THE WHO's PETE TOWNSHEND On KEITH MOON And JOHN ENTWISTLE: 'Thank God They're Gone'

Blabbermouth ^ | November 26, 2019 | N/A

[DoodleBob]

THE WHO guitarist Pete Townshend has said in a new interview with Rolling Stone that he doesn't miss the band's late drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle.

"It's not going to make WHO fans very happy, but thank God they're gone," he said. "Because they were...difficult to play with. They never, ever managed to create bands for themselves. I think my musical discipline, my musical efficiency as a rhythm player, held the band together."

Townshend said Entwistle's "bass sound was like a Messiaen organ," with "every note, every harmonic in the sky. When he passed away and I did the first few shows without him, with Pino [Palladino] on bass, he was playing without all that stuff … I said, 'Wow, I have a job.'"

The guitarist was equally brutal in his recollection of Moon, saying: "With Keith, my job was keeping time, because he didn't do that. So when he passed away, it was, like, 'Oh, I don't have to keep time anymore.'"

[IronJack]

Pete just jumped the shark. Daltrey is all that’s left of The Who.

[mrsmith]

It was months before I knew that was by the WhO!
Very different from whst they’d done before.

[DoodleBob]

Kilburn is a tough gig to watch. The Who hadn’t played together for some time, Keith was way out of shape, and there were plenty of weak points. I prefer to watch Isle of Wight or The Kids Are Alright. That said, the Kilburn gig is still more exciting than the best gig by many punters today.

[Eddie01]

I’d buy Daltery a draft in a Welsh Pub.

...and tell him how much he screwed up on 5:15.

Just for laughs...

[dp0622]

I didn’t know that.

[doorgunner69]

Classic Entwhistle.

Tha man could make his bass sing. He did not just sit in the background providing rhythm.

Watched plaeny of Moon and Townsend interplay and it was obvious they intermeshed.

[Huskrrrr]

John and Keith were amazing. The whole Windmill thing was childish.

[pepsi_junkie]

Pete Townshend is just a dick. Censor this post if it's offensive but he simply is. A miserable misanthrope and pedophile, I don't care about his BS excuse about researching a book that - Surprise! - has never been published.

I feel bad for Rodger Daltry for having to deal with this massive A-hole. He did knock him out once in the 70s so there's that.

[Bommer]

Ever since Moon and Entwhistle died, what magic innovative crap have Pete done....outside of child porn surfing I mean.

[doorgunner69]

His dark pieces on Tommy were great. You always knew who wrote the song.

Everyone knows who uncle Ernie is.

[pepsi_junkie]

In the who, Entwistle was essentially playing the lead guitar parts (on bass) while Townshend played stellar rhythm guitar. I love their music, I love the songs Pete Townshend wrote, I just think he’s a gigantic A-hole.

[Huskrrrr]

John Hiatt’s “Smashing a perfectly good guitar” saysit all.

[Big Red Badger]

As I understand it,
Kilburn was filmed
with the same equipment
Used for the movie After
“The Kids are Alright”
was filmed,

I liked
“Summer Time Blues!”

[DoodleBob]

Well, the live Quadrophenia shows were something else. Watching The Rock live with the synched video backdrop was a quasi-religious experience. And Tommy on Broadway ushered in a new era in the theater. But, to your point, Keith and John were on the original Tommy and Quadrophenia - nobody is putting Face Dances on Broadway.

[Bullish]

As a pro level bassist/guitarist myself, I know exactly what he’s talking about concerning Entwistle’s fairly weird bass playing.

[a fool in paradise]

He’s right, you know.

One passed out during a concert on animal tranquilizers and a fan had to be recruited from the stadium crowd to finish out the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O-N8MZ9ilk

And another died doing coke with two hookers the night before a big reunion tour kicked off.

Meanwhile Pete Townsend played ALL of the roles on his fully composed demos for Quadrophenia.

Multitrack sure but it is all Pete:
Love Reign O’er Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYpb_NtmQdY

and the “whole” thing in demos he presented to the rest of the band:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1Gm1Rj2oKk
00:00 “The Real Me”
04:22 “Cut My Hair”
07:49 “Punk”
12:40 “Dirty Jobs”
16:22 “Is It In My Head?”
20:29 “Anymore”
23:46 “I’ve Had Enough”
30:05 “Drowned”
34:17 “Is It Me?”
38:52 “Doctor Jimmy”
46:16 “Love Reign O’er Me”

[mmichaels1970]

Meh. I went to the actual article at Rolling Stone (not “blbbermouth”) and read the two paragraphs before:

Townshend says it best: “We’re not a band anymore. There’s a lot of people who don’t like it when I say it, but we’re just not a fucking band. Even when we were, I used to sit there thinking, ‘This is a fucking waste of time. Take 26 because Keith Moon has had one glass of brandy too many.’” You shouldn’t be sentimental. God knows Townshend is not.

Well, sometimes he is. Over the years, Townshend has lamented the long-gone Moon, and after Entwistle’s death, Townshend said, “Without him, I wouldn’t be here…. When I did look over and he wasn’t there, I wanted to die.”

So I dunno. Probably just crabby the day of the interview.

[a fool in paradise]

Keith Moon was better when he backed Elvis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29VM44bM77M

[DoodleBob]

There is a video of John where he explains and demonstrates the difference between a bassist and what he was - a bass guitarist. The harmonics and overtones were undoubtedly partly a function of his tone (which is all in the fingers, as Andy Timmons aptly demonstrates) but also his rig and volume.

Pete is undoubtedly the greatest rhythm guitarist ever. But he will never be held in the same regard instrumentally as John or Keith (or Roger). Perhaps that's why Pete is so bitter now.

[a fool in paradise]

And what’s wrong with “the Kinks”?

https://www.facebook.com/BBCRadioSolent/videos/1522091831244240/