The Who - Amazing Journey/Sparks Fillmore East

My search for great versions of "Sparks" takes me back to 1969 - the "Tommy era" - and a performance at the Fillmore East. I think Pete Townshend's guitar is begging for mercy at the end of this one, while Keith Moon absolutely wallops his drum kit.

I also like the video below from Buffalo in 1979. I've mentioned this elsewhere, but 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.

Some day I'd like to upload The Who playing this song in Boston during the 2002 tour. Daltrey shreds the tambourine and an inspired Pete shows why he is absolutely a master of his craft.

Jimmy Page Book Sells Out

A limited number of copies of a book on Jimmy Page's life in pictures has sold out. OK, so what? Well, the book - which hadn't even hit bookstores yet - was priced at around $750. Only 2,500 copies were made of the picture book, which Jimmy Page favored as opposed to an autobiography. Page has kept a very low profile over the last couple of years. Really since the Led Zeppelin reunion at the 02 Arena in late 2007, Page has been a bit reclusive.

Led Zeppelin - Boogie With Stu

For whatever reason this Led Zeppelin classic has been stuck in my head lately. Rolling Stones' piano player Ian Stewart joined in and played with the band on this one, which is off of the Physical Graffiti album (1975). It's different than what you might expect from LZ, but still works. According to the Wikipedia article, Robert Plant played guitar while Jimmy Page played mandolin. Click this to listen.

Roger Daltrey/The Chieftains - Behind Blue Eyes

As a followup to my last post, if you want a really "pretty" version of "Behind Blue Eyes" you could go with Roger Daltrey teaming up with The Chieftains and singing the song on Jay Leno's show back in 1992. As I alluded to in the last post it's not about "pretty" for me, it's about the genuine emotion. Of course, if you're looking for anger, frustration and sadness exuded to a tee you might as well go back to the original. Daltrey said that his dog died the day The Who first recorded this song for the 1971 album Who's Next. But I've been looking for live stuff and for a specific reason. More on that at another time.

The Who - Behind Blue Eyes

I've been looking for a version of "Behind Blue Eyes" that really "fits" - I'll have more on that at a later date - but I think I've found it. This 2005 performance is of Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey in New York at Gotham Hall for Samsung's Four Seasons of Hope, an annual children's charity fundraiser.

For me, the emotion expressed in Roger's singing is real and extremely heartfelt. The amazing thing about these guys is that Pete wrote the song and then Roger brings it to life. The video quality is decent, nothing great. But that's fine for me. I'm not into everything having to be remastered and touched up to be "perfect." That Gotham show should be available on DVD because Pete and Roger really put on a superb performance from the few videos I have seen.

Pete Townshend Signing Autographs in New York

I stumbled across this video of Pete Townshend signing autographs in New York City outside of the luxurious Carlyle Hotel. I give Pete credit, I don't think I would have been as patient. These were obviously guys that were going to sell the stuff Pete autographed on eBay or whatever.

Roger Daltrey's Good Work Continues

Roger Daltrey officially opened up a unit for teenagers with cancer in Birmingham, U.K. Daltrey spearheads the Teenage Cancer Trust which raises money to build these wards specifically for teenagers. For more click this.

Led Zeppelin Covered

There are many Led Zeppelin cover bands out there. One, though, that I am looking forward to seeing is Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience which is coming to the New York area next month. Bonham has put his own band together and is going out on the road in tribute to his father, John, the late drummer of Led Zeppelin. I've read mixed reviews so far and it hasn't been against the performances. No, most of the criticism is against Bonham doing anything in the first place. Some of the comments are pretty nasty and quite harsh. I'm open minded to it and I most likely will have a review for another Website. I'll post the link if that comes to fruition.

New Led Zeppelin Book

Stephen Davis is set to put out another Led Zeppelin book, which is a followup to "Hammer of the Gods," released originally in 1985. "LZ-75" chronicles the band's 1975 tour. Davis says he recently found some notebooks that contained his writing about that tour. I wonder if it will be as over the top as "Hammer" and if it will receive the same kind of attention? I've read that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant hated "Hammer" because it was so sensational and made the guys look like not such great people. The new book comes out next month.

Pete Townshend - The Shout/I Put a Spell on You

Nice to find a live version of Pete Townshend singing "The Shout," a song he penned that is on Another Scoop, and "I Put a Spell on You" which is on Pete's Deep End Live album that featured David Gilmour. The latter is a Jay Hawkins song. The video is of a solo performance in 1996 at the Fillmore West.

Led Zeppelin - Something Else

You will never hear this song on the radio, but it's a great one. "Something Else" is an Eddie Cochran/Sharon Sheeley song that Led Zeppelin covered and is on the BBC Sessions album which came out in 1997. Seemingly all of the British bands covered a Cochran song; the Who most notably did "Summertime Blues," while "Something Else" was performed by many bands including The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

The first video is the audio from the BBC Sessions. The second video is of a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Who - Love Reign O'er Me

It's been two years since The Who toured the U.S. and recently Roger Daltrey said the band will do something next year. I figure it will be like 2002, where they'll do maybe 30 shows in the U.S. and some in the U.K. If the tour is in the spring or summer I could see them doing one of the festivals in addition. I like the idea of an "albums" tour; doing something different each night, but I get that's a lot of work. Roger even said he would like to do Quadrophenia one night, Tommy the next and then a "greatest hits" show mixed in.

For me, if they come to this area I'm there. Selfishly I'd like to see Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey take a time out while on their tour and play the site of Woodstock, now known as the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. Pete has played on the site since the original show in 1969, but Pete and Roger together have not. An acoustic show in an intimate setting - I think the place holds a few thousand - could be filmed for DVD or whatever and I think it would go over pretty well. Don't get me wrong I love seeing Pete and Roger with Zak Starkey and the guys, but just Pete and Roger might turn out to be something pretty special.

Anyway, the above video of "Love Reign O'er Me" is from that tour in 2008 when the band made a stop at the IZOD Center in New Jersey, which is sometimes called the Meadowlands Arena. I was at that show; great times.

The Who - Heaven and Hell (Tanglewood 1970)

At some point in the late 1970s, I believe, The Who began to open their shows with "I Can't Explain." But during the "Tommy Era," the band kicked off live performances with "Heaven and Hell" which was written by bass player John Entwistle. The above video is the song synced up with the footage of the concert at Tanglewood in 1970. For a while, the band opened with another Entwistle song, "My Wife."

The Who - Another Tricky Day

Let's go back to 1981 when The Who played Rockpalast - a German t.v. show that features live music performances. The above video is of the band singing "Another Tricky Day" which is off of Face Dances. Former Faces/Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones is on the drums; having taken over Keith Moon's spot following his death in 1978. John Entwistle's stellar bass playing is quite evident throughout this song. At the 1:56 mark the camera zooms in on "The Ox," who as always is dressed to the nines and playing a very cool looking oak-colored bass with a spider web on it.

Pete Townshend News

For what it's worth a poster on TheShout said that he had it on good authority that Pete Townshend (pictured above with Roger Daltrey, Michael J. Fox and his wife Tracy Pollan and Derek Jeter) has "had talks with a major music publishing company with a view of doing something with his entire catalogue." I'm not big on saying "my sources tell me" or "sources close to the situation say," but there are certain posters on TheShout who are pretty reliable. The person added that some songs could be released for the first time. I've mentioned before how much I love Pete's solo work, particularly his demos on the Scoop albums so this news is pretty exciting for me.

The Who By Numbers Artwork

Speaking of The Who By Numbers in my previous post, it was John Entwistle who did the cartoon work on the album's cover. The Who Live in Boston 2002 DVD features a segment on some drawings John did of Elton John, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards and other notable rock stars. I'm a few days late, but John would have turned 66 on Saturday. John Entwistle is sorely missed.

Robert Plant Interview

It's over a half hour long, but Robert Plant gives a very interesting interview to Studio Q. Plant discusses his latest project; Led Zeppelin; his musical roots; and takes a slight dig at Black Sabbath and Wham! If you want to hear it, click this.

Keith Moon & Ringo Starr

Classic and very funny footage of Keith Moon and his buddy Ringo Starr joking around. Ironic, that Moon taught Ringo's son, Zak, how to play drums and that Zak would eventually play drums with The Who. The question comes up from time to time what Moon would have been like had he lived. For me, I think Moon could have become an actor and done comedies. He was just a naturally funny person.

"The truth as you want to hear it? I can't do that. You couldn't afford me."

That's classic Keith and I may use it at some point.

I suppose I should add that the first few seconds of the video may offend some and probably isn't suitable to watch at work.

Jimmy Page Discusses Led Zeppelin III

The Who did an album called The Who By Numbers in 1975 that often gets overlooked by some of their fans. Rolling Stone said at the time it "may have been their greatest album in the face of their personal problems." Some referred to it as Townshend's "suicide note." But songs like "Squeeze Box" and "Blue, Red and Grey" are not maudlin in any sense.

Led Zeppelin also had an album that many people overlook and that is Led Zeppelin III. Jimmy Page discusses the band's third album here. Zeppelin II featured "Whole Lotta Love" and Led Zeppelin IV featured "Rock and Roll" and a little song called "Stairway to Heaven," so I could see how some people skip over their third installment, plus many people describe III as Zep going acoustic. But III features some really great songs such as the bluesy "Since I've Been Loving You" and if you really want to rock out, "Out on the Tiles."

One of John Entwistle's Last Sparks

John Entwistle would be celebrating his 66th birthday this Saturday. In remembering the great "Ox" we go back to 2002 when The Who did three warmup gigs in their home country in preparation for an upcoming Teenage Cancer Trust Concert. Two took place at Portsmouth Guildhall and one occurred at Watford Colosseum; the above video is from Portsmouth. John died in the summer of 2002.

Pete Townshend & Rachel Fuller Play Charity Show

Pete Townshend and his girlfriend Rachel Fuller recently performed at a charity show for adults suffering from Down's Syndrome. For more click here.

I'm glad to hear Rachel, a classically trained pianist, is again performing. Last I heard she was writing a play. Of course, I'm always happy to see Pete doing what he does best. That it's for a good cause is no surprise, Pete's work with charities has been well-documented.

The Who Live at Leeds Being Re-Released

The Who will be re-releasing Live at Leeds next month and it will include a concert the band performed the prior night at Hull City Hall. The band's performance at the University of Leeds in early 1970 is legendary and clearly a must for any classic rock fan. The original Leeds album includes blistering performances of "My Generation" and "Summertime Blues" and also one of their best renditions of, yep, you guessed it "Sparks."

The original tapes of the Hull concert which were once thought to have been lost were recently found. More on the album can be found here.

“Hull was a better gig than Leeds. I remember it like it was yesterday, although in retrospect Live At Hull doesn’t really trip off the tongue!” - Roger Daltrey

Daltrey Playing With Brian May?

While Roger Daltrey prefers to play with Pete Townshend, he has thrown out a few names recently of people he would like to work with, including Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. However, the name that seems most likely is Brian May, formerly of Queen. Bass player Neil Murray, most noted for his work in Whitesnake and Black Sabbath, added fuel to speculation of some sort of collaboration by writing on his Facebook page:

"It's always fun to play a couple of songs with Roger Daltrey, Brian May and Roger Taylor! :-)"