The Who release new single ...

[Cato]

I saw a documentary about The Who a few years back.

The way Townshend talked about Daltrey, Moon and Entwistle it's fairly astonishing the band has lasted as long as it has.

It came across like he didn't value or actually even like a lot of their musical contributions and if it was up to him The Who of the classic era would almost have been a completely different sounding band.

[yorks5stringer]

If this has been released as a single can't see it getting many plays as the intro is not really radio friendly and the song takes too long to get going. Not unpleasant and very recognisable as The Who however.

Edited September 15, 2019 by yorks5stringer

[Burns-bass]

3 hours ago, RedVee said:

But his head is the right place!...And to correct you his Surname is spelt "Daltrey"

“Stop getting The Who wrong!!!”

[Burns-bass]

3 hours ago, skankdelvar said:

Shortly before Mr Entwistle popped his clogs I dragged a much younger and slightly sceptical work colleague along to see The Who. He was literally a changed man afterwards, asking for a list of the best albums and generally carrying on.

I left the company not long after but ran into him a few years later. 'You know what I did after that gig?' he said. 'I went out and bought a guitar and learned to play it'.

That’s. lovely story. Entwistle was at the gig I saw and he was phenomenal. 

Power of music!

[Chezz55]

Heard 'Ball And Chain', the new single by The Who, a couple of times over the weekend (on Radio Caroline).

Very disappointing - and I've been a fan of the Who since 1965 when I first heard 'Can't Explain''.

Chris

[spectoremg]

4 hours ago, Billy Apple said:

I'm 52 and currently doing the same thing in Kuala Lumpur.

The problem with any of this, is that we want our heroes to keep going, but alas the band is made up of a number of people who when in unison are great, but individually can be knob-'eds.

For balance, I appreciate what you are saying about Townsend's age, but Moon's drumming was so unique, that (IMHO) it was never going to be possible to find a replacement that as a unit they could carry on to new and better ground. I must admit that the choice of Kenny Jones was odd as he is so dull, but on the face of it I bet they just wanted some peace.

Fair point, I'd have settled for a reliable drummer. 

[Ricky 4000]

10 hours ago, Maude said:

>snip<

But this new one's nice enough to have on in the background while I dunk a couple of custard cream into my milky tea. 

Is that a massive euphemism?

[Hobbayne]

I quite enjoyed that R&B thing Roger did with Wilko a couple of years back. But this new effort really does nothing for me.

It was almost as embarrassing as that Free As A Bird thing that the remaining Beatles released back in the 90's. 😒

[MrDaveTheBass]

I hope I die before I get old.

[ezbass]

It seems that this ‘new’ single is just a reworking of this...

 

[skankdelvar]

9 hours ago, ezbass said:

It seems that this ‘new’ single is just a reworking of this...

Thanks for putting that up. TBPH, neither version does it for me.

Digging into this, it seems the Townshend version appeared as a sort of 'bonus new track' on a solo Greatest Hits comp about four years ago alongside such earlier career highlights as - er - Rough Boys and Let My Love Open The Door.

To be fair, the sour-faced old prune has always demo'd his songs, thereafter laying them before the rest of the band. Indeed, I prefer his solo version of Pure And Easy off Who Came First over that which derived from the band sessions.

One nevertheless suspects that the genesis of the song Guantanamo / Ball and Chain pre-dates its 2019 release by up to a decade. I mean, Guantanamo (the institution) fell off most people's radars around the late 2000's.

Edited September 16, 2019 by skankdelvar
surplus 'before'

[Bleat]

Not exactly Boris The Spider is it ? While it was easy to pass judgement before as there was only one version to detest... now it seems that another previous version already had the damn nerve to exist...! this now makes it more complicated as there is a choice , so i'll play it safe and say they are both equally awful in their own uninspired way. 

[yorks5stringer]

Just read a feature in Mojo about the new album. Apparently Townsend, Zac and Pino did all the music together in 1one studio but Daltrey recorded his vocals elsewhere. Also when they Tour, Pete and Roger travel seperately and only meet up just before they are going on.

[EliasMooseblaster]

15 hours ago, yorks5stringer said:

Also when they Tour, Pete and Roger travel seperately and only meet up just before they are going on.

Sad as it sounds, it doesn't surprise me. From the biographies I've read, even back in their heyday, their was a firm friendship between John and Keith*, and John and Pete*, but you get the impression that they were never firm friends as a group, and Roger was slightly isolated from the rest of them.

 

*Notice the common theme in the above pairings. Wasn't there a thread on here a while ago about bassists being the glue holding the rest of the band together...or did I just imagine it to soothe my own sense of self-importance?

[RedVee]

17 hours ago, yorks5stringer said:

Just read a feature in Mojo about the new album. Apparently Townsend, Zac and Pino did all the music together in 1one studio but Daltrey recorded his vocals elsewhere. Also when they Tour, Pete and Roger travel separately and only meet up just before they are going on.

Travelling separately to concerts is just the norm for any big band to do. Older bands tend to take their families along with them once their children have left school so they travel separately, and as for Roger not recording in the same studio well something must have delayed him as Pete was waiting for Roger to come into the studio to record his vocals and this can been seen on Pete's video blog. Daltrey has always recorded his vocals in the same studio used by the rest of the band but he has never allowed Pete to be there when he has laid down his vocal tracks.Most bands from the 60's that are still going are not pally with each individual member and The Who are no different.

[TimR]

On 15/09/2019 at 18:59, Cato said:

I saw a documentary about The Who a few years back.

The way Townshend talked about Daltrey, Moon and Entwistle it's fairly astonishing the band has lasted as long as it has.

It came across like he didn't value or actually even like a lot of their musical contributions and if it was up to him The Who of the classic era would almost have been a completely different sounding band.

Yes. That’s been well known for a long while. 

There was an interview with Daltry about choosing a new drummer and the new choice of ‘the four to the floor guy’ didn’t fit with the rest of them. Having a powerful melodically strong rhythm section meant Townsend being pushed into rhythm guitar position a lot of the time. 

[Wylie]

On 14/09/2019 at 17:16, ezbass said:

I listened to this earlier and I found it to be a collection of ideas stuck together to make a whole, in the style of earlier, better works. In short - meh. For me, other than Who Are You, they haven’t done anything of real worth since Quadrophenia. YMMV.

Yes yes yes.