In Defense of The Who

I once turned down a chance to see The Who live, because I thought it would be sad to see the band so far past their prime.   That was about 20 years ago.   And yeah, the Super Bowl performance was about what I expected -- pretty lame (though I never expected to see Pete Townsend whiff on one of his windmill guitar moves). 

But let me now defend The Who, one of the truly great great bands of all time.  Their debut album is simply one of the most cherished pieces in my collection.  My fingers can't find the right superlatives on the keyboard here to express how much I love even the filler tracks on that record.  And then Tommy is obviously a special (if spotty) piece of music, and Who's Next, completely amazing.  And so many other singles and cool bits.  Quite a legacy.  It's a shame they've been recycling the highlights for so many years and degrading the memories in the process.  But the old tapes don't lie.  It would be more conventional to point you to these takes of Baba O'Reilly and Won't Get Fooled Again, but I'll embed instead "A Quick One" - their pre-Tommy attempt at (mini) rock opera.  Goofy as can be, but undeniably great, and a reminder of how much more energetic they were than any other band on the planet circa 1968.  If you're pressed for time, just go to the ridiculous "you are forgiven" finale around the 6 minute mark. 

Comments

[LarryK]

Let me offer a partial defense of the Who's Superbowl performance - particularly Roger Daltrey, who (assuming no lip synching) looked and sounded great for someone pushing 70 (BTW, the misspelling in my last post of "Love Reign O'er Me" from Quadrophenia was intentional, for obvious reasons). I think the main reason the Who has been recycling for so long was they were such a tight four-man unit, and when Keith Moon died in the late 70s the band lost cohesion, never successfully 're-grouped' and essentially stopped writing new material by 83. The rockumentary "The Kids are Alright" is a great document of the Who's career up through Moon's death, and IMO one of the three or so best concert movies.

[Whitney]

NOTHING can excuse the disgusting old man midriff action Pete displayed. NOTHING. I am scarred.

[Allison]

The Superbowl performance was pretty bad, but I expect Superbowl performances to be pretty bad. The Who are one of my all-time favorite bands and when I saw them live 3-4 years ago (they were headlining Virgin Music Festival with the Red Hot Chili Peppers) they were really good. I was scared that they would be old and washed up, but they still had so much energy (particuarly Townsend) and sounded great.

[Joe Gaeta]

Actually, you only have to go back 9 or 10 years for a truly great performance.

I know the Who's halftime performance left us all with an empty feeling. (Although, I'd rather see an old, crappy 1/2 Who than a young, glitzy, over-produced, computer-enhanced, pop-rap soul-less act.)

To cleanse your palatte, I submit for your approval the Who's last truly great performance. October 2001. The Concert for New York City. John Entwistle died the following June.

1. Who Are You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2sWjouB1YA&feature=related

2. Baba O'Riley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG_uDDEnzC4&feature=related

3. Behind Blue Eyes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtZNNV4d_rA&feature=related

4. Won't Get Fooled Again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjA_RtsBfAo&feature=related

Two things jump out - even on a sub-par YouTube video. One is how much better Daltry sounded in his mid-50s than he does in his mid-60s. (A few too many primal screams, I guess.)

The second - and more glaring - is The Ox, John Entwistle. His unmistakable, chest-thumping lead bass-guitar stylings were, in retrospect, the true heart of the Who's sound.

Until the who found Zack Starkey (Ringo's kid) to play drums for them in 1997, it was conventional wisdom that Keith Moon was the driving-force. When he died, so did the Who. However, as someone who saw them in person in 2000 and who owns live performances from 1999 and 2000, I can tell you that it, in fact, was Entwistle's death that killed the Who. I maintain that from 1999 to 2002, they regained their title as the best live band in the world. I have the CDs and DVDs to prove my point. (When I saw them live at Philips Arena in Atlanta in 2000, I literally felt Entwistle's bass in my sternum.)

Yes, note-for-note, Led Zeppelin wrote better songs and produced better studio recordings than the Who. However, in my opinion, the Who could blow them off the stage.