The Who - Sparks (Houston 1975)

My first - and definitely not the last - "Sparks" post of 2011. This one goes back to 1975 and The Summit in Houston, Texas, which Roger Daltrey says is his favorite Who concert. As you can see from the video, Keith Moon and Pete Townshend are absolutely on fire. There is a DVD of this concert, but not an "official" one, which is a shame.

Roger Daltrey On Jools Holland

Roger Daltrey appeared on Jools Holland's "Hootenanny," which is the New Year's Eve celebration of Jools regular U.K. show. Roger sang Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy" with Jools and his R&B orchestra.

According to Wikipedia, "it is a arrangement of (and an "answer song" to) Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man" (which in turn was inspired by Waters' and Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man."

The Who sang "I'm a Man" which appeared on their 1965 album, My Generation. However, that album when released in the U.S. with a different album cover and was called The Who Sings My Generation. Strangely, it did not include "I'm a Man."

Condolences to The Townshends

Pete's mother Betty Townshend passed away last week at the age of 87. There's not too much on the Internet about her except for the video above where she is talking about Pete on an A&E biography. There's also a little bit about her background in the Wikipedia article for her husband, Cliff Townshend, who died in 1986. Cliff was a very successful jazz musician in England before the dawn of rock music.

My condolences go out to the entire Townshend family.

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.

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love (2007 Reunion)

A little over three years ago Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Robert Plant and Jason Bonham got together at the the O2 Arena in London for a one-off show in a tribute to the late Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records. Talk of a DVD has run hot and cold since the concert, however, there is always YouTube. The bottom video of the band playing "Whole Lotta Love" seems to have the better audio quality, but either way they are both pretty good.