Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

A couple of years ago a reader suggested that I compile a Songbook on The Who’s Pete Townshend. I thought it was a good idea, and set to the task of putting together such a thing. Then other tasks got in the way. But as Pete’s 80^th birthday on May 19 approached, I finished the job, and here it is.

For all the windmilling, feedback-drenched guitar solos and smashed musical instruments, the real genius of Pete Townshend resides in his songwriting. Even as a youngster barely into his twenties, Townshend was writing lyrics that cut straight to his psyche —neurotic, inquiring, defiant.

Unlike many of his peers, Townshend wasn’t just writing about cars and girls and drugs — though there was some of that too. His lyrics addressed themes of identity, transcendence and disillusionment, challenging the grey British post-war social compact and expressing the frustrations felt by a generation of young people at the oppressive nature of the status quo, while also questioning the reaction to the reactionaries.

Townshend could deliver hard jabs in short songs. My Generation was the snarling anthem of youthful rebellion, but it went deeper than sloganeering, expressing the fear of fading relevance before you’re even an adult — and thus hoping for an early death. Well Pete got old before he’ll die.

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who performing at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, on October 10, 1976. (Creative Commons)

As the 1960s turned into the ’70s, he also developed a taste for the bombastic and epic. Tommy, released in 1969, wasn’t the first rock opera but it was the one that proved the form could work, artistically and commercially. Then came 1973’s Quadrophenia, which some regard as his masterpiece, and perhaps his most personal work with The Who.

Won’t Get Fooled Again from 1971 might well have been a punchy singalong anthem — Townshend retained the endless intro because the song was supposed to be part of another rock opera, Lifehouse. That was going to be a multi-media project based on the teachings of the Indian spiritual leader Meher Baba (who claimed to be the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age). Hence the title Baba O’Riley, like Won’t Get Fooled Again on the excellent Who’s Next?, the album that featured songs from the abandoned project (the O’Riley of the title is the minimalist composer Terry O’Riley).

Townshend solo work was more reflective, interrogating themes of faith, failure, and self-inquiry — with all his personal demons, some widely publicised and discomfiting, there was much to explore. The featured Rough Boys, from 1980, might get you dancing footloose.

If all that makes Pete seem like a humourless old character, well… One song that has made people laugh is Squeeze Box — discussion of which by a pair of parents was a highlight in the wonderful Freaks & Geeks TV series — with its lyrics of, “She goes in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out, she’s playing all night and the music’s all right. Mama’s got a squeeze box, Daddy never sleeps at night.” Well, Pete has denied any double entendre: “It’s not about a woman’s breasts, vaginal walls, or anything else of the ilk.” So apparently it is about playing the accordion.

It has been said that if Keith Moon was the chaos in The Who, Townshend was the conscience — a storyteller, a philosopher, and a bit of a crank.

As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R (that is, without the bonus tracks), and includes home-windmilled covers, and the above as a PDF. PW in comments.

1. The Who – Who Are You (1978)
2. The Jam – So Sad About Us (1978)
3. Sweet – My Generation (1974)
4. Keith Moon – The Kids Are Alright (1975)
5. Ramones – Substitute (1994)
6. Rush – The Seeker (2004)
7. The Smithereens – Tommy (2009)
8. The Chieftains with Roger Daltrey – Behind Blue Eyes (1992)
9. Bettye LaVette – Love Reign O’er Me (2010)
10. Richie Havens – Won’t Get Fooled Again (2008)
11. Michelle Schmitt – Love Ain’t For Keeping (2011)
12. Laura Branigan – Squeeze Box (1983)
13. Elton John – Pinball Wizard (1974)
14. Tina Turner – I Can See For Miles (1975)
15. Yvonne Elliman – I Can’t Explain (1973)
16. David Bowie – Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (1973)
17. Jennifer Warnes – We’re Not Gonna Take It (1969)
18. London Symphony Orchestra with Merry Clayton – The Acid Queen (1972)
19. Sylvie Vartan – Ce soir nous sommes la pour vous (Join Together) (1972)
20. I Pooh – Ora che cosa farai (La-La-La-Lies) (1966)
21. The Spontaneous Generation – Pictures Of Lily (1968)
22. The London Philharmonic Orchestra – Baba O’Riley (1998)
BONUS TRACKS:
23. Pete Townshend – Rough Boys (1980)
24. Green Day – A Quick One While He’s Away (2009)
25. Natalie Imbruglia – Let My Love Open The Door (2015)
26. Billy Fury – Long Live Rock (1973)
27. The Amboy Dukes – It’s Not True (1967)
28. The Pudding – Magic Bus (1966, original version)

GET IT!

Previous Songbooks:
ABBA
Ashford & Simpson
Barry Gibb Vol. 1
Barry Gibb Vol. 2
Bill Withers
Billy Joel
Bob Dylan Volumes 1-5
Brian Wilson
Bruce Springsteen
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 1
Burt Bacharach & Hal David Vol. 2
Burt Bacharach’s Lesser-Known Songbook
Carole Bayer Sager
Carole King Vol. 1
Carole King Vol. 2
Chuck Berry
Cole Porter Vol. 1
Cole Porter Vol. 2
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
George Harrison
Gordon Lightfoot
Hank Williams
Holland-Dozier-Holland
John Prine
Jimmy Webb Vol. 1
Jimmy Webb Vol. 2
Jimmy Webb Vol. 3
Kris Kristofferson
Lamont Dozier
Laura Nyro
Leonard Cohen
Neil Diamond
Paul McCartney Vol. 1
Paul McCartney Vol. 2
Prince
Rod Temperton
Rolling Stones Vol. 1
Rolling Stones Vol. 2
Sly Stone
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder Vol. 1
Tom Waits

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