Pete Townshend - Who I Am: A Memoir

Countdown until the Complete Audiobook Sessions are released/bootlegged.

I'm still in the very early chapters, he's only just met Rog & Ox -- I'm just impressed that he could put together so much information about his childhood and make it so detailed and engaging.

Christgau's review: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/books/review/who-i-am-pete-townshends-memoir.html?_r=2

He's spot-on about the bio (seriously, enough with the fucking boats), less so about the work, but I always took Christgau's Whopinions with a grain of salt (as he recommends we do in this review). But if events zip by in chapter 23 without much reflection, it's because there's not much to reflect on: Townshend's work was now about "studios, yachts, and enticing beauties" rather than the intense engagement with the audience that enabled/inspired the bulk of the Who's work.

nearly bought it today, but looks like its going to be in the HMV sale all the way through Xmas period.
Definitely want to read it, they were one of the first bands I got into. I had most of at least the 60s stuff in my early teens back in my moddy boy days. Well until some a-hole nicked a lot of it.

Listened to most of the 19-hour audiobook -- read by Pete himself -- on a recent 13-hour drive. Really fun. He chuckles at a few things, is consistently engaged/engaging, and his run-in/rapprochement with Roland Kirk is hilarious.

wait as in rahsaan?

The very same. He opened for the Who in 1969, and thanked Pete for "giving us blind folks our own opera". He recognized Townshend, by voice, as someone who had good-naturedly heckled Kirk a year earlier in London (Townshend was/is a huge Kirk fan, though).

well huh

Got this for Christmas, was a good read. Very engaging, if repetetive--it is a book about one person's behavior after all.

i am not a particular fan of the who but my father-in-law got this for me and i thought it was pretty awful. combo of generic rock bio tendencies with townshend just being an unlikeable pretentious guy.

I agree it would be a pretty pointless read if you're not a fan.

I have been trying to like it more, but Townshend does a lot of self-flagellating and I find myself wishing for more delight

Well he does seem to get more giddy whenever boats and expensive mixing consoles come into the picture.

haha

Pete's always been kind of a gleeful curmudgeon though, I can't imagine a *non* self-flagellating Townsend. that'd be kinda weird?

Weirdly didn't mention Who Came First at all...otoh did imply that he invented the idea of the internet

I thought the Who Came First omission was odd at first, but it was really just his usual demos compiled into an album at Decca's suggestion (he'd been selling some of the same demos on private-press devotional Meher Baba LPs, which Decca took to be bootlegs). The process of making that record was, for the most part, the process of making the demos for Lifehouse, so in a sense it was already covered in the book.

OK that makes sense, guess I gathered that but didn't know it was at the label's prompting. One thing is for sure is that Pete makes some ace demos. The Lifehouse chronicles stuff sounds so good.

Yeah, his demos sound amazing. I can't think of another artist -- certainly none of Pete's contemporaries -- who could release an album of demos that no one would suspect are demos.

Yeah its kind of insane to hear the Tommy demos and it's pretty much the entire finished album.

yeah but when you have the rhythm section he had, nothing sounds like a finished record til you've got them on it

After reading the book, I watched Classic Records: Who's Next on netflix--it was great, in the way that whole series is, for all the isolated elements of the songs. Entwistle was just amazing on everything he played.

love that episode

made me want to go back and listen to the whole thing again right away

I kind of wish Roger would write a bio, just for balance. My guess is it would be good-natured, mildly funny, and about 120 pages long.

I love the little aside about Roger always prattling on about various conspiracy theories....LOL

Dunno about the book but I find I can't watch Townshend talking about almost anything on TV in the same way I can't with Geldof...he just sounds like such a tosser

like everything has says needs to be digested slowly and accurately for those at the back of the class..just fuck off

Yeah its kind of insane to hear the Tommy demos and it's pretty much the entire finished album.

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, January 4, 2013 7:50 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The version of "Tommy's Holiday Camp" that ended up on the finished album is actually Townshend's demo.