...In Five Songs. Pete Townshend and The Who.

A new little series dedicated to the artists whose music has influenced me the most. In five songs! First up, Pete Townshend and The Who.

Welcome to “…In Five Songs”, my highly personalized attempt to capture the essence of my favorite and most influential (on me) music in, well, five songs.

Why five? Why not seven, or ten? Five feels just right, enough songs to paint a representative picture of the artist without becoming too tedious for the listener.

Part of this was a personal challenge:  Could I encapsulate an artist’s entire musical career in just five songs?  Is it possible? Is it advisable? What will get left off, and what choices will I make? Hits over rarities? Live releases vs. studio cuts?  My favorite songs over songs that I think others may have never heard but shine a light on some aspect of this artist’s work?

My criteria for song selection is:  “What is my relationship with this artist’s music and which five songs best demonstrate the depth and breadth of their output over time? Some of the artists have careers that go back well over fifty years, others are much younger. I’ll provide a few comments about each song I’ve selected and provide the links to the tunes so you can listen, too!

(Note: Pete has a huge solo catalog but for this purpose, I’m gonna stick to the Pete/Who stuff!)

Finally, I am only concerned with the artist's output, not anything to do with any personal or political stuff. I hope that does not detract from your ability to hear and enjoy their music but I understand if it does.

What are your favorite Pete Townshend/Who songs? Let me know!

Pete Townshend.

Pete Townshend is a singular, towering presence in my musical and spiritual life. Pete was the chief songwriter for a small, little-known band from Shepherds’s Bush, London, called “The Who.” In the mid-60s, The Who would be part of the second wave of the British Invasion, with bands like the Kinks, Cream, and others pushing the boundaries of rock music that the Beatles and Stones had started a few years earlier. Pete started off writing catchy little singles, influenced by the RnB of America and his teenage despair. He would evolve into creating pop concept albums and then full-on rock operas and epic sagas that continue even to this day to find new life as ballets, Broadway revivals, and renderings for Symphony Orchestras.

After their drummer Kieth Moon died in 1978, the Who soldiered on, but they were never the same band. Pete continued as a successful solo artist (that music is for another list!) but never came close to reaching the commercial or artistic achievements of the Who’s first ten years.

In the late 60’s Pete became a disciple of Meher Baba, a Sufi mystic who took a vow of silence at age 28 and lived into his 80’s. He is most famous for coining the phrase, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and for having his name be part of one of rock music’s greatest anthems, “Baba O’Reilly”. Baba’s teachings heavily influence Pete’s music and permeate much of his greatest musical ideas.

On a personal note, while I (like most die-hard Who fans, I suspect) discovered the Who as a teen, Pete’s music always stood out to me as deeply spiritual, subversively probing of the human condition and concerned with profound questions of faith, community, isolation, and belonging, all set to the most glorious rock music, sometimes quiet, sometimes loud but always brutally and sonically honest.

The Seeker.

A small single was released between “Tommy” and “Who’s Next”. I love the brevity of the song, the compactness of the riffs, and how the lyrics just get right to the point and then it just ends. The key lyrics for me are “I’m looking for me/you’re looking for you/we’re looking at each other and we don’t know what to do.”

This is by far my favorite version of the song, recorded in the Who’s early 2000’s renaissance. They were hungry again, Pete’s guitar work never sounded better and Roger tears the skin of the vocals! (That’s Ringo’s son, Zak Starkey on drums!)

Pinball Wizard

This was the first Who song I remember hearing, (at age 12, at summer camp, on my counselor’s 8-track tape), and to this day, the opening acoustic guitar progression still gives me chills. What playing pinball has to do with spiritual redemption may never fully be known, but this is, in my opinion, a near-perfect song. The tension and release, the chorus, the flamenco guitar playing. All of it. Except for the ending, which just seems to meander off into the twilight, as if they couldn’t figure out how to end it!

Here is an early demo recorded by Pete, the one he likely shared with the band that would become one of their biggest songs:

My Generation (from “Live at Leeds”)

Live at Leeds (Leeds being a small town in the UK, where the Who recorded this show in 1970. The Who had been touring for a year and wanted to get a few shows on tape. They were at their very peak as a live band, and this show is considered by many to be the greatest live rock album ever. I agree. This version of “My Generation” runs about 15, mind-blowing minutes and includes snippets from “Tommy” and other improvisational gems. When it was originally released, its tagline, “Hope I die before I get old” became a catchphrase for a generation. On this version recorded a few years later, Roger Daltrey spits out the lyrics with relish.  I chose this song and this version as it highlights Pete’s guitar playing and his ability to play in, around, and between the thunder of Bassist John Entwhistle and the sheer savant-like drumming of Keith Moon. Pete solos, hammers, distorts, gets whisper quiet one moment, and then carpet bombs the audience with a deafening roar the next. Pete would often end concerts with bloody fingers and this show was no exception.

Pure and Easy

The key song from the “Life House” sessions would ultimately give Pete a nervous breakdown and also yield their greatest album, “Who’s Next.” Strangely and ironically, this song was not included in “Who’s Next” despite its themes (of sonic redemption, music as unifying the world, and abandoning the self for the greater good of humanity)  being central to the whole concept! It became a somewhat under-the-radar track that first appeared on Pete’s first solo LP “Who Came First.”

“Accepting one note, pure and easy, playing so free like a breath rippling by.” I’ve chosen this tune mainly for the final repeating musical and lyrical phrase, “There once was a note, listen”.

Pete was a prolific demo creator often bringing The Who fully realized songs for them to interpret. This version, with all the instruments (and vocals) performed by Pete, is taken from that first solo album, “Who Came First”.

Won’t Get Fooled Again

This song is like a mini-opera all by itself. Its studio version starts with an at-the-time groundbreaking synthesizer riff, then a monster set of power chords anchored by Daltrey tearing through the lyrics about the state of the world, rebellion’s futility,’ and inevitability, and Pete’s ever cynical snarky take, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” Timeless, devastating, and includes the greatest roar of any rock song, ever. However: this version is my favorite. It’s taken from a recording of the “Secret Policeman’s Ball’ a charity event that promoted the work of Amnesty International. Pete came on stage and sang this song with just his acoustic guitar. I remember hearing it (having only heard the full band version) and was awestruck that a song could be even more powerful when stripped to its bare essentials: Voice, guitar, and sheer will of the performer.