The Who - Dogs

Since we are on the eve of the Kentucky Derby, here is a song called "Dogs" which is a 1968 single by The Who about greyhound racing (not horse racing, but whatever). The song mentions the greyhound, Yellow Printer, who according to this article is considered one of the fastest greyhounds ever. I'm surprised "Dogs" was not on The Who Sell Out album as it kind of fits the mode of that record. The lyrics are comedic and of course, the guitar, bass and drums are brilliant. I wish I had the capability of isolating John Entwistle's bass playing because when you turn this song up, you can really hear how different 'Wistle's playing is from any other bass guitarist.

Led Zeppelin - Tea For One

"Tea for One" is a rarely-if-ever played Led Zeppelin song off of their Presence album and the band's second boxed set. It's a good, soulful, bluesy song about homesickness. I thought about "Tea for One" the other day after I heard Q104.3's Carol Miller play "Baby Come on Home," which wasn't even released until Boxed Set 2 in 1993. Both are great songs!

The Who - Underture

Continuing on the subject of “Sparks/Underture” from my previous posts here and here, the above is a YouTube video with the studio version of “Underture” being played and accompanied by some pictures of The Who throughout their years together.

Although "Underture" is on the Tommy album, the music actually first showed up on the latter portion of “Rael 1,” which is off of The Who Sell Out; an incredibly sophisticated album which deserves multiple listens. Pete Townshend's art school background is on full display on Sell Out, so for some people that only know The Who through Who's Next, they may not initially "get" Sell Out.

When you listen to “Underture” it is quite clear that there’s a lot going on. I think it is definitely one of Pete's best and most complex compositions, however, it's probably also a song that people foolishly skip over when they listen to Tommy. I also think that it is one of those rare songs that every time I listen to it, I hear something new that I hadn't heard before.

The first part I love is around the one minute mark, which is where the heavy bass moves into some frenetically tight drumming – an oxymoron in most cases, but not when your drummer is Keith Moon. Basically, it sounds as though a machine gun is being fired, but there is not a hint of sloppiness to Moon's drumming, just ferocity. I can envision Moon going around and around on his massive drum kit and making sure he doesn’t leave one component of the kit untouched. His drumming is equally as fierce at the 2:33 and 7:33 marks.

The song slows down around 6:38 and seems to bide its time for about 30 seconds or so before hitting the climax and then fading.

I found a demo of "Underture" on YouTube (of course), which was released on Pete's demo collection, The Genuine Scoop. Here is a link to it; an amazingly rich sound; which, for me, only Pete Townshend could and can achieve. Not even an orchestra can match the genius that is Pete Townshend.

"Yes, the Who can help you find God. But then so can surviving a terrible plane crash." –Pete Townshend

The Who - Sparks (1980)

I stumbled across this version of “Sparks” on YouTube which is from a show The Who did in Kansas City in 1980. That means that Kenney Jones was on the drums.

This version displays a bit more of the rawness that is a hallmark of the song, as opposed to "Sparks" in Buffalo which I discussed in my previous posting.

Just to set the record straight, “Sparks” is really an amalgam of “Underture” and “Sparks;” both off of the Tommy album. The build and climax of this song which is capped off by Pete’s "birdman" is right out of "Underture" and isn't in the studio version of "Sparks." But since these live versions always grow out of the end of "Amazing Journey," I suppose it is more user friendly to call them "Sparks." The track listings of any live album The Who ever did always lists the song as such.

The Who - Sparks

One of the best parts of a Who concert is when the band plays a combination of "Underture/Sparks" from their Tommy album. I've listened to many different live versions of the song and I would rank them all good to great. Even a version from the 1989 tour in Glens Falls is really good, although some fans don't like it because it lacks a bit of the song's usual latent aggression.

The Who Live in Boston 2002 DVD finishes really strong with "Amazing Journey/Underture/ Sparks/See Me Feel Me" and then "Listening to You." That DVD's "Sparks" has become known as the "Iwo Jima Version" where Pete Townshend goes into a thing about Captain Walker hanging out with General MacArthur in Iwo Jima. In Tommy, Walker is reported missing and presumed dead. Eventually he shows up later on in the story.

Back to "Sparks." Some of the other performances of the song that I like are The Who at Georgetown in 1969 which is incredible and of course I can't discount the versions of "Sparks" at Woodstock (1969), Isle of Wight (1970) or Leeds (1970) which are all out of this world.

Recently, though, I came across the above video. Pete does something different from 2:23 to 2:30. He seems to be playing something that sounds very similar to the opening riff of U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name." By the way, that U2 song didn't come out until 1987.

Pete Townshend - Join The Air Force

Pete Townshend touts the positives for joining the air force in the above P.S.A.

The Who - My Wife

Continuing off of my last post....

Pete Townshend wrote the overwhelming majority of Who songs. In fact, he not only wrote the lyrics, but he wrote drums for Keith Moon, guitar for himself and bass for John Entwistle. Pete would make a demo of a song and then bring it to the band. The Who would either give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. This is much different than what The Who's contemporaries would do. Most bands generally featured at least two principal songwriters; i.e. Lennon/McCartney or Jagger/Richards. John Entwistle, though, did contribute some very good songs for The Who. One of which is "My Wife." I found this video on YouTube of the song being performed by the band in Cleveland in 1975 with "The Ox" on lead vocals. Funny enough, none of the songs John wrote are sung by any of the other band members. Also, here is a sample of some of the classic lyrics from "My Wife" below.

My life's in jeopardy
Murdered in cold blood is what I'm gonna be
I ain't been home since Friday night
And now my wife is coming after me

Give me police protection
Gonna buy a gun so
I can look after number one
Give me a bodyguard
A black belt Judo expert with a machine gun

Pete Townshend - Begin The Beguine

The range of what Pete Townshend can sing and make his own has never surprised me. From Another Scoop he sings "Begin the Beguine," which had previously been reserved for the likes of Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire. Pete is a great singer and has many weapons in his arsenal; he can sing melodically as he does here and also does on "Sunrise" or he can go for the more somber, reflective style as he does with "However Much I Booze." Townshend, though, didn't sing lead very often in The Who as he had his kind-of-sort-of buddy Roger Daltrey doing the honors.

Begin The Beguine - Pete Towns...

Pete Townshend - Behind Blue Eyes

Pete Townshend discussed "Behind Blue Eyes" in the above video and what the song is about and how it's meaning has evolved for him over time. When the band recorded the song originally in 1971 for Who's Next, Roger Daltrey said his dog had died that morning so for him the song took on a very distinct meaning.

The Shout - Pete Townshend

The Shout - Pete Townshend

Many Who fans have been asking what is next for The Two after last month's performance of Quadrophenia at the Albert Hall. Roger Daltrey has some solo dates coming up and Pete is hard at work on a musical. Still, nothing has been said about a future tour. For me, although I would love to see them again live, I also wish Pete would release some more stuff from his archives. For example, the great 1975 concert in Houston which is on YouTube.

That may be a pipe dream so I will gladly accept another Scoop-style album, which were a series of albums that Townshend put out which were made up of demos that for one reason or another did not make it onto Who albums. “The Shout” is from Another Scoop and is one of those highly emotive songs that is a Townshend trademark. I think it would have fit in pretty well on The Who's By Numbers album or Townshend's solo album, Empty Glass.

Night School - Pete Townshend

Recently I came across White City on YouTube. White City: A Novel was a solo concept album released by Pete Townshend in 1985 and is somewhat autobiographical. The basic premise of the story is about someone that becomes successful and returns back to the city they grew up in and found it to be run-down and filled with racial tension. I vividly remember buying this CD, however, I never got to see the one-hour film until just recently. The album featured David Gilmour, Pino Palladino, Simon Phillips, Mark Brzezicki, John "Rabbit" Bundrick and the man, myth and legend, Chucho Merchan. Pete’s daughter Emma also provided backing vocals for “Night School.” The above video is a much different version than what appeared on the album.

Getting Ready for Halftime

This is a pretty cool video of the crew setting up for The Who's Super Bowl halftime show. Approximately 600 people set everything up and then broke it all down. Amazing how they are able to put this type of stuff together and got it all done without any sort of serious panic.