The Who - Naked Eye/Let's See Action/My Generation Blues

The Who in 1974 playing at the Charlton Athletic Field start off the concert's finale slow with "Naked Eye" before stepping things up and getting into "Let's See Action" and then capping things off with a blues version of "My Generation." This comes off a CD offered a couple of years ago as a perk to joining TheWho.com.

The Great Led Zeppelin Countdown Results

Q104.3's Carol Miller asked fans for their top three Led Zeppelin songs. So here's what the fans said are their favorites; #1 may surprise you. I'm not a big fan of lists for a couple of reasons. For one, people usually get pretty nasty when you have a debate over such things and secondly, lists have have a tendency to diminish. For example, you don't see "The Rover" on this list, so does that mean that it's a bad song? Of course not.

I must admit I voted a few times. I can't remember exactly, but it was some variation of "Achilles Last Stand," "Ten Years Gone," "Stairway," "Hey Hey What Can I Do," and there may have been another song or two. For me, when it comes to The Who and Led Zeppelin there are just too many great songs to narrow it down. By the way, Carol Miller "Gets the Led Out" every weeknight at 8 during her show and during the Jim Kerr Morning Show at 8.

#15 - Tangerine
#14 - Immigrant Song
#13 - Black Dog
#12 - The Ocean
#11 - The Rain Song
#10 - Over the Hills and Far Away
#9 - Ramble On
#8 - Dazed and Confused
#7 - Since I've Been Loving You
#6 - Whole Lotta Love
#5 - When the Levee Breaks
#4 - Ten Years Gone
#3 - Achilles Last Stand
#2 - Stairway to Heaven
#1 - Kashmir

Roger Daltrey vs. Simon Cowell

Looks like Roger Daltrey had a few things to say about Simon Cowell. Here are a few of the quotes courtesy of The Sun.

"He's made a good industry out of it, but it's belittled the power of music. He wouldn't know what the "X Factor" was if it bit him on the b******s."

Incidentally, Simon Cowell is the "brains" behind America's Got Talent, as well. Contractually he is not allowed to appear on the show because it is on a different network than America Idol.

Robert Plant Joining The Who for Benefit

I wrote in a prior post that The Who, Jeff Beck, Blondie’s Debbie Harry and former Verve singer Richard Ashcroft will be playing a charity concert at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London on January 13, 2011. I wondered if Robert Plant would join the lineup and in fact he has. It seemed likely that this would happen as it comes on the eve of Plant bringing his Band of Joy to the northeast of the U.S. Those tour dates are here.

Robert Plant and Band of Joy Touring The Northeast

I'm very much interested in this tour and I'm almost certain I will be in attendance at one of these shows:

Tuesday, Jan. 18: Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Asheville, N.C.
Wednesday, Jan. 19: Peterson Events Center (University of Pittsburgh), Pittsburgh, Pa.
Friday, Jan. 21: Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Saturday, Jan. 22: Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, Ont.
Tuesday, Jan. 25: House of Blues, Boston, Mass.
Wednesday, Jan. 26: Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, Pa.
Friday, Jan. 28: MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods Resort & Casino, Mashantucket, Conn.
Saturday, Jan. 29: Beacon Theatre, New York, N.Y.
Tuesday, Feb. 1: D.A.R. Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, Feb. 2: Memorial Auditorium, Raleigh, N.C.
Friday, Feb. 4: North Charleston Performing Arts Center, North Charleston, S.C.
Saturday, Feb. 5: Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Ga.
Monday, Feb. 7: Ovens Auditorium, Charlotte, N.C.
Tuesday, Feb. 8: War Memorial Auditorium, Nashville, Tenn.
Wednesday, Feb. 9: War Memorial Auditorium, Nashville, Tenn.

Jimmy Page Touring?

Jimmy Page said here that he will be doing some shows next year and he is desperate to be doing something. I can only imagine someone as talented as Page needs to be and should be out there. I'm very curious to see who he teams up with. Although, I've heard things from Page before that have never come to fruition so this may be just talk.

Pete Townshend & Rachel Fuller - Sunrise

I recently auditioned for America's Got Talent and sang the song, "Sunrise," which is off of The Who's 1967 concept album, The Who Sell Out. This version is a bit different, but I still like it, although I prefer Pete singing the song on his own. The above performance took place in 2007 at the annual South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas where Townshend was the keynote speaker.

Pete Townshend and Paul Weller Rehearsing "Sunrise"

I came across a cool video of Pete Townshend and Paul Weller rehearsing the song "Sunrise." Apparently this was before the charity show The Who did at the Royal Albert Hall in 2000. Weller joined The Who onstage at that show and did "So Sad About Us," which the latter half of this video shows them practicing. If you don't know Paul Weller's music, you are definitely missing out. By the way, that entire concert was posted here.

The Who - Sunrise

It's not a song you will hear played on the radio, but it's as good as you will get when it comes to Pete Townshend's writing. "Sunrise" comes off of the 1967 album, The Who Sell Out. More about the significance of this later.

The Who Live 2000 at the Royal Albert Hall

The Who's work in raising money to fight cancer and for other good causes is well-documented. Let's go back to a show that the band did in 2000 at the Royal Albert Hall which featured guests such as Eddie Vedder, Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, and Bryan Adams among others. It's available on DVD and CD. This was the first year of the annual series of shows that take place at the Hall and benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust charity. There are many highlights of this show, but for me, John Entwistle's bass solo in "5.15" stands out. The above YouTube video is the entire concert. The YouTuber that posted the video went out of his or her way and broke down where you can find each song.

0:00:00 - I Can't Explain
0:02:34 - Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
0:07:14 - Pinball Wizard
0:11:13 - Relay
0:19:30 - My Wife
0:26:55 - The Kids Are Alright
0:34:36 - Bargain
0:41:30 - Magic Bus
0:51:32 - Who Are You
0:58:39 - Baba O'Riley
1:05:29 - Drowned
1:11:54 - Heart To Hang Onto
1:16:53 - So Sad About Us
1:21:14 - I'm One
1:24:31 - Behind Blue Eyes
1:28:20 - You Better Bet
1:34:12 - The Real Me
1:40:34 - 5'15
1:52:43 - Won't Get Fooled Again
2:02:24 - Substitute
2:05:48 - Let's See Action
2:11:10 - My Generation
2:16:39 - See Me Feel Me

The Who, Jeff Beck, Blondie Doing Charity Show

Gibson.com, among other websites, is reporting that The Who, Jeff Beck, Blondie’s Debbie Harry and former Verve singer Richard Ashcroft will play a charity concert at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London on January 13, 2011. The show will raise money for KILLING Cancer, a charity that funds Photodynamic Therapy, or PDT, a little-known cancer treatment that uses laser light to weaken cancer cells.

My question is will this show include Robert Plant who is in the midst of lining up concerts for the winter, including a recently announced stop in Pittsburgh. Plant, who shares the same management as The Who, said he is in full support of the campaign.

Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience in Stamford

Jason Bonham brought his Led Zeppelin Experience on Wednesday night to Stamford, Connecticut and the Stamford Center for the Arts, which is a mere 40 miles north of Madison Square Garden where his father John and the mighty Led Zeppelin ruled so often in the 1970s.

The show started promptly at 7:30 with the opening drum roll of “Rock and Roll” sending folks who were milling about in the lobby running for their seats. From that point on the energy inside the 1,500 seat theater ebbed and flowed throughout the first set. Jason came out from behind his drum kit a few times during the opening half of the show to talk to the crowd; explaining the format of the concert, where the idea came from and the difference between John Bonham the father and “Bonzo” as the world knew the great Led Zeppelin drummer who died when Jason was 14 in 1980.

James Dylan was solid on vocals throughout. While Dylan wisely did not try to copy Robert Plant, his singing still paid homage to one of rock’s great frontmen. Other than Jason Bonham’s frantic drumming, guitarist Tony Catania stood out for me the most. His guitar work was brilliant as he alternated on some songs such as “Stairway to Heaven” between a double necked guitar and an acoustic six string. He broke out the bow during “Since I’ve Been Loving You” which received an enthusiastic response from the crowd. Bassist Michael Devin (Whitesnake) and keyboardist Stephen LeBlanc also were good, though less spectacular.

One of the more touching moments of the night was watching Jason perform “Moby Dick” as the giant video screen behind him showed a clip of Bonzo playing the same song. You couldn’t help but get choked up. The videos were spaced out perfectly during the concert and were never a distraction. In addition, there was some old footage shown of Jason playing the drums with his mother and father looking on.

A 15-minute intermission followed “Moby Dick” and then the second half of the show ensued with the crowd really revved up. The majority of the people in attendance stood throughout the second half of the performance with some people dancing in the aisles. The fans were a mixed bag ranging from the very young (I saw some kids that couldn’t be more than 12) to some older folks (mid-60s) and everything in between.

I didn’t know what to expect heading into the concert – I’ve read some pretty nasty and unfair criticism of Jason for even doing the tour in the first place - but it exceeded my expectations by a mile.

Jason Bonham definitely made his father proud on this night.

The Setlist:
1 - Rock and Roll
2 - Celebration Day
3 - Bring it on Home (Intro)
4- Black Dog
5 - Your Time is Gonna Come
6 - Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
7 - Dazed and Confused
8 - What is and What Should Never Be
9 – The Lemon Song
10 - Thank You
11 - Moby Dick
12 - Good Times Bad Times
13 - How Many More Times
14 - Since I’ve Been Loving You
15 - When the Levee Breaks
16 - The Ocean
17 - Over the Hills and Far Away
18 - I’m Gonna Crawl
19 - Stairway to Heaven
Encore
20 - Kashmir
21 - Whole Lotta Love

Roger Daltrey Considering Live Solo Album

Roger Daltrey (pictured on the right) reportedly taped all of his 2009 solo tour and now producer/guitarist Frank Simes (pictured on the left) is sifting through the material with the hope of putting together a best of. Daltrey did some songs on the tour that The Who rarely performed live such as "Tattoo."