The Who : Classic or Dud

"Also, if you don't think you can fill a stadium playing deeper cuts, then by all means, don't book stadiums. Cut some of the expense of mounting that size of a production and play a bit smaller of a venue."

No doubt. Allman Brothers over the years have done those type of shows on and off at the Beacon Theater to stretch out and do different things. Clapton has also done some theme shows like that over the years at the Royal Albert Hall, which included the Cream reunion.

there's definitely a part of me that wishes they'd completely stopped after the drummer died just like Zep. but they didn't, and i'm ok with that, go ahead and be a band for 50 years, that's awesome. xp

Another vote for "Slip Kid."

didn't they already have a couple of farewell tours long ago?

There was only one tour that was specifically billed as their "last" or "farewell" tour, and that was in 1982. They did an awful "reunion" tour in 1989, with a 15-piece band, and they've been consistently active since their 1996 tour.

there's definitely a part of me that wishes they'd completely stopped after the drummer died just like Zep. but they didn't, and i'm ok with that, go ahead and be a band for 50 years, that's awesome. xp

― some dude, Tuesday, July 1, 2014 9:42 PM (49 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think the key difference is that Moon had become a liability. He could almost cut it live -- the imagination was there, the approach was sluggish -- but was nearly useless in the studio. As good a record as Who Are You is, it's not a standout Moon performance. When he died, it was seen in part as an opportunity to branch out in ways they couldn't have with Moon (and then Pete signed a solo deal, got overworked, became a heroin addict, yadda yadda). With Bonham, while he may have been down on himself near the end, he wasn't dragging the rest of the band down.

do they acknowledge the fact that roger daltrey has no voice anymore? they don't consider that an impediment?

I think if he literally had no voice whatsoever, if he opened his mouth and no sound came out, and yet he was still twirling the microphone around and mouthing the words, I would think they'd consider that to be something of an impediment.

But since his voice has aged better than those of his peers, it fortunately hasn't been an issue.

really? you think so? yeeesh, I think he sounds like a parched warthog.

I think if he literally had no voice whatsoever, if he opened his mouth and no sound came out, and yet he was still twirling the microphone around and mouthing the words, I would think they'd consider that to be something of an impediment.

the obligatory response must be: "I'd consider that an improvement"

I'll grant that if the most recent thing you heard Daltrey sing was "Athena," and then heard him in 2014, yeah, the difference might be a little jarring. But what he's lost in range he's gained in depth/breadth.

Slip Kid and Sea and Sand are both better than anything on Who Are You.

Would love to hear "Dogs" and "Now I'm a Farmer" and those silly 60s rarities live. But not sure I'd want to see an Entwistle-less Who...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUFgqKbu2Fo

On that note, gonna repost the wonderful "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" that someone clued me into on a Who thread (maybe this one?) last year. Sounds very proto-Mercyful Fate this morning...

Slip Kid and Sea and Sand are both better than anything on Who Are You.

Slip Kid is probably my favorite in studio Townshend guitar performance

Always have to be clear about "in studio" vs. "live" with the Who because they were almost two different bands.

I was listening to "Slip Kid" this morning and yeah, what a tremendous Townshend performance on that.

Also, a fair amount of the demo ended up on the final record: the handclaps/percussion and piano are all Townshend.

New 50th-anniversary comp (yawn)...but it's got a new hat!

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-who-record-be-lucky-their-first-new-song-in-eight-years-20140925

"Dogs"! That's a first for a non-box hits comp.

Good point! "Dogs" never gets enough love.

And in all honesty, I'm tremendously excited about the new song.

Ah, here it is:

http://youtu.be/7K_CGq-1u1E

I'd somehow never heard 'Dogs' until a couple of weeks ago - it really is a lovely song (xposts).

It features prominently on http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.co.UK/ "Who's for Tennis"

But you knew that already, right?

Stupid spelling corrector..

http://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.co.uk/

ooh hadn't seen that -- looks totally good.

Thanks for that link, Mark G. It's often claimed that the Who weren't as prolific as the Stones or Kinks in those days; they were, it's just that little of it was released at the time (and they were also on the road more than both of those bands combined).

Would love to see that blogger reconstruct the aborted 1972 Who album.

tbf nobody was as prolific as the Kinks in the late 60s

Lifehouse?

Look deeeeeeeper.......

I'd seen his Lifehouse reconstruction, and it's pretty spot-on, though I'd quibble with the inclusion of "I Don’t Even Know Myself," as it was originally earmarked for the aborted 1970 7 Foot Wide Car, 6 Foot Wide Garage EP (along with "Postcard," "Now I'm A Farmer," "Water," and "Naked Eye"), and wasn't part of the Lifehouse concept.

But they started work with Glyn Johns on a record in 1972 that was to include all the Lifehouse leftovers, plus "Long Live Rock," "Love Reign O'er Me," "Is It In My Head?" "Can't You See I'm Easy," and "Riot In The Female Jail" (the latter two of which may not have been recorded by the Who).

That new song is okay. Not great, but far from embarrassing. The main thing is probably that Daltrey isn't shrill.

Ha, yeah, but I don't think Daltrey is physically capable of being shrill at this point. I'm really digging the new one, and production-wise it's streets ahead of anything on Endless Wire.

His voice sounds strangely muffled. The song is actually quite catchy -- I played it twice last night and I can still remember the chorus this morning.

I wish Mike Post Theme was on the greatest hits

Yeah, seriously; apart from "Who Are You" (the song), that's the best thing they've done since The Who By Numbers.

I downloaded that Who's for Tennis? LP (link a few posts above). How did I never notice "Glow Girl" before? The Who at their most brilliant. I bought Odds & Sods on vinyl 15 years ago, but I probably only played it once, and somehow "Glow Girl" slipped by me. Is it just the end of the song that makes its way into Tommy, or the whole song under another name?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH6se_YY8f0

yeahhh that who's for tennis thing is a perfect follow-up to the who sell out imo.

here's what townshend said re: glow girl and tommy

"I tried to write an archetypal rock single; the Shangri-Las type thing, the Jan and Dean type thing. The car crashes, the motorcycle goes over the cliff, 'Oh no! and then there's a little spoken part: 'and then I went to the cemetary and I prayed over his grave'. Well, it was a reincarnation song and it was about a plane crash and two kids on an aeroplane and they realize that the plane's crashing. The reincarnation ploy comes at the end, where you hear 'It's a girl, Mrs. Walker, it's a girl. When I came to write Tommy, I picked up that phrase and used it as the opening. Thats how Tommy became Tommy Walker, just because in this song which was worked on two years before, we had a little girl."
--Pete Townshend

otm, Who's For Tennis? would've been great. But the fact that it was never completed/released is typical Who: "Yeah, we could be like CCR, just constantly churning out brilliant singles/albums, but we're gonna hold this back, because instead, we're working on this HUGE STATEMENT that will CHANGE EVERYTHING AND/OR FALL FLAT ON ITS FACE." (Ditto their aborted 1972 album.)

They were fearless. Who's For Tennis? (and/or the planned-but-unreleased Fillmore East '68) likely would've raised their profile enough to have gotten them out of crippling ($500,000) debt at the time, but no, better to scrap those and spend six months recording this "rock opera" thing.

That was my guess, just a snippet, like how "Rael" is incorporated. Tommy's an album I never warmed to (except for "We're Not Gonna Take It"), so I don't know it well.

definitely prefer clever pop songwriter townshend to rock opera genius townshend.

I dunno, I don't think that distinction is necessary: his genius rock operas were constructed out of clever pop songs.

So much so that reversing your wording describes him perfectly: genius pop songwriter Townshend vs. clever rock opera Townshend.

otm

"Be Lucky" is embarrassing

definitely prefer clever pop songwriter townshend to rock opera genius townshend.

― tylerw, Saturday, September 27, 2014 7:20 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I prefer boiler-suited, amps to 11, blood on the stage and an 18 minute "generation" followed by Naked Eye and a massacre of the first three rows of patrons. Also: courvoisier

First performance of "A Quick One, While He's Away" in 44 years:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2vYqIssV8M

Haha, whoops, wrong clip...(happy birthday, Jimmy Lyons!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgrmcNCe4Ok

Lol

New Pete interview:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/whos-done-pete-townshends-ambivalent-farewell-20150507

I always feel very sad when I say this because I think I'm unusual in this respect. People don't really believe me. But I don't enjoy performing. I don't feel uplifted on the stage. I rarely have moments these days onstage when I go into what jazz musicians call "the zone." I rarely lose myself on the stage.

...

To wrap this up: Every night you begin the show by blasting into the opening notes of "I Can't Explain." It sure looks like you're enjoying yourself—

[Laughs] You don't believe me, do you! Nobody believes me. The best way to enjoy it is to laugh at it. It's fucking absurd, isn't it? It was absurd when I was fucking 20, it's even more absurd now I'm 70.

Complaining all the way to the bank.

He enjoys being on tour but he doesn't like playing, which at the very least is an original take.

Also the weird calling out/not calling out Robert Plant in equal measure.