unique instrument was a beautiful black SG EDS-1275 double-neck guitar. 
It’s thought he purchased it in Los Angeles in September, and began using it in concert immediately. Later pictures of the SG show the necks angling away from the body in a V-shape, indicating it may have been broken in the center and repaired in a fashion that gave Townshend more space between the necks.
Photos from the period also show Townshend brandishing a Les Paul Junior and a ’59 or ’60 SG TV model. And during the band’s 1967 American tour, he favored the roar of his ES-345s and ES-335s. Many of those guitars became splinters, since Townshend’s guitar-smashing ritual was already a staple of Who performances. At the time Townshend told the English music newspaper Melody Maker that he bashed his way through 70 guitars a year. So next time you’re bemoaning the price of ’60s vintage 335s and 345s, blame Pete.
Townshend was also fine-tuning his songwriting. The Who Sell Out, which was issued in December, marked a realization of two ideals he’d been exploring. "I Can See for Miles" was the first Who tune to break out of the simple rock-pop song mold. Its ambitious arrangement, which included sweeping dynamics and epic guitar crescendos, introduced a textural grandeur that would become a signature of some of the group’s greatest numbers: "The Seeker," "See Me, Feel Me," "Won’t Get Fooled Again," "Behind Blues Eyes," and "Love Reign O’er Me." The Who Sell Out was also a concept album, a precursor to Tommy, Quadrophenia, Lifehouse Chronicles, and Townshend’s solo rock operas The Iron Man and Psychoderelict.
The previous Who album A Quick One—also released as Happy Jack in the U.S.—was the guitarist’s first public experiment with a narrative song cycle. The medley "A Quick One While He’s Away" featured six distinct sections in its nine-minute tale of a woman’s infidelity, guilt, and forgiveness.
Townshend used both sides and all 13 tracks of The Who Sell Out to create a mock pirate radio broadcast complete with commercials for Odorono anti-perspirant and the acne cream Medac. (The jingle for the latter, as well as one for Heinz Baked Beans, was written by Entwistle.) The commercials wove together a series of stand-alone songs, including "Mary Ann with the Shaky Hand" and "I Can’t Reach You," which would become favorites among die-hard fans. But they made a larger point: rock’s artistic merits were being overtaken by its business interests. The Who knew this all too well. The irony of these faux commercials is that the band was recording real radio commercials for Coca-Cola and other advertisers at the time to finance their costs, which included replacing the guitars and drum kits that Townshend and Keith Moon routinely destroyed.
The Who laid it on thick with their ’67 album. The cover featured photos of Townshend, Entwistle, Moon, and singer Roger Daltrey using products the phony jingles plugged, including Daltrey soaking in a tub of baked beans. The final ironic twist was Townshend’s decision to make The Who Sell Out the first pop album without song titles in its cover design.
The Who’s next full-length, in 1969, was the brilliant Tommy. Its germination can be heard in the musical structure of "Rael," the mini-epic that closes The Who Sell Out. A 1990s reissue of The Who Sell Out featured more material cut in ’67 and ’68, including "Rael 2" and "Glow Girl." The latter, the tale of a doomed aircraft pilot and the fatherless birth of his child, includes the chorus, "It’s a girl Mrs. Walker, it’s a girl." Sound familiar?