I just caught The Who at Amsterdam, the last stop of their Who Hits 50 tour. Once more they didn't disappoint (I also saw them a couple of years ago, when they presented the whole Quadrophenia album). Of course their age shows, the manic energy of their 60's concerts is gone (and so has, thankfully. the destruction of their instruments onstage) but they can still play a rippin' good show. I guess that when they can't do it anymore, they'll just stop. They played music from all stages of their career, including two songs from this, their 1965 debut. It has been called "the hardest rocking LP" ever, a valid statement given the time of its release. Its relentless youthful energy provided the blueprint for much of the subsequent garage rock, heavy metal, and punk. Opener "Out in the Street" is a powerful garage/R&B number with a catchy chorus. It's followed by "I Don't Mind", the first of two James Brown covers (the other is "Please, Please, Please"). It may seem a strange choice for a hard rock band, but The Who (with their previous names, as the High Numbers and the Detours) were the house band of the mod movement, known for its meticulous dress code, love for scooters and soul music - hence The Who's early moniker "Maximum R&B". "The Good's Gone" is a great garage rocker with drawling vocals and "Much Too Much" sports a Dylan/ Byrds folk rock sound. "La-La-La-Lies" is a melodic Beatles-y number and "It's Not True" a mocking song featuring a Stones-y beat, Beatles-y harmonies and Townsend's trademark power chords. "My Generation" itself is an iconic song, an open call for rebellion against the older generation, topped by the infamous "I hope I die before I get old" line. I'm not sure how they feel playing it now that they've hit 70. Musically it's also a very aggressive song:
Townshed's guitars are loud and distorted, Moon attacks his drums more furiously than anyone in memory and Daltrey's delivery is an angry and frustrated stutter (When I first heard him sing "Why don't you all f-f-f-f-fade away", I was half-expecting to hear f-f-f-fuck off). Not to be outdone, Entwistle puts in the coolest bass break I've ever heard. "The Kids Are Alright" is an autobiographical piece. As Daltrey told us, it came from feeling trapped in the role of a husband and father when je was just a 20 year old kid who wanted only to play rock 24/7. "Sometimes, I feel I gotta get away...Bells chime, I know I gotta get away/And I know if I don't, I'll go out of my mind/Better leave her behind with the kids, they're alright/The kids are alright" Musically, the first impression is that it sounds like the Beatles. Then you think yeah, if the Beatles had swallowed a bagfull of speed, causing Ringo to grow a couple of extra hands! Now, The Who weren't blues influenced like their contemporaries Animals/Stones/Yardbirds etc, but they did include a loose but aggressive blues jam in "I'm A Man". Halfway through it disintegrates in a haze of guitar feedback, manic drumming and disjointed piano keys banging. "A Legal Matter" is about divorce (pretty rare for that time since rock'n'rollers were barely out of their teens) and it's the first song sung by Pete Townshed rather than divorcee Roger Daltrey. The album closes with "Ox", a monumental surf instrumental all distorted guitars (predating Hendrix by a couple of years) and frantic drumming played at double speed. The fact that Keith Moon was barely 19 at the time beggars belief! The Who quickly outgrew this phase and wrote more sophisticated songs but, for sheer energy and power, they never surpassed "My Generation". And neither has anyone else, for that matter!
***** for My Generation, The Kids Are Alright
**** for Out in the Street, The Good's Gone, It's Not True, A Legal Matter, The Ox
*** for I Don't Mind, La-La-La-Lies, Much Too Much, Please Please Please, I'm a Man
No comments:
Post a Comment