The Who - Success Story

I've always been a big fan of The Who By Numbers, which came out in 1975. I think the record features some of Pete Townshend's most ingenious writing and while many consider Keith Moon's drumming on Quadrophenia (1973) to be his best, I don't think his work on By Numbers takes a back seat at all.

The lone song John Entwistle penned on the album was "Success Story." The top video is some scenes of John at his home, which is from the The Kids Are Alright (1979) movie. The second video is the audio of the song with a picture of the album cover done by Entwistle.

John Entwistle's Final Concert

Today would have been ten years since John Entwistle last played with The Who. I decided to post two videos from that concert: the Teenage Cancer Trust benefit at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The first is of John singing probably his best known song, "My Wife," which is off of Who's Next (1971). That is audio only.

The second video - "The Kids Are Alright" - contains a couple of brief shots of John, which is par for the course as the camera was always on Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey and rarely on Entwistle. "The Ox" used to don a skeleton costume in the early 1970s in order to get more attention from the cameras.

John Entwistle, the great bass guitarist, passed away on June 27, 2002 at the age of 57.

John Entwistle - Cinnamon Girl

John Entwistle covered Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl." It appeared as an outtake on The Ox's 1971 solo album Smash Your Head Against the Wall. The Who also played this song during some of their concerts in 1970.

The Who - It's Your Turn

Back to the 1980s and "It's Your Turn" which is from The Who's 1982 album It's Hard. Some places have it that this is the B-side to "Athena." I checked Wikipedia and "A Man Is a Man" was the B-side. Just to further confirm that this is correct I found the "Athena" single being sold on ebay here.

I like this song and I don't believe that The Who ever played it live. Also, for whatever reason it was not released as a single. The interesting thing about the song is that John Entwistle wrote the lyrics, but Roger Daltrey is singing it. There are not many instances where this happens - if there are any at all - and off the top of my head I can't think of one.

The Who - We Close Tonight

Keith Moon's exceptional drumming ability is fully on display during "We Close Tonight" which is off of The Who's 1974 album Odds & Sods. John Entwistle sings lead, while Moon also does some singing. Whenever a drummer attempts to sing some people automatically say it's horrible. I don't think that is the case on this song.

John Entwistle - Sparks (Isolated Bass)

John Entwistle passed away nine years ago today. A YouTuber posted John's isolated bass on "Sparks" where you can hear some of his mastery.

The Who - I've Been Away

I've always liked John Entwistle's writing both as a solo artist and as a member of The Who. The late bassist had a dark sense of humor and wrote some real gems such as "Boris the Spider," "My Wife" and "Heaven and Hell." Another song that I really like is "I've Been Away," which appeared on The Who's second album, A Quick One (1966). Lyrics are below:

I've been away so long
Wonder where I went wrong
Spent the last year inside a cell
Never ever go away again
I've been so sad and lonely
Never ever ever gonna go away again

It's a waste of time doing time
When you didn't commit the crime
It wasn't me it was my brother Bill
Emptied out the till never gonna speak to Bill again
He's made me sad and lonely
Never ever gonna speak to brother Bill again

It was no use, they put my brother on the jury
He bribed the others 'cause he owns the local brewery
They let me out today
Brother Bill's gonna pay
No one's ever gonna speak to Bill again
Never ever gonna speak to Bill again
He'll be too cold and bony
Never ever gonna go away again
Never ever gonna go away again
Never ever gonna go away again

The Who - Boris the Spider

The Who's John Entwistle wrote "Boris the Spider," which appeared on the band's 1966 album, A Quick One. Entwistle wrote the song after a night of drinking with the Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman. The two were throwing around funny names for animals when John came up with "Boris the Spider." Pete Townshend has said on more than one occasion that "Boris the Spider" was Jimi Hendrix's favorite song by The Who. In fact, Townshend wrote of Hendrix's love for the song in the liner notes of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.

John Entwistle's Last "Sparks"

The Who did three warmup gigs for the 2002 Teenage Cancer Trust Concert. Two at Portsmouth Guildhall and one at Watford Colloseum. John died on June 27, 2002.

John Entwistle's Mom Has Died

John Entwistle's mom has passed away. This was posted by John's son Chris on his Facebook page on March 10:

Hello everyone. Would have posted later this morning once I had spoken to some people that I cannot contact until Monday am. However, the news seems to have leaked out .... so, for those of you who don't know yet, I am very sad to say my grandmother Queenie passed away at 2:45 pm on Friday. She had gone into Cheltenham Hospital having suffered a stroke several weeks ago. Even though the left hand side of her body was paralysed and she was suffering from a bad chest infection, her voice was back to the point where she could shout at nurses anyway!?!

She was appearing to rally and get better. We were talking to her about moving into a very swish nursing home in Stow to convalesce. But on Friday morning the stroke extended and she lost the right hand side - she couldn't rally from that. I was thankfully able to be with her, as were my mother and stepfather. Thank you so much for all your kind messages.

The Who - My Wife (Newcastle 1971)

The above video is probably a better version of The Who playing "My Wife" then their 1979 performance in New Haven, which I posted here. Of course, in 1971 drummer Keith Moon was very much alive. The song comes from a concert done at the Odeon in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, U.K.

Jeff Beck - "Beck's Bolero"

Let's go back to 1966 when Jeff Beck got together with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Keith Moon, and Nicky Hopkins to record "Beck's Bolero." The song wouldn't be released until 1967 before eventually coming out on Beck's album Truth in '68. John Entwistle was supposed to play bass on this recording, however, he backed out at the last second which allowed John Paul Jones to step in. Keith Moon had only a few hours to record this song because The Who's roadies would be looking for him, so he wore a disguise into the recording session. At the time, Moon and Entwistle were unhappy with the constant arguments between Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey and considered leaving The Who and forming a new band with Jimmy Page. Fortunately, Moon and "The Ox" stayed put.

The Who - My Wife (New Haven 1979)

I'll stay in 1979 with The Who singing "My Wife" at the New Haven Coliseum, which has since been demolished. "My Wife" is a very clever song penned by bass player John Entwistle, which appeared on the 1971 album, Who's Next.

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 - 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.

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.

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 On John Entwistle's Importance

Pete Townshend - rock's thinking man - gave some interesting insight into the significance of John Entwistle for The Who. A fan wrote into The Who's Website and asked the following:

"Roger has been quoted as saying that John's volume was a problem in the later years due to his deafness. Did this have any impact on yourself during rehearsal/on stage at all? It always makes me laugh that Roger always stood in front of John's amps then said he was too loud!"

Pete's response:
"I always felt John was more important in the Who as a musician than Roger. (Ed: steady now). Maybe he was more important than Keith or me. He was certainly a better musician. So although I sympathized with Roger’s predicament, I also knew that Who fans worshipped John, and his sound, in a way that indicated an understanding of John’s real genius.

John was never too loud for my taste. I have had more trouble over the years with noisy drummers. However loud someone plays, all I care about is that they listen, so Roger is right on two counts. When John started to go deaf he couldn’t listen quite as well, and started to guess, and sometimes his guesses were wrong. And Roger could not simply turn up his volume, but if he did manage to get louder on stage it was often his vocal screams that hurt my ears, not loud bass. Let’s be honest, we were loud, maybe too loud, but the music, the period, the whole message we carried required absolute concentration from the audience. We used volume to guarantee that."

John's playing is perfectly exhibited in the above YouTube video from the Royal Albert Hall in 2000.

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