I've heard it said that The Who was a band with 4 frontmen, and it sits right with me. I know what you mean about how Entwhistle can be misperceived (if that's a word) because of how he just stands there looking bored and unengaged compared to the theatrics of the other 3, but anyone who has seen this footage of him performing We Won't Get Fooled Again could hardly describe him as a sideman! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80dsyo2Ox-0
As an aside, I think a great thesis or indeed BBC4 documentary is waiting to be made on the impact of art colleges on English music in the 60s. Is there an English group of cultural significance from the 60s in particular (but also beyond) that didn't have at least 1 member attend an art college at that pivotal moment when their creative awakening occurred?
I don't think anybody blessed with the gift of sight has ever misperceived John - one look at those fingers is all it takes, no exceptions. So he's really just as "theatrical" as the others, only in a high class way - if he'd been jumping and mugging all the way like everybody else, he'd end up sort of an Eddie Van Halen of the bass guitar, and that'd look really cheap.
The topic of art colleges is a sensitive one; most of the rock era heroes are usually reluctant to admit the influence those establishments had on them (especially since few of them had the patience to graduate), but how else would they learn to, I dunno, write good lyrics at least?.. People who have this annoying tendency to indiscriminately deride the "humanities" should certainly keep that in mind.
From the first time I heard this album, I held the slightly controversial opinion that The Kids Are Alright > My Generation. Increasingly, I'm seeing more people start to share this belief; perhaps Kids just aged better than My Generation.
When I saw The Who live in 2017, Roger introduced Kids by relating a personal story: that he had gotten a girl pregnant, and had to choose between marrying her and settling down, or continuing with the band. He obviously chose the latter. I have no idea if this story related at all to Pete writing it, or even if it's true. But since then, I have viewed the song as a somber abandonment anthem. The protagonist hasn't been abandoned; he is the one reluctantly doing the abandoning, trying to convince himself that he's making the right decision.
The man certainly spread his seed (apparently, he's got lots of illegitimate children around the world), but it's odd because I'd say that story would much better relate to the subject of 'A Legal Matter' than 'The Kids Are Alright'. Although, come to think of it, pretty much half of the songs on this album are about abandonment. Who else could elevate insensitive asshole behavior to high art as efficiently as these guys back in 1965?..
The Who is a band that fails to resonate with me every time I try to get into them. Sure, I get their historical significance, but their sounds... I don't know, it always sound so "thin" to me. I don't know if its the voice, or the guitars, or what, but I just find them mostly uninteresting. "My Generation" is an OK song, of course, but if asked to tell which version is better, The Who's, or Sweet's cover from "Desolation Boulevard" I'd be hard-pressed to choose, which means I just don't "get" Who's greatness (of course, they did it first, and that matters: without them, I guess, the world of rock music would be somewhat different, and Sweet were probably unable to write such song themselves, even if they cover it well - without, I must say, bringing anything new to it, but also, to my ears, without spoiling it in any way).
As for the mentioned Daltry's solo albums, I rather like his collaboration with Wilco Johnson called "Going Back Home". His voice with Wilco's signature guitar produce the experience that is very close to "classic Dr. Feelgood".
Yes, the poor Who have this lack of luck - they're too artsy for those in the market for "pure rock'n'roll", but too simplistic for those hunting for classic art-rock. Fortunately, I never saw this as a sign of their failure at either of these things, but rather simply as a sign of The Who being The Who, doing something that nobody else has ever been able to do. And I dig that something for all it's worth.
Roger solo is always as good as whoever he works with. If it's Wilko Johnson, it's one thing... if it's Leo Sayer, it's quite another.
Or if it’s Pete himself, like with several songs on Roger’s most recent solo effort. I’d commend the Stills cover “How Far” to you, in which Pete faux apologized to Roger for “soloing all over it” with his acoustic guitar.
As I learned from Starostin's reviews back in the day, the trick is The Who live > The Who in the studio (alright, so he put Quadrophenia on the level of the live stuff, but I still don't know where I sit on that). The correct starting point is We're Not Gonna Take It/See Me Feel Me from their Tommy tour, Wight version, here: https://youtu.be/w5-ObkYvAMg
Great write-up; many things I didn't know about (like Jimmy Page's role early in their history, and the specific industry troubles they went through).
As far as a comment of yours on Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere, you said "Who else wrote such stuff at the time?" Well, yes, The Who *did* write other such stuff at the time. I thought that was your point. ;)
But yeah, so your evaluations of The Who's characteristics mentally/philosophically, and your indications of things that point to this, I find even more fascinating. That they (well, Townshend) focused on artistic expression right from the start, and more or less in perpetuity, was not obvious to me given how much of their stuff is visceral Rock n' Roll. But I see it, and it jives with all Townshend's interviews through the years, even the early one where he disses The Beatles, saying without the vocals there's not much going on. (Of course, that is not the only way to look at it; Dylan early on found The Beatles' chord changes alone to be wild choices, exempting whatever else, but I digress).
And then, when you add in the egos of the group you mentioned, it all comes together. Why they could rarely equal their live ability (if ever) in the studio—they don't really like being around each other, and maybe only live that is put aside for the moment being incredible with the crowd. Why Townshend dissed both Moon and Entwistle after their deaths—he wasn't thinking about the quality of the overall music, he was thinking about *his own contribution to the music*, which was allowed to be greater without such a solo-ing rhythm section.
As far as the meanings of I Can't Explain and The Kids Are Alright, I have to admit this is where the manner/amount of the singer's diction makes a big difference. Because despite the analysis you do of its meanings of insecurity and only temporary reference to falling in love, the song's presentation has left my mind over the years to just process as "catchy pop song," without a great deal of thought to the words' meaning. The Kids Are Alright is a bit of a different situation—the first two lines stand out very distinctly, giving the feeling of a youth with a crowd that you mention. But other lines are lacking enough in sequitur that they give... well, you said mystery, but the relatively free-of-care vocal delivery makes me just pass over them altogether, with the champion reason being that without a lyric sheet the transition to the chorus sounded to me more like "Better leave her behind, but the kids are alright" instead of "Better to leave her behind with the kids, they're alright." Thusly, the central message of the song (even if it still would be hard to decipher with the rest of it, as you point out) becomes gobbledygook, on the turn of garbled pronunciation and mid-60s Rock sound quality.
I'll have to look into deluxe editions too, though maybe I'll just buy lossless files of a disc or two if possible. From your description, do I take it that you also are not a streaming subscriber? I get flack sometimes internally and once recently even externally for still deciding to own my own collection (though honestly, I don't even consider switching).
Thank you again for your write-up; you point as someone else did at some point too to Keith's early live performance style as paramount (somebody said the difference came when he added more drums to his kit), so I know I need to take a closer look at the surviving footage of that. Cheerio! You've got me doing a bit of a new Who dive in general now too, as you did back when I was influenced by your reviews, checked them out, and became a big fan in the first place!
Two exceptions (personal biases towards, perhaps) to your take on the covers of (roughly?) this era: Leavjng Here and Baby Don’t You Do It. Moon’s drumming and John’s backing vocals on the first give it a new identity, and on the latter, the (similar though not quite as distinct drumwork) and overall slurry roughness I think do the same. Perhaps it’s just that they were better at covering Motown songs (like, to come, the Heatwave you noted) than JB or BD.
Really great review!
I've heard it said that The Who was a band with 4 frontmen, and it sits right with me. I know what you mean about how Entwhistle can be misperceived (if that's a word) because of how he just stands there looking bored and unengaged compared to the theatrics of the other 3, but anyone who has seen this footage of him performing We Won't Get Fooled Again could hardly describe him as a sideman! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80dsyo2Ox-0
As an aside, I think a great thesis or indeed BBC4 documentary is waiting to be made on the impact of art colleges on English music in the 60s. Is there an English group of cultural significance from the 60s in particular (but also beyond) that didn't have at least 1 member attend an art college at that pivotal moment when their creative awakening occurred?
I don't think anybody blessed with the gift of sight has ever misperceived John - one look at those fingers is all it takes, no exceptions. So he's really just as "theatrical" as the others, only in a high class way - if he'd been jumping and mugging all the way like everybody else, he'd end up sort of an Eddie Van Halen of the bass guitar, and that'd look really cheap.
The topic of art colleges is a sensitive one; most of the rock era heroes are usually reluctant to admit the influence those establishments had on them (especially since few of them had the patience to graduate), but how else would they learn to, I dunno, write good lyrics at least?.. People who have this annoying tendency to indiscriminately deride the "humanities" should certainly keep that in mind.
Excellent review.
From the first time I heard this album, I held the slightly controversial opinion that The Kids Are Alright > My Generation. Increasingly, I'm seeing more people start to share this belief; perhaps Kids just aged better than My Generation.
When I saw The Who live in 2017, Roger introduced Kids by relating a personal story: that he had gotten a girl pregnant, and had to choose between marrying her and settling down, or continuing with the band. He obviously chose the latter. I have no idea if this story related at all to Pete writing it, or even if it's true. But since then, I have viewed the song as a somber abandonment anthem. The protagonist hasn't been abandoned; he is the one reluctantly doing the abandoning, trying to convince himself that he's making the right decision.
The man certainly spread his seed (apparently, he's got lots of illegitimate children around the world), but it's odd because I'd say that story would much better relate to the subject of 'A Legal Matter' than 'The Kids Are Alright'. Although, come to think of it, pretty much half of the songs on this album are about abandonment. Who else could elevate insensitive asshole behavior to high art as efficiently as these guys back in 1965?..
"With My Generation, the latest and greatest band of the early British Invasion makes its triumphant entrance..." No Doubt!
Thank you. GREAT Read.
The Who is a band that fails to resonate with me every time I try to get into them. Sure, I get their historical significance, but their sounds... I don't know, it always sound so "thin" to me. I don't know if its the voice, or the guitars, or what, but I just find them mostly uninteresting. "My Generation" is an OK song, of course, but if asked to tell which version is better, The Who's, or Sweet's cover from "Desolation Boulevard" I'd be hard-pressed to choose, which means I just don't "get" Who's greatness (of course, they did it first, and that matters: without them, I guess, the world of rock music would be somewhat different, and Sweet were probably unable to write such song themselves, even if they cover it well - without, I must say, bringing anything new to it, but also, to my ears, without spoiling it in any way).
As for the mentioned Daltry's solo albums, I rather like his collaboration with Wilco Johnson called "Going Back Home". His voice with Wilco's signature guitar produce the experience that is very close to "classic Dr. Feelgood".
Yes, the poor Who have this lack of luck - they're too artsy for those in the market for "pure rock'n'roll", but too simplistic for those hunting for classic art-rock. Fortunately, I never saw this as a sign of their failure at either of these things, but rather simply as a sign of The Who being The Who, doing something that nobody else has ever been able to do. And I dig that something for all it's worth.
Roger solo is always as good as whoever he works with. If it's Wilko Johnson, it's one thing... if it's Leo Sayer, it's quite another.
Or if it’s Pete himself, like with several songs on Roger’s most recent solo effort. I’d commend the Stills cover “How Far” to you, in which Pete faux apologized to Roger for “soloing all over it” with his acoustic guitar.
Yeah, I checked out a few of his other albums and they were not inspiring. Points to Wilko, I guess.
As I learned from Starostin's reviews back in the day, the trick is The Who live > The Who in the studio (alright, so he put Quadrophenia on the level of the live stuff, but I still don't know where I sit on that). The correct starting point is We're Not Gonna Take It/See Me Feel Me from their Tommy tour, Wight version, here: https://youtu.be/w5-ObkYvAMg
Great write-up; many things I didn't know about (like Jimmy Page's role early in their history, and the specific industry troubles they went through).
As far as a comment of yours on Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere, you said "Who else wrote such stuff at the time?" Well, yes, The Who *did* write other such stuff at the time. I thought that was your point. ;)
But yeah, so your evaluations of The Who's characteristics mentally/philosophically, and your indications of things that point to this, I find even more fascinating. That they (well, Townshend) focused on artistic expression right from the start, and more or less in perpetuity, was not obvious to me given how much of their stuff is visceral Rock n' Roll. But I see it, and it jives with all Townshend's interviews through the years, even the early one where he disses The Beatles, saying without the vocals there's not much going on. (Of course, that is not the only way to look at it; Dylan early on found The Beatles' chord changes alone to be wild choices, exempting whatever else, but I digress).
And then, when you add in the egos of the group you mentioned, it all comes together. Why they could rarely equal their live ability (if ever) in the studio—they don't really like being around each other, and maybe only live that is put aside for the moment being incredible with the crowd. Why Townshend dissed both Moon and Entwistle after their deaths—he wasn't thinking about the quality of the overall music, he was thinking about *his own contribution to the music*, which was allowed to be greater without such a solo-ing rhythm section.
As far as the meanings of I Can't Explain and The Kids Are Alright, I have to admit this is where the manner/amount of the singer's diction makes a big difference. Because despite the analysis you do of its meanings of insecurity and only temporary reference to falling in love, the song's presentation has left my mind over the years to just process as "catchy pop song," without a great deal of thought to the words' meaning. The Kids Are Alright is a bit of a different situation—the first two lines stand out very distinctly, giving the feeling of a youth with a crowd that you mention. But other lines are lacking enough in sequitur that they give... well, you said mystery, but the relatively free-of-care vocal delivery makes me just pass over them altogether, with the champion reason being that without a lyric sheet the transition to the chorus sounded to me more like "Better leave her behind, but the kids are alright" instead of "Better to leave her behind with the kids, they're alright." Thusly, the central message of the song (even if it still would be hard to decipher with the rest of it, as you point out) becomes gobbledygook, on the turn of garbled pronunciation and mid-60s Rock sound quality.
I'll have to look into deluxe editions too, though maybe I'll just buy lossless files of a disc or two if possible. From your description, do I take it that you also are not a streaming subscriber? I get flack sometimes internally and once recently even externally for still deciding to own my own collection (though honestly, I don't even consider switching).
Thank you again for your write-up; you point as someone else did at some point too to Keith's early live performance style as paramount (somebody said the difference came when he added more drums to his kit), so I know I need to take a closer look at the surviving footage of that. Cheerio! You've got me doing a bit of a new Who dive in general now too, as you did back when I was influenced by your reviews, checked them out, and became a big fan in the first place!
Two exceptions (personal biases towards, perhaps) to your take on the covers of (roughly?) this era: Leavjng Here and Baby Don’t You Do It. Moon’s drumming and John’s backing vocals on the first give it a new identity, and on the latter, the (similar though not quite as distinct drumwork) and overall slurry roughness I think do the same. Perhaps it’s just that they were better at covering Motown songs (like, to come, the Heatwave you noted) than JB or BD.