Pete Townshend Interview

Pete Townshend gives his thoughts about his performance and talks about some other issues backstage at the Royal Albert Hall.

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.

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.

Pete Townshend On The Windmill

Pete Townshend says in the above interview that he started doing the windmill after watching Keith Richards warm up before a Rolling Stones concert. Richards, though, was not doing a windmill but some stretching.

Pete Townshend and John Lennon

I'm always curious about how the greats regard one another and if their paths ever crossed. For this post here are a few items on Pete Townshend and John Lennon.

There is more in this interview but below is one snippet of something Lennon had to say. For more click here:

"Listen to “Twist and Shout.” I couldn’t sing the damn thing I was just screaming. Listen to it. Wop-Bop-a-loo-bop-a-Wop-bam-boom. Don’t get the therapy confused with the music. Yoko’s whole thing was that scream. “Don’t Worry, Kyoko” was one of the f****’ best rock and roll records ever made. Listen to it, and play “Tutti Fruitti.” Listen to “Don’t Worry, Kyoko” on the other side of “Cold Turkey. I’m digressing from mine, but if somebody with a rock-oriented mind could possibly hear her stuff, you’ll see what she’s doing. It’s fantastic, you know. It’s as important as anything we ever did, and it is as important as anything the Stones or Townshend ever did. Listen to it, and you’ll hear what she is putting down. On “Cold Turkey” I’m getting towards it. I’m influenced by her music 1000 percent more than I ever was by anybody or anything. She makes music like you’ve never heard on earth."

Pete Townshend on John Lennon from an interview here:
"I had an incredible conversation once with Paul McCartney. The difference between the way Lennon and McCartney behave with the people that are around them is incredible. What Lennon does is he sits down, immediately acknowledges the fact that he’s John Lennon and that everything for the rest of the night is going to revolve around him. He completely relaxes and let’s everybody feel at ease and just speaks dribble little jokes, little rubbish like he’s got, In His Own Write and little things. Like he’ll start to dribble on and get stoned and do silly things and generally have a good time. Of course everybody gets into his thing and also has a generally good time."

"But Paul McCartney worries, he wants a genuine conversation, a genuine relationship, starting off from square one: We’ve got to get it straight that we both know where we’re both at before we begin. One of them is f******* Paul McCartney, a Beatle, the other one is me, a huge monumental Beatle fan who still gets a kick out of sitting and talking to Paul McCartney. And he’s starting to tell me that he digs me and that we’re on an even par so that we can begin the conversation which completely makes me even a bigger fan. That’s all it serves to do. The conversation comes to no purpose and all he serves to do is to confuse himself. He’s trying to say, 'Oh, you know, you know where you’re at. I know where I’m at, we’re both really just us and let’s talk.' So what do you say? I’m a fantastic fan of yours, man.”

If you are interested in more links on The Who and The Beatles click this for what purportedly is the last photo of John and Paul. There is also a picture on that page of Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Keith Moon.

Also, the picture is no longer available, but here is a link to an auction of a copy of Arthur Janov's The Primal Scream, as sent to Pete Townshend by John Lennon.

Pete Townshend and The Kinks

I came across this article here entitled "Pete Townshend Writes About Playing Chicago with the Kinks in 1969 Letter."

Click this for a full size of the letter. You may need to increase the font size of your browser to read it.

Townshend has often talked about his admiration for Ray and Dave Davies including the influence that some of the Kinks' songs had on Pete's writing. From The Kinks Wikipedia page here:

"Pete Townshend of The Who was particularly affected by the song: "'See My Friends' was the next time I pricked up my ears and thought, 'God, he's done it again. He's invented something new."

The World According To Pete Townshend

Pretty much everything fans would want to know about Pete Townshend is covered in an article on Gibson.com, in which they gather up some Townshend quotes that have appeared in various magazines over the years. If you want to read it click here.

Quadrophenia Demos

After Pete Townshend's announcement yesterday that he is working on an expanded Quadrophenia, I did a little digging and came across some of Townshend's home demos from 1973. The pictures in the video are from the Quadrophenia movie.

Pete Townshend On Solos

During a 1980 interview with Steve Rosen of Sound International, Pete Townshend was asked if it was important for him to have the technique of a Jeff Beck. Townshend answered by saying that the joy he would get from a solo would never be as great as what he gets from expressing himself through a song.

You can read the full interview here.

Pete Townshend On Feedback

I came across an interview Pete Townshend did in 1980 with Steve Rosen and Sound International. Among the many questions that Pete was answered was if he was the first to use feedback. Pete answered that he had an agreement with Dave Davies and Jeff Beck that they would argue until the day they died over which one came up with feedback. However, Townshend added that it was probably happening in many places at once.

For the entire interview click this.

New Pete Townshend Interview

A new interview was posted over the weekend with Pete Townshend in the blog section of The Economist. Click here if you want to read it. It's a very good and worthwhile read which touches on many subjects, including Pete's book which is due out in 2012.

Pete Townshend on The Beatles

There's nobody in rock that gives better answers than Pete Townshend. Let's go back to 1967 where Pete (in the above video) discusses the British music scene and the impact of The Beatles.

In another interview - which is from 1995 and one that I cannot find on YouTube but was an extra on the 2008 DVD, TCT at the Royal Albert Hall - Pete talks about how he and Eric Clapton were invited over to listen to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with The Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein. Pete claimed that he and Clapton were the first ones outside of The Beatles to hear the album from start to finish.

Pete Townshend on Led Zeppelin

It wasn't too long ago that I posted this on TheWho.com's message board and what a response it got. The thing is that with Pete Townshend and his thoughts on Led Zeppelin (or anything for that matter), he changes his mind quite often. That's what you get with Pete. I've read comments from him where he does nothing but praise Zeppelin. By the way, his expression at the end of the video is great because he realizes that what he just said is going to get plenty of attention. Townshend, though, has always saved his greatest criticism for himself and has always been The Who's harshest critic, which is something that I'm sure has and still can drive Roger Daltrey a little nuts at times.

Pete Townshend On Letterman

One of several appearances by Pete Townshend on Late Night with David Letterman. This one comes from June 28, 1989

Pete Townshend On Letterman (1985)

Pete Townshend visited Late Night with David Letterman on November 12, 1985 in order to promote his solo album, White City.

Pete Townshend Interview

Let's travel back to 1986 and an interview Pete Townshend did on MTV for "Friday Night Videos." Pete talks about the song "My Generation" and how up until the time of this interview he had never sung it publicly.

Pete Townshend Interview in Premier Guitar Magazine

Always a great interview, Pete Townshend doesn't disappoint in Premier Guitar Magazine here, or does he? When asked about the future Townshend states that there are no plans for a tour at the moment and also discusses his latest project:

"Floss is not a new Who album. It is a musical play. Some of the music might work for Roger and me; I am still working on it. I reckon I have another year to go writing."

Townshend also talks about his hearing:

"I don’t use in-ears on stage. Not yet. I have just been introduced to a new microprocessor- controlled system with three transducers in each ear. They sound amazing. But the Chinese might hack into my gig… I have started wearing hearing aids in the past months. The new ones are incredible. Tiny. The only way to protect my hearing would be to stop playing music. I get the most problems from long periods of studio work, which is how I compose. So I am nervous about the future right now."

For me, Pete has given more than enough already and anything he does going forward is gravy. What's most important is that he takes care of his hearing, which he appears to be doing.