Who's Old: Happy Birthday Pete Townshend

Happy 64th Birthday (one day late) to Pete Townshend, big-schnozzed genius bandleader, singer, songwriter, guitarist, arranger, librettist, philosopher, pill-popper, drunk, loudmouth and erstwhile guitar smasher with a dubious collection of "research" on his hard drive.

While I am a big fan of The Who's early work, I have always felt that Roger Daltrey was an average singer at best and simply not in the same league talent-wise as Townshend, Entwhistle and Moon. (Who is?) In fact, many of my favorite Who moments are when Townshend, a much more expressive singer than Roger, sings (as in the first two tracks on Tommy) or when Roger's singing is kept to a minimum and the band does their thing, as in this explosive version of "Young Man Blues" from the 1970 Isle of Wight festival.


Had Townshend not been lucky enough to hook up with his amazing rhythm section, he would have made a dandy singer-songwriter type, as the following clips from 1979's Secret Policeman's Ball attest. The Ball was a benefit for Amnesty International, and while the benefit may or may not have freed any prisioners of conscience, Pete's music has freed millions of misfit teens from the torment of adolescent angst.

First up is a solo acoustic Pete-formance of the Quadrophenia track "Drowned." His rhythm guitar playing here is nothing short of astounding. I don't think I've ever heard anyone else play quite like this.


Next, from the same show, is a duet with classical guitarist John Williams on the uber-anthem "Won't Get Fooled Again." Cheers, Pete.