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Thursday, April 12, 2012

The #29 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Pete Townshend

We are up to #29 now, another of the legends on the guitar:
#29:  Pete Townshend, Who, solo
51 years as an active guitarist


Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend was born May 19, 1945 in London.  He was the founder, chief songwriter and lead guitarist for the group the Who.  Townshend became famous for his live "full wind up" strokes of the guitar, which became known as the "windmill".
 

Townshend was born into a musical family as his father Cliff was a saxophonist with the Squadronaires and his mother was a singer.  Pete showed an interest in rock & roll at an early age, becoming fascinated with the 1956 movie Rock Around the Clock.  His grandmother gave him his first guitar at age 12.  Townshend's early influences were Bo Diddley, Link Wray, John Lee Hooker and Hank Marvin.  Then he started listening to "Green Onions" and other songs by Booker T. & the MG's and he knew he wanted to be a guitarist.


In 1961, Townshend enrolled at Ealing Art College to study graphic arts.  A year later, he and friend John Entwistle foundered their first group, the Confederates, with Pete playing banjo and Entwistle playing horns.  The duo then recruited another former schoolmate, Roger Daltrey, to sing lead in a skiffle group called the Detours.  In 1964, the group found that another band had named themselves the Detours so Pete's group changed their name to the Who.  Drummer Doug Sandom was soon replaced by Keith Moon.  
 

The group had a good local following but needed something to set themselves apart in the busy London music scene of the mid-60's.  In September 1964, while performing at the Railway Tavern, Townshend accidentally broke the head of his guitar through the low ceiling.  When the audience began to snicker, Townshend smashed the instrument on stage.  He picked up another and did the same to it.  


A large crowd attended the next show.  Townshend did not smash another guitar (they were, after all, just starting out...) but Moon wrecked his drum kit.  The band had found their "gimmick" and destruction of instruments became a staple of Who concerts for years to come.  


Townshend was the primary songwriter and the driving creative force behind the band.  The Who's first single was "I Can't Explain" in 1965, which became a Top 10 hit in the U.K.  The Who's debut album My Generation (The Who Sings My Generation in the U.S.) was released later in the year.  It contained the title track "My Generation" and "The Kids Are Alright".  "Substitute", "I'm a Boy", "Happy Jack" and "Pictures of Lily" followed.  In 1967, the group signed with Track Records, where they would stay for nearly a decade. 
 

The group's breakthrough came with the release of The Who Sell Out, a concept album of an offshore radio station, complete with jingles and commercials.  The song that ignited interest was the single "I Can See for Miles".  Largely through the success of this album, the Who was invited to the Monterey Pop Festival, one of the key events of the 1960's.  


The Who smashed their equipment at Monterey, and they did it again on an appearance on The Smothers Brothers television show.  Moon detonated his drum kit, and with an explosion more powerful than anyone expected.  Townshend says to this day that the stunt was the beginning of his tinnitus.


In 1968, the Who headlined the Schaefer Music Festival in New York City's Central Park and released the single "Magic Bus".  Later that year, Townshend announced that he was working on a full-length rock opera, a landmark in modern music.  That rock opera was called Tommy, and it was brilliant.
 

The Who at Woodstock



The Who played much of Tommy at Woodstock in 1969.  They performed "I Can See For Miles" on the BBC show Pop Go the Sixties in January, 1970 and recorded their concert Live at Leeds, thought by many to be one of the best live albums of the Rock Era.  Tour dates to perform Tommy not only included Leeds but European opera houses, as well as the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, as the Who became the first rock act to perform there.
 

Who's Next was released in 1971, the group's best studio album to date.  It reached #1 in the U.K. and #4 in the United States.  The album features the great tracks "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Baba O'Riley".  The following year, the Who released "Join Together" and "The Relay".  


In 1973, the group released their second rock opera, Quadrophenia, which reached #2 in both the U.S. and U.K.  This period of their career was definitely the group's peak.  During a concert at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, Moon passed out.
 

In 1974, the outtakes album Odds & Sods was released, followed by The Who by Numbers in 1975.  Both paled by comparison to the group's best work.  The movie Tommy came out that year, starring Daltrey and earning Townshend an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score.  On December 6, 1975, the Who set the record for the largest indoor concert at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan, a concert attended by 75, 962 people.  


In 1978, the group released Who Are You.  Three weeks later, Keith Moon died in his sleep after an overdose of the drug Heminevrin, which was prescribed to combat alcohol withdrawal.  Kenny Jones of Small Faces and Faces was brought in to succeed Moon.
 

The Who returned live in 1979 with shows at the Rainbow Theatre in London, the Cannes Film Festival in France, Wembley Stadium in London and five dates at Madison Square Garden in New York City.  The group released the documentary The Kids Are Alright and the movie version of Quadrophenia.  In December, the Who were featured on the cover of Time magazine.


A tour of the United States was underway in December when tragedy struck.  Fans rushing to get into Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio caused a stampede that killed 11 and injured 26 others.  


The Who released two studio albums with Jones--Face Dances in 1981 and It's Hard in 1982.  "You Better You Bet" was weak compared to early Who releases, although "Eminence Front" was a popular track.


By this time, Townshend's marriage had fallen apart due to his heavy drinking and heroin use.  The Who embarked on their "farewell" tour in 1982, which was the highest grossing tour of the year.  Although the Who owed Warner Brothers Records another album, Townshend announced he was unable to generate material for the group and left the group in December.  
In July, 1985, the group reformed for a one-time show at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in London.  In 1988, the Brit Awards honored the Who with the British Phonographic Industry's Lifetime Achievement Award.  In 1989, the Who did a 25th anniversary tour which emphasized shows from Tommy.  The group performed to sellout crowds across North America.


The Who were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 in their first year of eligibility.
 

In 1996, Townshend, Entwistle and Daltrey performed Quadrophenia with guest stars at a concert in Hyde Park in London.  The success of the show led to a U.S. and European tour in 1996 and 1997.  The Who did shows in 1999, which led to another tour of the United States and the U.K. in 2000.  The group was further honored that year at the Grammys when they were presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.


The Who performed charity shows in England in 2002, but on Jun 27, right before a tour of the United States was to begin, John Entwistle was found dead in Las Vegas, Nevada from cocaine.  After cancellations, the tour resumed with bassist Pino Palladino as Entwistle's replacement.  The Who also did 18 dates in 2004.


Townshend worked on a mini-opera called Wire & Glass, which he presented at Vassar College.  The Who performed for the Live 8 concert in 2005, then were inducted into the U.K. Music Hall of Fame later in the year.  The Who received the Freddie Mercury Lifetime Achievement Award in Live Music at the Vodafone music awards.
 

In 2006, the Who released Endless Wire, their first studio album in 14 years.  The album debuted at #7 in the United States.  The group toured in 2006-2007 and headlined the Glastonbury Festival.


In 2007, the group released Amazing Journey:  The Story of the Who, which included footage not previously released, such as film from their appearance at Leeds University in 1970.  The documentary was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award.
 

In 2008, the Who were honored at the Kennedy Center Honors and did a small tour.  A tour of Australia and New Zealand wrapped up in early 2009.  The group performed at halftime of Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, Florida in 2010.  The Who also performed Quadrophenia at Royal Albert Hall in March.  The group performed in London on January 13, 011 for a benefit for cancer.


The Who are one of the most influential artists of the Rock Era, influencing Led Zeppelin, U2, Queen, Rush, Pearl Jam, the Clash and many more.


Townshend's creation, Tommy, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, the song "My Generation" in 1999 and Who's Next in 2007.  "My Generation" was selected for preservation into the United States National Recording Registry in 2009.
 
Townshend wrote most of the hit singles for the Who, including "My Generation", "I Can't Explain", "Pictures of Lily" and "Substitute".  His signature guitar move was when he would swing his right arm against the guitar strings in a style that reminded one of the vanes of a windmill.  Townshend was one of the first musicians to smash guitars on stage and it became his trademark.  


The Who continued to be one of The Top Artists of the Rock Era*, and were considered one of the best live acts as well, because of the volume of material, showmanship and high-energy performances.  The Who have sold 100 million records, have charted 27 Top 40 songs in the U.K. and the United States, had 17 Top 10 albums, with 18 of those going Gold, 12 Platinum and 5 Multi-Platinum in the U.S. alone.


Townshend wrote over 100 songs on the group's 11 studio albums and is generally considered as the genius behind the group.  He created the concept for the Soundtrack to "Tommy", for which the term "rock opera" was coined, and a second revolutionary rock opera, Quadrophenia.  He developed or perfected the use of guitar feedback and introduced the synthesiser as a rock instrument.  


Townshend has released several solo albums.  Between 1969 and 1971, he released Happy Birthday, I Am and With Love.  In 1972, Pete released the album Who Came First, which was actually a collection of demos of Who songs as well as a way to showcase his acoustic guitar playing.  In 1977, he joined Ronnie Lane of the Faces for the duet Rough Mix.
 

After the death of Who drummer Keith Moon in 1980, Townshend released the excellent album Empty Glass, which included the Top 10 song "Let My Love Open the Door" and a top album track--"Rough Boys".  Townshend followed that up with All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes in 1982.  He continued to release story-based albums including White City:  A Novel, The Iron Man:  A Musical and Psychoderelict. Pete also played with idol Hank Marvin, David Gilmour, John Bonham and Ronnie Lane in Paul McCartney's "Rockestra" sessions.


Townshend has also recorded several live albums, including one with a group he formed called Deep End.  In 1993, Pete and Des McAnuff wrote and directed the Broadway adaptation of Tommy, as well as another stage musical based on The Iron Man.


From 1995 through the present, Townshend has been a part of tours with the surviving members of the Who, including a 2002 tour that continued despite the death of Entwistle.  Townshend and Daltrey continued to perform with other musicians as the Who, undertaking a major world tour in 2006 to promote their first album in 26 years--Endless Wire.  The Who performed at halftime of the Super Bowl in 2010.


Townshend has played (and destroyed) many guitars, including Gretsch, Gibson and Fenders.  He has played Guild, Takamine and Gibson J-200 acoustics.  When the Who were starting out, Pete played an Emile Grimshaw SS DeLuxe and 6 and 12-string Rickenbacker semi-hollow electrical guitars.  But as the guitar-smashing became expected, he switched to more durable and cheaper guitars such as the Fender Stratocaster and Fender Telecaster.  
 

In the latter part of the decade, Townshend began playing Gibson SG guitars.  In the 1970's, Pete played a Gibson Les Paul DeLuxe, although he also played a 1959 Grestsch 6120 in the studio, a guitar given to him by Joe Walsh.  Townshend used Fenders, Rickenbackers and other Telecaster-style guitars and then switched to the Fender Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster with Lace Sensor pickups.  


Pete has endorsed several guitars, including the Gibson Pete Townshend SG, the Pete Townshend J-200 and three different Pete Townshend Les Paul Deluxes.  Rickenbacker also designed a Pete Townshend Signature in 1998. 


Pete Cornish designed a pedal board for Townshend in 2006, which uses a compressor, an old Boss OD-1 overdrive pedal and a T-Rex Replica delay pedal.


Townshend has used many different amplifiers, including Marshall, Fender, Fox and Hiwatt, but seeming to prefer Hiwatt as he has used them for four decades.  Since 1989, Pete has used four Fender Vibro-King stacks and a Hiwatt head driving two custom 2x12 Hiwatt/Mesa Boogie cabinets.


Townshend figured prominently in the use of what has become known as "The Marshall Stack".  Also, as the first cabinets were massive and difficult to transport, Townshend suggested Marshall cut the cabinet into two separate speaker cabinets, with each containing four 12-inch speakers.   


Townshend also owns several prized guitars that he keeps well away from the instrument-smashing stage, including vintage Rickenbackers, the Gretsch 6120, an original 1952 Telecaster and his own Les Paul DeLuxe. 


Townshend has also played synthesisers including the EMS VCS3, the ARP2600 and an ARP 2500.


Pete has done innumerable charities for children, drug rehabilitation, Amnesty International, Live Aid, Rock Against Racism, victims of flooding in Mozambique, the Concert for New York City after 9/11, and many others.


He has played guitar for many artists including Elton John, Mick Jagger, David Bowie and the Ramones.  He assembled the group Thunderclap Newman in 1968, played bass and produced their music, including the hit "Something in the Air".  He also produced "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.  


Several artists have cited Townshend as an influence in their guitar playing including Slash of Guns N' Roses and Alex Lifeson of Rush.
 

Pete Townshend is a one of a kind.  He was, of course, the genius behind the Who and a great songwriter, but this special is about guitarists and none of that was taken into consideration in this ranking.  He earns this spot because of his talent playing the guitar and the fact that he is one of the top live guitarists of all-time.  Pete Townshend is the #29 Guitarist of the Rock Era*.

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