Pete Townshend Continues Vinyl Reissue Campaign With ‘All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes’ and 'White City (A Novel)'

The Who might not have made a final decision yet about whether or not they've got a final tour in them, but that hasn't stopped the band's guitarist, songwriter, and occasional vocalist from continuing with the ongoing vinyl reissue of his solo catalog.

Pete Townshend has revealed that on May 17th he'll be issuing the next two half speed mastered studio albums from his discography: All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, originally released in 1982, and White City (A Novel), originally released in 1985.

The limited-edition black vinyl versions have been mastered by long-time Who engineer Jon Astley. They were cut for vinyl by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios with a half-speed mastering technique that produces a superior vinyl cut, and they've been packaged in original sleeves with obi strips and certificates of authenticity.

The albums are set for release on May 17.

All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes was produced by Chris Thomas, who also helmed the sessions for Townshend’s previous album, 1980’s Empty Glass, and was recorded variously at Wessex Sound, Eel Pie, and AIR Studios, all located in London.

Everyone from Townshend on down knew that the title was a bit of an unwieldy one (during a promotional interview for the record, he admitted that it should have won a “Stupid Title of the Year” award), which may be why the 11-song LP failed to match the success of its predecessor. Then again, it might also have been because it wasn’t as good, although given the wide range of reviews received by the record (best evidenced by the fact that Rolling Stone gave it 4 out of 5 stars even as the Village Voice gave it a D+), it’s clearly an album that resulted in some very disparate opinions.

However you want to spin it, the album still hit No. 26 on the Billboard 200, climbed to No. 32 on the UK Albums chart, and spawned two minor hits with “Face Dances, Pt. 2” and “Uniforms (Corp d’Esprit).” It's also notable - at least to readers who came of age in the '80s - for featuring contributions from bassist Tony Butler and drumer Mark Brzezicki, both of whom are better known for being members of Big Country.

White City (A Novel) was Townshend’s follow-up studio album, arriving a few years after his 1983 demos compilation Scoop, and although it was also produced by Chris Thomas, Townshend sounds completely reinvigorated on this record. Maybe it’s because he’d descended back into familiar territory – it’s a bit of a concept album – or maybe it’s because he surrounded himself with some pretty tight musicians, including some very recognizable contributions on the tracks “Give Blood” and “White City Fighting” from David Gilmour.

Oddly enough, the album had precisely the same chart placement in the US, once again climbing to No. 26, but it did decidedly less business across the pond, only making it to No. 70 on the UK Albums chart. “Give Blood” did end up as a minor hit single in Australia and Germany, but the LP’s most notable hit was “Face the Face,” which provided Townshend with a top-40 hit in the US, hitting No. 26.

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