The Who News Roundup

Plenty of news about The Who the last couple of days.

First up, Keith Moon was remembered yesterday on what would have been his 65th birthday. Click here for an article at mlive.com and then another story on UltimateClassicRock.com here.

Meanwhile, part 1 of an interview that aired last night with Pete Townshend on BBC2 can be found by clicking this. Pete goes over the early days of The Who in an hour-long discussion. Part 2 will be put up on the website next week.

Gibson.com takes a look at the Pete Townshend J-200 Signature Artist Series acoustic guitar at this link.

The Who - Dogs Part Two

I have not heard this song until a few days ago. From the 1969 B-side of the "Pinball Wizard" single comes "Dogs Part Two," which is an instrumental that Keith Moon gets the credit for.

Keith Moon Drum Solo - Won't Get Fooled Again

Another great drum solo from Keith Moon. This one comes from the DVD The Who at Kilburn and a concert at the Gaumont State Theater on December 15, 1977.

Keith Moon - Who Are You (isolated drum track)

I came across this video yesterday of Keith Moon's isolated drumming on "Who Are You."
The footage of the band comes from the movie The Kids Are Alright.

Keith Moon - Rare Drum Solo

I'm not sure where this comes from, but it's classic Keith Moon! Also, starring a goldfish.

Pete Townshend On Keith Moon

Pete Townshend discusses Keith Moon and the lifestyle the late drummer was leading during the filming of the movie Tommy, which came out in 1975.

Won't Get Fooled Again Isolated Drums

Well this pretty much is as good as it gets. Keith Moon's drumming has been isolated during "Won't Get Fooled Again."

The Who - Melancholia

I have been listening to The Who Sell Out quite a bit lately. In my previous post I mentioned "We Close Tonight" off of Odds & Sods as a song where Keith Moon's drumming is really great. I also like "Melancholia" from Sell Out. By the way, the person that made this video really captures the essence of the song.

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.

Keith Moon/Pete Townshend Talking

I love YouTube for videos such as the one above, which is a short clip of Pete Townshend and Keith Moon joking around. These guys must have been an absolute riot to have been around. I've never heard of anyone with such an infectious laugh as the one that Keith Moon has!

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 - 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.

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.

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

Remembering Keith Moon (August 23, 1946-September 7, 1978)

My first post in a while....

Keith Moon died on this date 32 years ago. I always like watching the way Keith interacted with the other members of The Who, particularly Pete Townshend, during live performances. This video of the band performing "Water" at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 is a prime example.

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

About That Keith Moon Movie

I have no idea what the status of the Keith Moon movie starring Mike Myers is. Last I read it was in production and slated to be released at some point next year.

By the way, Roger Daltrey who is hitting the road for some solo dates wrote and performed this song in 1978 in honor of Keith, "Under a Raging Moon."

The song features drummers: Martin Chambers (The Pretenders), Roger Taylor (Duran Duran), Cozy Powell (The Jeff Beck Group, Black Sabbath), Stewart Copeland (The Police), Zak Starkey (The Who, Oasis), Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) and Mark Brzezicki (Big Country, The Cult).

Keith Moon Tribute

There are two sides to the moon, you know? Anyway, here are two cool clips I got off of youtube that are tributes to the late, outrageous, extraordinarily talented, and tragic Who drummer, Keith Moon.