Pete Townshend
There are many things it is easy to know about Mr. Townshend that easily bring him into the discussion of the greats: The Who, "Tommy", "Quadrophenia" and "Live at Leeds" alone are a resume that tops all but the most elite, but there is oh so much more. We can start by fleshing out just that short list:
- "Live at Leeds" is amazing in many ways, not the least of which is that it managed to capture the mayhem of The Who's live act, which always bordered on chaos while hardly ever actually falling apart. They had established themselves as a rock force and were touring in support of "Tommy", where they recorded over thirty shows on the US tour and eight more in the UK. But even though they had high-quality multi-track recordings, there were no notes of which recording was which show was which, so with no time to re-sort and compile and with bootleg recordings already a force in the industry, the decision was made to record the two Leeds shows on a mobile eight track, which Pete then edited on his personal eight at home. The result was described by the NY Times as "the definitive hard-rock holocaust' and "the best live rock album ever made."
- "Quadrophenia", both the album and the film, is a remarkable distillation of Pete's soul-searching in the wake of success, an outpouring of his need to reconcile the four disparate personalities of the Who, his ongoing spiritual journey as a follower of Meher Baba (see more on this huge influence in Pete's life and music here, and his continuing need to push the boundaries of rock. Pete says: "I wanted everyone who listened to the album to find themselves and their own story in it". And not for nothing, Pete traveled all over the UK with recording equipment finding sounds and dialogue to be the perfect additions to the music. It is remarkable, and only the more so for it being the second time he had attempted such a thing. The first being:
- "Tommy", a rock opera. A what?! If that isn't enough, even if it hadn't been done before, it is also, according to Pete, an attempt to "describe the disciple/master relationship and, in a Hermann Hesse-style saga of reincarnation, to connect the last seven lives of that disciple in an operatic drama that ended in spiritual perfection." Got that? Not your average rock anthem. And if the album isn't enough, it was intended from the beginning to be performed, which it most certainly was, and it spawned orchestral versions, a film and a Tony-winning stage show (yeah, Pete won a Tony for best original score). The NY Times called it "rock's first formal masterpiece" and Life magazine said: "For sheer power, invention and brilliance of performance, "Tommy" outstrips anything that has come out of a recording studio."
By the way, the three things described above are all in what Pete thinks of "Act One" of his life, as outlined in his autobiography "Who I Am", which is so bloody good that it starts to feel like piling on. He can write, too? Sheesh. But what about acts two and three?
The thread that runs through all three acts is, of course, The Who. but while I obviously can't cover Pete without covering his band, I can't do them justice while focusing on him. So please read about this amazing group here. They were simply put, for a time, the biggest, baddest, loudest rock band in the world. Can you say "Who Are You", "Baba O'Reilly" and "Won't Get Fooled Again"? And there was no Who without Pete. Remember that he wrote most of the songs, sang a surprising bunch of them, did a vast amount of recording and engineering and was - and still is, of what's left - the creative center of the band. He describes the process of writing for and to the specific and idiosyncratic talents of his three mates and it really gives an you appreciation of what Pete meant to The Who. And while there is Who music that I truly love - "Love Reign O'er Me", "The Seeker" and "See Me" leap to mind but are only a few - my favorite music of Pete's come from his solo career.
A thing I love about Townshend's solo arc is that it is so personal. He never divorces his life from his music and hearing it evolve with him and reflect his personal changes feels like a real gift. And this seems like a good time to mention that it is semi-amazing that Pete could function at all considering some of the things he has faced. Horrible child abuse, massive problems with addiction of various kinds, losing a litany of friends and family to tragic causes, and, in a vicious irony, being accused and investigated for child porn and pedophilia, make for an impressive pile of hardships that could have been anyone's undoing. But his creative force never diminished and he poured out a catalog of music that defies the term. Even if you only look at his original studio solo albums - which is to miss the massed genius of the three "Scoop" records and "Iron Man" - you can find pure rock fun like "Face the Face" and "Jools and JIm", experimental instrumental stuff like the Meher Baba tracks on "Psychoderelict", and poignant melodies like "Slit Skirts" and "I Am an Animal". The precision, the power and the pith of his lyrics are all undeniable and merely build on the fantastic instrument work beneath them. Can you tell I like his songs?
Speaking of instruments, Pete plays keyboards, mandolin, violin, banjo, accordion, drums and, oh yeah, guitar. He is on any number of top ten guitarists lists and was a true innovator - e.g. he invented the Marshall stack. So he can play. He has also been on the leading edge of recording and engineering throughout his career, building and modifying endless studios and boards, and always trying to find new and better ways to record and reproduce - down to the actual physics of sound - the music he was creating.
Other random but notable stuff:
- editor for the London publishing house Faber and Faber
- tireless charity worker, not just playing concerts, which he does endlessly, but organizing, contributing to and serving a number of charities, most focusing on drug rehab and children
- adapted the children's book "The Iron Man" into a musical, a version of which eventually became the animated film The Iron Giant
- has done all kinds of internet based work including Lifehouse Method and Eelpie
- continues to work in theatre with "The Boy Who Heard Music" - which actually was produced in workshop at Vassar's Powerhouse Theatre - and his current project Floss.
There is more - there is always more with Pete - but I think my case has been made. Put Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend on the list of Titans.
So far:
Neil Young
Pete Townshend
Next up:
Peter Gabriel
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