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Sunday, May 8, 2016

Under the Big Top # 19: “Gravitational Pull”

(Personal reflections inspired by Who songs)

Song: “My Generation”
Album: My Generation
Release Date: December, 1965

Rolling Stone Magazine did a nice cover story on the Ramones a few weeks back. (** Side Note # 1:  I find it amazing that all four founding members of the Ramones are dead:  “The Cover of Rolling Stone” has been sadly eulogistic these days with David Bowie and Merle Haggard on other recent covers and now, Prince, in the mail just yesterday).  The issue included a review and ranking of the top 40 Punk albums of all time, the Ramones taking the top spot with their 1976 self-titled debut.  The #2 and #3 slots were predicable (The Clash’s 1977 self-titled debut and the Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bullocks), but there were some interesting choices further down the list, including The Stooges, Devo, the New York Dolls, and Nirvana, none of whom are considered primarily as Punk bands.  That was fine by me, seeing as each write-up made a valid argument for having the given entry in the mix, including several as Punk inspirations.

The only problem was the inspirations did not go far back enough.  If they had, and were flexible enough to recognize singular songs instead of just entire albums, the Who would surely have been slotted in somewhere, considering their earliest chart entries were truly proto-punk songs: “I Can’t Explain’’, “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere”, and “My Generation”.  Yes, before this band was anything, they were a Punk-like band; maybe even the first (the Kinks could make this claim too).  I realize this probably does not impress many, but part of my job here is to make the case for why this was a big deal.  After all, the Who’s punk origins made them immediately relevant (due to the novelty) and is the key reason why this band will endure the test of time.  I’m not just talking through our age.  I’m talking Mozart-like endurance (the one commonality of the bands I focus on in this blog series is this conviction).  It’s pretty cool to realize something like this at the time it is unfolding, and that you have personally witnessed such a spectacle on numerous occasions.

If Punk itself was anything, it was liberating.  Many Punk bands came from lower class backgrounds, and the music was their ticket out of misery and conformity.  Heck, even middle and upper class kids who did not want to repeat the mistakes of their elders found solace in Punk, which rebelled against the establishment.  Punk even rebelled against most of the Rock establishment that preceded it, seeing as by the mid-70s many of those successful performers were slipping and sliding into the same hedonistic trappings that fame had incurred on so many other famous people before them.  How do you define Punk?  How about “laying it all on the line”; or “nothing to hide”; or “raw and unadulterated”; or “open wound”.  All these work.  I was too young and honestly not angry enough (thank goodness) to fully appreciate Punk when it erupted onto the scene.  But I knew at the time that it was real (my first memory of Punk was actually a funny one, with the Sex Pistols just starting their singular disastrous USA tour, Dad walking in the house after work, looking over at Fred and I with a glimmer in his eye and blurting out "Johnny Rotten!")

The sad fact with many Punk bands however, was that they did not last (fearing rust more than burnout perhaps) and more importantly, they did not evolve.  The Sex Pistols and many others of their contemporaries were shooting stars.  The latter-day Punk band Green Day (recognized at # 18 on the Rolling Stone Punk list for 1994’s Dookie) is a rare exception. They took their roots and stepped it up, ultimately producing the phenomenal Rock concept album, American Idiot. One of the incredible things about the Who is they did this too, only along a much longer and diverse continuum.  That proto-punk foundation was a solid one; extremely important for setting the Who’s work ethic and morality.  And they capitalized on it -- like no other band has since. 

The Who’s Punk origins are captured in all its glory on the 1970 Live at Leeds album, which has consistently been rated as one of the best live Rock albums of all time.  Even the non-punk songs (in terms of their original studio release sound and meaning) come across as Punk here.  Funny thing was I did not pick up on the potency of this album on the handful of times I first listened to the original compact release.  Some of this had to do with live albums in general.  I have forever known the potency of live music, but I guess I had always just concluded that “you had to be there”.  On top of this, as I have mentioned often before, I am an original-studio-album-oriented guy:  Great studio albums lay out concepts whether intentional or not, which I love to diagnose.  Also producers and engineers have the opportunity with studio albums to perfect the sound.  Live events make it much more difficult, if not impossible, to capture and tinker with sound in order to get the sought-after effect onto record.  That was my thinking for many years.

But as music critic Tom Moon once stated, “The more you love music, the more music you love”, and so it was really only a matter of time before this one sunk in.  The first live recording I ever really connected with was Bob Dylan’s 1976 Hard Rain album with the Rolling Thunder Review, which hit me many years after it should have.  And I do recall the very moment the planet’s aligned for me with Live at Leeds – literally.  I was sitting on the deck at Mac’s Humarock cottage on a lovely starlit night about 10 years ago.  Mac cranked up the album and I said to myself “ok, I’m going to give this another go”.   I sat back and looked into the night sky.  There to my left was Mars, and to my right Venus.  Together with my perception of where Earth was in comparison, I could suddenly see the Solar System at play (no, I was not stoned).  And as this image enveloped me, so too did Live at Leeds.  It was one of those glorious moments that you hope can last forever.  Some of it was fleeting, as such moments certainly are, but other aspects remain, including that then new found insight into the power of Live at Leeds. 

Part of the insight I obtained that evening had to do with how that 1970 concert on the West Yorkshire England campus of University of Leeds (at the University Refectory) progressed. The original 6 song release of Live at Leeds was a compilation of highlights from the show.  But in the process of capturing highlights, the original release lost much of the flow and buildup.   Much like fireworks, amazing live events have buildup, often reaching a grand finale.  In the case of a concert however, it’s not so much due to one final outburst as it is to a crescendo effect, or slow buildup.  The first time I realized this as important in a live event was when I went to see Richie Havens many years ago. The show started off slow and tame, but as it went on I came to the realization that I was slowly being reeled in, like a fish on a line.  Not soon after I had the same experience at an Arlo Guthrie show. Professional musicians are masters at this ability.  The Who were among them.  Recorded proof finally burst through with later releases of Live at Leeds which have included more and more of the set list. That evening in Humarock, Mac and I were listening to the whole 33 song event. That Planet-aligning vision, coinciding with my Live at Leeds eureka moment, was no fluke:  I was opening my eyes to a gravitational pull on multiple fronts that night.  (** Side Note # 2: Live at Leeds was the only live recording the Who released in Keith Moon’s lifetime, which dumbfounds me knowing their top-notch reputation as a live act).

Live at Leeds is a 4-man freak show.  It borders on sensory overload.  The Who had everything going for them that evening (and many others), and were masterful on all accounts: Drums, guitar, bass, lead and backing vocals.  Although the entirety of Live at Leeds is mind-numbingly good, I’ll cherry-pick out a couple of highlights here.  First, if I had to introduce someone who was completely alien to the Who’s music to try and define them, I might start with the Live at Leeds version of “Happy Jack”, which captures all their energy and potency in 3 minutes, and then I would compare it to the studio version.  This live version somehow replicates note for note the studio version, but in much more dynamic fashion because it is live.  The amazing thing about it is the studio version is by no means easy to replicate (it actually sounds live itself), and everything seems to be moving at 78 RPM.  But the Who pull it off.   Keith Moon’s drumming is mesmerizing.  Pete Townshend’s guitar work is majestic, as is John Entwistle’s bass and Roger Daltrey’s lead vocals.  Even the Townshend/Entwistle backing vocals are spot-on stupendous. And it’s all note for note (most incredibly Moon’s drums), syllable for syllable, and pitch for pitch (i.e. “lap, lap, lap”).  My point here is, even if you have never heard this song before, you could compare a studio listen of “Happy Jack” to the live version and I believe you would be astounded.

Other moments on Live at Leeds are not so emulative.  One of them is “My Generation”, the second to last number played at Leeds, and this week’s Big Top entry.  “My Generation” has been constantly tweaked in the Who’s live set throughout their 50-plus year career.  The version on “Live at Leeds” is likely one of their longest, taking up most of side 2 of the original album release (the only other song on side 2 was the encore, “Magic Bus”).  Its proof that a Who extended jam could rival anyone’s including the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead.

To witness the Who at their Punk best one only needs to watch the opening scene to the movie The Kids are Alright (“My friends call me Keith you can call me John”) which thankfully, Rolling Stone Magazine has posted on the web ( http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/flashback-the-who-blow-up-smothers-brothers-in-primetime-20160304 ).  It is a truly fascinating moment in pop-music history, and one that no band will likely ever be able to get away with again (for those who do not know what I am talking about, I’ll leave the resolution to this anticipation up to the video link to showcase). 

Years ago great friend Kurt posed the question to me “If you had to choose any event to attend from the past, what would it be”?  It’s a great question.  I immediately rolled out a few concert events, including Woodstock and the Neil Young Rust Never Sleeps tour.  I caught him by surprise, as he was thinking along the lines of sporting events (Bobby Orr’s Stanley Cup winner for example).  But after hearing me out, he reconsidered.  Anyhow, I’ve been thinking more about this exchange all week as I listened to Live at Leeds. No doubt I am adding it to my wish list.  It really is a seminal recording and must have been brilliant to have witnessed in the flesh.   I was once in the sensory-overload crowd with this album, but not anymore.  Through stars aligning, or gravitational pull or luck or blessing or wisdom or a little of it all, I’ve been transported to the other side.

I’ll close with a few images.  The first is a poster that Madeline and Jeff (who receive these weekly rants) presented to me on my 50th birthday.  It’s so punk, and so I dedicate this entry to these two great friends.  The second photo is one of my all-time favorite Who photos which is a caption in Richard Barnes sensational book The Who: Maximum R & B.  It’s another punk moment I could not pass on adding here (note the action-reaction between Pete Townshend and the preppy crowd).  Finally, I add those 4 recent Rolling Stone covers.  Let’s hope 2016 is done with taking away some of the great musicians of our time.


- Pete





 

 




Sunday, May 1, 2016

Under the Big Top # 18: “Parallel, Interconnected Worlds”

(Personal reflections inspired by Who songs)

Song: “Mike Post Theme”
Album: Endless Wire
Release Date: October, 2006

“Vicarious Dad”: This is how I sign off my emails and chats to daughter Charlotte these days.  It wasn’t difficult to dream that one up.  After all, Charlotte has spent the last 3-plus months on a semester-abroad tropical-ecology program in Panama; a trip that has included excursions throughout the country, from rain forests to cloud forests, volcanoes to coral reefs, mangrove swamps to tropical islands.  Charlotte has stayed with Panamanian families in small villages and lush agricultural regions, as well as an indigenous culture (the Naso people) where the only way to get to their remote locale was upriver by boat.  She’s seen sloths, howler monkeys, vipers, armadillos, anteaters, geckos, agouti, peccary, coati, tree frogs, fruit bats, tarantulas, bizarre insects, tropical fish, tropical birds, sharks, Portuguese man o’ war, sea turtles, and got up-close and friendly with a barracuda.  Charlotte has also made great friends with the other 25 ecology students she has traveled with, and has made wonderful connections with the extremely gracious families she has stayed with.  And so I can vouch for the fact, that when your daughter is having such experiences, you do live vicariously.

The past few weeks have been a bit trickier to enjoy from afar, however.  For the required ‘independent study’ part of the curriculum, Charlotte chose to head four hours west of Panama City, to the highland hamlet of Santa Fe, gateway to a large National Park of the same name.  This would be her home base to conduct a water quality and macro-invertebrate sampling project at selected points along the Santa Maria River.  Preparation was a bit of a scramble for equipment, data, research, and general logistics, considering that there was little time to prepare after the previous adventure.  All seemed to be coming together a week or so in, until Charlotte’s laptop failed.  After a hapless attempt at self-repair, we surfed the web and found a computer store in Santiago; a fairly large town several hours down the valley.  Charlotte immediately set off.  Their diagnosis:  A colony of tiny white ants had taken over the innards and wreaked havoc on the motherboard (this story I passed on to a long-term professor friend at URI who jokingly stated he had thought he’d heard it all for student excuses).  After a week trying to repair it (and, thank goodness recovering her data), the techies at the store concluded the laptop was ready.  Initially this appeared the case, but later that day after Charlotte returned to Santa Fe, it fried up again, this time for good.  Back to Santiago and, one used computer purchase later, Charlotte was finally back on track, albeit understandably frazzled and a week behind on her on-line research.  ** Side Note: During that chaotic week, Charlotte stated to me that looking back over the months prior she wondered why every time she opened her laptop there would be a few tiny white ants scurrying about.

The reason I bring all this up is not so much to gush over how proud Nancy and I have been while witnessing our daughter’s grace-under-pressure (though that doesn’t hurt).  It’s to give some backdrop to Charlotte’s plans the morning after that half day spent going back and forth to the computer store in Santiago. For it was then that she went through with an earlier commitment to reconnect with several of her new found friends, who were doing their independent studies on a Caribbean island, Bocas del Toro, which happened to be on the other side of the continental divide, with few mountain-pass roads to get there.  Charlotte did not have to add this leg.  After all, she had been through quite the ordeal.  But she still insisted on going.  She figured out the complex bus schedule, a 12 hour journey - ultimately way out of her way for the tail-end of her semester these next few weeks - and made it work.

One day, Charlotte will do a much better job describing all of this on her own.  I’m simply trying to encapsulate enough here to hopefully reveal what I see to be a personal pilgrimage of hers on multiple fronts.  I can say this for certain, because as Charlotte’s adventure unfolded these past weeks, particularly that last part, it all felt so familiar.  In other words, it was exactly as I would have done. My daughter’s ‘road less traveled’ has been my journey too.  I told Charlotte that those friends she was visiting in Bocas del Toro, if they are true friends, will forever be affected by her commitment to making these last weeks in Panama work on an interpersonal level. 

I know this only because it’s what true friend Bob told me many years after one particular journey I made to Ottawa from North Adams to connect with him and my other Canadian friends a year after going to school there.  Due to a last minute conflict, brother Fred was unable to make the drive from Franklin to pick me up.  Without a car, and rain pelting the windows to my apartment, I chewed on this predicament some, but soon became undeterred.  I begged a short ride from a friend to Rte. 7 on the southern end of the Vermont border where I stepped out of her car and stuck out my thumb.  A handful of eventful rides later (including the back of a hay truck) I was in Burlington Vermont with Mac, who was going to school at Saint Michaels and who now joined me on my quest.  Several even-more-eventful rides later (a story in and of itself), the two of us arrived in Montreal where Bob drove to from Ottawa to pick us up.  All in all it was a 15-hour day-and-night affair, but in the end well worth it.

Is it the journey that makes the person or the person that makes the journey? I’ve pondered this all week, and it started, not with Charlotte’s adventures, but with my immersion into the Who’s 2006 conceptual Endless Wire album.  This in turn opened up a self-reflection, particularly in relation to this blog series, which has been a journey in its own unique way.  My thought process unfolded in somewhat convoluted fashion, but I’m going to take a stab at a recap.

Endless Wire was the Who’s return to form after a 24 year hiatus from the studio.  At last, Pete Townshend had decided to do another collaborative effort with his old band, which involved coming to terms with what the band meant to him as a creative force.  By this time the Who were being dubbed “The Two”, with the passing of John Entwistle just four years prior.  Townshend and Roger Daltrey did have a great supporting cast, but the original ensemble had now been halved.  Could they pull it off? 

I have to admit to a touch of ambivalence upon my first go-around with Endless Wire when the album was first released.  I could rattle off the reasons, but now there’s really no need, seeing as I gained a new appreciation for Endless Wire this week.  Sometimes it comes down to making a mental breakthrough (see 17th in a series of Stepping Stones “Tapping into my Inner Grasshopper” 4/27/12), which was the case here.  This enlightenment may simply be in my mind only, but sometimes that’s what Rock and Roll is all about, and so the insight had quite the stimulating effect, which pretty much comes down to the following:  The Who released a 6-song concept EP, Wire and Glass, immediately prior to the final product, Endless Wire; a 21 song effort which included the entirety of the EP.  Wire and Glass is a futuristic concept centered on three neighborhood friends of humble origins and from different ethnic and religious backgrounds that become rock stars and then lose it all (much of this is not easy to discern).  Serious Who fans could not help but make the correlation to Townshend, Daltrey and Entwistle, growing up in the same neighborhood and forming a band together (Keith Moon would come on board a few years later).   The breakthrough for me was making a theme connection between this concept-part of Endless Wire, and the rest of the album, which comes across as very autobiographical to the then much older (and wiser) Who.  The concept conceals this connection, but the more I listened, the more it made sense.  And so, it appears that what Pete Townshend has done here is to write a concept inside a concept. When I came to that conclusion I checked my head to make sure it had not exploded.

When I say autobiographical to the Who, and not Pete Townshend in particular, I’m not making an error.  Core themes in Townshend’s writing for the Who have always been centered on spirituality, music, and the Who themselves.  Townshend has had quite the solo career, and there is overlap of the spirituality theme in both his Who and solo songs.  But the other two themes are almost entirely a Who-centered component of his writing.  One song on the album that is revealing in this way is the closing number “Tea & Theatre”, which seems to overlap the concept and that loose Who autobiography that plays out in the rest of the album. “One of us – gone; One of us – mad; One of us – me; All of us sad”, Roger Daltrey sings, reflecting his band’s story and the futuristic concept.  Whenever the Who have played this live, usually at the end of their set, Roger Daltrey gets melancholy (and Mac rolls his eyes), which is unlike his typical stage presence

Another number, “You Stand By Me”, is an apparent Pete Townshend thank you to Roger Daltrey for being there for him in tough times (particularly the then fresh wound of being cautioned by British police on an on-line sex-offenders charge – later disproven and dropped).  Of the interrelationships in the Who, that between Townshend and Daltrey has always seemed to be the most distant and dicey.  It took the death of their two bandmates and many years of being on the road together to close that circle.   “God Speaks of Marty Robbins” is a wonderfully melodic acoustic number which attempts to take God’s perspective as He was creating the universe: “Wake up and hear the music play”, Townshend sings in his most angelic tenor. Even at the time of Creation, it was about the music for Pete Townshend.

The EP title track, “Endless Wire”, is moving in its own way.  After all these years, Pete Townshend was still yearning to tap into his youthful imagination (the aborted Lifehouse concept in this case:  See Big Top # 7 “A Change of Plans”) and in turn open himself back up to that intense thought process.  He actually addresses that thought process in this week’s Big Top entry, “Mike Post Theme” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Zmh-KlYZo ), a song about trying to remain emotionally connected in the modern digital age.  This is fascinating to me, and gets back to my earlier comment about this blog site.  “Mike Post Theme” laments to some degree how sound bites, digital ‘thumbs up’, and hashtags are replacing true heartfelt exchanges via conversation and letter writing.  It does acknowledge that those emotions can be unleashed when we connect with our favorite TV shows for example (hence the title, which refers to the man who has penned some of TVs best theme songs), but this cannot substitute for true communication. 

The paradox of all this is that the digital age gives us an unprecedented platform to network with others in profound ways.  Pete Townshend attempted to do this in the build up to Endless Wire, writing his thoughts on his then very creative and active blog site, which welcomed feedback from readers.  These musings very likely inspired me to start up my own blog site, which in a funny sort of twist, is now building upon thoughts I dream up by listening to Townshend’s music. 

This entry has been all about parallels and interconnectivity: Charlotte ‘road less’ travelled to mine; Pete Townshend’s futuristic concept to the Who’s story; my attempt in this blog series to hurdle the laments expressed in “Mike Post Theme”.  I’d like to close with one more interconnection.  Aside from the direct correlation I made between us after seeing Charlotte’s determination and commitment to friendship this past week, I was also enlightened by it in another way.  I truly believe the traits Charlotte showed us this past week also reflect free will open-mindedness.  As such, I predict Charlotte will forever be able to hurdle those “Mike Post Theme” limitations too. 

With that, I believe all interconnections in this entry have been tied.

Pete

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Under the Big Top # 17: “LOL”

(Personal reflections inspired by Who songs)

Song: “Happy Jack”
Album: A Quick One
Release Date: December, 1966

I’m sure we can all recall incidents when we laughed till it hurt.  I’ve seen it quite often when daughter Charlotte connects with her cousins.  As for me, well, I’ve had my share, several of which happened over these past few weeks, starting on “National Siblings Day” (April 10) when sister Jen posted a classic 30 year-old  photo on Facebook of the six of us (attached).  This image had to take the cake for sib photos that were posted that day, at least the ones I saw.  The snapshot was taken in a professional studio near the end of a photo session after all serious poses had been exhausted; part of a surprise for our parent’s 25th wedding anniversary.  In this shot, we are all mugging it up rather convincingly, but what makes the photo so darn funny, and in turn forever worthy of a revisit, is brother Joe’s expression while holding that large fake rock.  Joe has an exaggerated look of pride on his face, as if to say “Hey, I’ve got my rock, and there’s nothing else that really matters.”  This one moment, captured on camera, is the essence of my brother, and when you know someone as well as I know Joe, and it’s captured as such, you laugh your head off.

My family has been blessed for an abundance of big-ticket reasons including good health and the strength of our kinship, but there are certainly secondary reasons too, one of which has to be Joe’s comedic talents.  Joe has always made laughter come easy to those he meets.  We all have comedic abilities, but to be able to express them in exquisite fashion both physically and emotionally (and at the drop of a hat) as Joe can are rare gifts.  I equate this to the factors that play out in the potential success of a Saturday Night Live skit:  You have your writers, your comedic actors, and your audience to make it all either work or fall flat.  All three are important, but if you don’t have that dynamic personality to put it into action, the potential for where the skit can go is left mostly to the imagination.  If you do have that element, however, you can have truly hysterical moments, and even on occasion make a badly written skit look good.

When it comes to humor, I do think I’ve seen it all:  Joe, as well as Mac, Bouv, Phil, John Miller, Ed, Bruce, heck, all my friends and family to varying degrees, cover the entirety of humor flavors, from anecdotal to burlesque, farcical to slapstick, hyperbolic to self-deprecating.  Belly-laugh memories dance thru my head with each and every one of these great non-professional humorists in my life (Mac did once have aspirations to do stand-up; something not at all difficult for many of us to envision).  I could describe a story or two but good humor can be very difficult to translate into writing.  More often than not, you really did have to be there (or in some cases, maybe not), so I’ll leave those stories to the fireside chatter where it can be a bit easier to interpret. 

Fortunately, aside from our memories and those friends who can act it out, there is plenty of media out there to help us tap into our personal knee-slapping flashbacks, albeit vicariously, including movies, candid moments caught on film, and well-written columns in magazines.  For me, one source of humor has been, believe it or not, the Who, seeing as a great and refreshing component of this band’s aura was their comedic abilities.  This is a rarity for Rock bands.  Other than the Beatles (the movies A Hard Day’s Night and Help, along with the ditty “You Know My Name” come to mind), I can’t think of many musicians who could pull this off while maintaining a deep respect from critics and Rock fans.  Most bands are more like the Rolling Stones, who have spent a career trying to reflect the image of the serious, sensual, rebellious artist.  The Who proved you could do these things and be funny at the same time (though perhaps sacrificing the sensual part….I’d have to ask the ladies). 

This ability was most evident when Keith Moon was still alive; he being one of the most renowned public figures of his era due to his comedic charm and eccentric behavior.  Moon helped extract the fun out of those around him, so we get to see and hear John Entwistle’s macabre humor (i.e. “Boris the Spider”, “My Wife”) and Pete Townshend’s sharp wit (i.e. “Magic Bus”, “Bell Boy”) to levels that would likely not have been possible without their frantic drummer in their midst.  Moon played the loon, always ready for madcap moments, and the rest of the band had to be ready for anything.  I want to say it was similar to what John Lennon brought out in the Beatles, but I think that was different.  There was a dark, sarcastic angle to Lennon’s humor which kept those around him on their toes as well.  But that reaction often appeared to be a defensive one.  And with John Lennon there was an insider vs. outsider component to his humor.  Moon on the other hand welcomed all those around him into his world.  Everyone was an insider.  His humor was neither cutting nor bizarre (i.e. Lennon’s play on words).  It was just over-the-top fun, with unfortunate and significant self-abuse elements helping to drive it. 

My own aforementioned comedic connections may have a few moments here and there that are captured in snapshot or video form for antiquity, like Joe and his rock, but Keith Moon and the Who have an abundance of such moments.  Many of these are from their recorded concerts:  Moon being dropped to his drum kit from high above the crowd (suspended on wires); crazy banter between members; Townshend once lamenting to the crowd that the Who were nothing but a carnival act (a source comment related to my choice of title for this series by the way, though “Under the Big Top” was chosen out of profound respect) and then Moon and Entwistle spontaneously breaking into appropriate carnival music; Moon setting off his drum kit with explosives; and Moon’s endless animation and facial expressions behind the drums…. are but some of the moments I’ve watched and read about.

Several of my favorite Keith Moon-related footages are from pre MTV-like video clips of the band from the mid-60s (the Who decades ahead of their time).  The first is this week’s Big Top entry, “Happy Jack” video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52cQeFBU2Kw ).  It’s a funny Marx-brothers-like skit; the Who as burglars attempting to break into a safe.  Here we get to see the unique comic relationship that existed between Pete Townshend and Keith Moon.  We also get to see that macabre John Entwistle humor play out. 

“Happy Jack” is a great Who song with several fantastic instrumental bridges that are propelled by Entwistle’s bass and Moon’s drums.  The lyrics tell the story of a childhood memory of Pete Townshend’s about a man who lived on the beach near his parent’s cottage, who was oblivious to taunting from kids.  The refrain includes the line “They couldn’t prevent Jack from being happy”, which is telling.   Many young musicians sing of their defiance in the face of adversity: An “I did it my way” kind-of attitude.  Townshend turns this on its ear, removing the bravado and in the process opening this song up to a feel of innocence, which reflects the general air of the Who in those days.  Tied in with this general air is the very ending of “Happy Jack”, after the music has faded, where Townshend is heard yelling out “I saw ya” after catching Keith Moon popping his head up behind the studio console in an effort to get in on the backing harmony vocals (Moon was a horrible singer).  Who fans have always gotten a kick out of this, and I believe a big reason is because they can relate to the fun and kinship of that moment. 

The second video and accompanying song are knock-your-socks off funny (at least mine), acted out by the Who to a rare Keith Moon-penned song, “Cobwebs and Strange” (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3rckfu ).  I’d like to give a summation of both song and video here.  First the song; an instrumental that can best be described as barely-contained chaos.  An array of brass instruments alternates with manic Keith Moon drumming, each verse getting more and more frantic and hysterical.  As the song reaches a climax, Entwistle’s trumpet blares notes that are akin to screams of surrender, as if it’s about to enter a little padded cell.  I laughed repeatedly all over again as I listened this week. 

The video fits the song so perfectly (it’s amazing that the video was originally set to “Call Me Lightning”, because I can’t picture any song fitting so precisely to this short as does “Cobwebs and Strange”).   It tells a fantastical account of how the band met their final permanent member, Keith Moon, using captions for conversation, like the old silent films.  It begins with Townshend, Entwistle and Daltrey sitting reservedly sipping on their afternoon tea, pre madness, as unbeknownst to them a giant box rolls their way.  Upon spotting it, Townshend utters “Oh no, it’s a bleeding box!”, his tea cup quivering in his hand (just after this moment you can see Entwistle barely holding back his laughter).  After opening the box and pulling out the human-sized windup toy (Moon), they crank it up and away it goes.  From there things dissolve into complete disarray as the three try in vein to corral the un-corral-able (which is pretty much how it played out in real life). Simply put, the video is brilliant.  Side Note: The only footage I could find (above) is a bit grainy.  It’s of a version which was spliced with other Moon footage for The Kids Are Alright movie, and includes a Townshend intro and a great Steve Martin moment as he interviews Keith Moon in a hotel room.  For the full song effect, you will just have to get the album. 

All in all “Cobwebs and Strange” (both song and video) as well as the video for “Happy Jack”, reveals just how much fun the Who could have together. These songs are from the 1966 A Quick One album, released at a time when the band was still experimenting in a lot of ways, including all four members contributing songs to the mix (neither Roger Daltrey nor Keith Moon would do it again).  They had not yet been fully taken over by Pete Townshend’s genius (not that this is a bad thing, as has hopefully been evident by everything I have written thus far).   It’s a fun album which hints that for a short while the Who made us laugh above all else. 

Great comedy is authentic. It’s wonderful when you can make people laugh, because when you pull it off, you know you have shown others a window into your soul.  And their laughter makes a connection also, because it opens a window into their soul.  We all have gifts, but few are as immediately rewarding as great humor.  It slices across barriers that can otherwise be insurmountable and links us to our youth and innocence.

- Pete

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Under the Big Top # 16: “The Exquisite Tune in My Silver Spoon”

(Personal reflections inspired by Who songs)

Song: “Long Live Rock”
Album: Odds and Sods
Release Date: October, 1974

Last month before the Boston Who concert (see Big Top # 11:  “A Who Concert Review: The Last Who-rah”), Dave and I briefly discussed the Who’s first four studio albums, My Generation, A Quick One, The Who Sell Out and Tommy, marveling at the rapid evolution of the band’s sound from album to album.  Ours ears hear no repetition from disc to disc, and no overlap (even Bob Dylan overlaps his music, although I think it’s intentional).  I’ve pondered our discussion since then, and decided that this evolution of sound should also be projected through their next four studio albums as well:  Who’s Next, Quadrophenia, Who by Numbers and Who Are You (and if someone wanted to make the case for their ninth studio effort, Face Dances - at least parts of it - I’d hear them out).  Which begs the question: What accounts for this?  After all, that’s quite a stretch of albums and time (15 years) to continually evolve your sound. 

Aside from the fact that they were one of the all-time great bands, the answer lies on the cutting room floor as well as in the intervals between albums.  For every great song the Who released on their studio albums, they either rejected another, or released it as a non-album single.  With the exception of Bob Dylan, no other rock act I can think of did this to the degree that the Who did.  The Rolling Stones did release the occasional non-album single:  “Dandelion”, “Honky Tonk Woman” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” come to mind (and they did have an abundance of extra material for Exile on Main Street).  So did the Beatles with songs like “Penny Lane”, “All You Need Is Love” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”.  But a vast majority of the songs of both these band’s made it onto their studio albums, with a precious few left on the shelf.  Same goes for Neil Young, the Kinks, R.E.M., U2, Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen.

Compare this to the Who’s non-studio-album output: “Anyway Anyhow, Anywhere”, “I Can’t Explain”, “The Kids Are Alright”, “I’m a Boy”, “Substitute”, “Disguises”, “Picture of Lily”, “Magic Bus”, “Pure and Easy”, “Long Live Rock”, “The Seeker”, “Join Together”, “Put the Money Down”, “Water”, “Faith in Something Bigger”, “Naked Eye”, “Let’s See Action”, “Heaven and Hell”, “Relay”…..and on and on.  This is a treasure trove of songs, upon which the Who could have rested their laurels on alone. It is a significant and unique aspect to this band’s story.  ** Side Note: This fact has also made it a bit harder for me to prepare for some of these Big Top entries, seeing as many of my thoughts come together by listening to album-oriented music.  I’ve had to break from that routine this year as I absolutely cannot ignore at least a handful of these singular gems for this series (including this week’s choice), and the only way to do that is by listening to compilation albums, which don’t have the potential for profundity that studio albums have.

The 1974 compilation album Odds and Sods was one of the first Who efforts to dive back into their scrap heap (one big reason they did this was to thwart bootleg releases at the time).  Odds and Sods is a classic cross section of the band’s back-catalog to that date.  Prior to this album’s release, none of the songs on it had seen the light of day.  Some of the most memorable are “I’m the Face” (an ode to Mods from 1964 when the band called themselves “The Detours”); “Little Billy” (which would have been the perfect FDA advertisement against the perils of smoking); “Postcard” (a John Entwistle real-life narrative about touring, which has nice in-the-mix musical touches for each country - for example the Oom-pah tuba effect for Germany); and “Pure and Easy” (amazingly left off of Who’s Next).

Aside from this week, there were only a couple of other times in my life where I really got into this album.  One of them just happened to be right at the time when I met my wife-to-be Nancy.  Many of you have heard the story, but for the sake of this entry it bears a nutshell repeating:

If you have ever watched the half-baked comedy, What’s up, Doc?, starring Barbara Streisand, Ryan O’Neil, and multiple identical briefcases, you have a good analogy as to how Nancy and I met.  College buddy Kurt had invited me to a Halloween Party in Winchester.  I decided last minute to go, but had no idea what to go as.  Mom came up with the idea of a Mad Scientist, and helped me put together a makeshift, elaborate costume.  It was great.  I packed the costume in a bag and tossed it in the back seat of my car for the one hour drive north though Boston.  Before leaving, Mom asked me to drop younger brother Pat off at the school down the road, where he would be helping to scare little kids in a Halloween maze.  Pat’s costume (a monster mask, yellow wig, and a ripped sheet) was packed in a bag and tossed in the back seat next to my identical bag (you can guess where this is going?).  I drove down the road and pulled up to the Pat’s Halloween event.  He grabbed his bag (or so he thought) and ran off.

After arriving at the party, and going inside for a few pops, I said to Kurt, ‘get a load of my costume’.  We headed back to my car and I opened the bag.  I was shocked.  There was nothing in it but a yellow wig, monster mask, and ripped sheet (until then, I was unaware of what Pat had in his bag).  I was high and dry and feeling bad, knowing how much effort Mom had put into that costume (I was also wondering what Pat did when he made the bag-switch discovery on his end, and later found out he was utterly confused too). 

Now, I was never the most forthcoming of guys when it came to meeting ladies, but at that moment, all inhibitions were out the window.  I put Pat’s costume on and transformed into a yellow-wigged alter ego of myself.  Nancy was the innocent victim, unaware she was sitting in my seat near the dance floor.  She was dressed up as an Indian girl, looking very pretty, and sitting with one of her best friends, Madeline (who, like Kurt, remains close to us to this day).  I walked up to her and quite out of character, insisted she dance with me.  We talked and danced the rest of the evening, yellow wig and all (Nancy did not know my true hair color until our first date the following weekend).  The rest is history. 

At one point during that evening we drove to another venue together.  I had Odds and Sods in the tape player and unbeknownst to me, Nancy was doing a bit of interpretation of my personality as she listened to the music.  Her biggest take-home was the rarity “Now I’m A Farmer”, which, not surprisingly, she had never heard before.  Like many Who songs, there are varieties of meaning in this song, but Nancy took the oft-repeated title-words literally.  I’d already told her I was from the Rte 495 belt-town of Franklin (which Nancy also was not familiar with) and, like Kurt when I first met him, she assumed it was just another name for ‘Hicksville’ (Winchester and Woburn, Kurt and Nancy’s neighboring hometowns, are inside the Rte 128 belt, much closer to Boston, so from their perspective Franklin was in the sticks.  Indeed, Kurt used to introduce me to his hometown friends thusly: “This is Pete from Frank-land, next town over from PLAINville” ** which is all true by the way; aside from the intentionally mispronounced twist on Franklin **). 

“Now I’m a Farmer” had apparently tipped the scales for Nancy.  In other words, I must be a real country hick, ‘looking after the pigs’, along with my other farm chores.  Two weeks later, when she made the drive out to Franklin to meet my family, Nancy missed the Rte 495 exit, and kept heading West on the Mass Pike a ways before finally pulling over at a rest area, calling from a pay phone, and being guided to turn around.  I believe she was subconsciously on her way to the old Pioneer Valley tobacco-farming region on the Connecticut, Westfield and Farmington Rivers.

Years later, when we got married, I had another rare Odds and Sods moment.  Our excellent reception band, (which it must be said for posterity, had learned an additional dozen songs at our request) were winding down and, well knowing my taste for Who music, put the great Odds and Sods song “Long Live Rock” on their turntable.  Andy, the lead singer, handed me the microphone, and I proceeded to sing, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend offering backing vocals.  All was fine and dandy until I went into Daltrey mic-twirl mode.  When I turned to Andy he looked ashen, presumably consumed by the image of watching his lead-vocal instrument colliding with the floor or ceiling; so I stopped.

It most definitely was appropriate that the first songs Nancy heard on my car player were Who songs.  In the intervening years (and since) my wife has had to endure more Who music than any spouse (of considerable and diverse interest in music herself I must add) should probably have to.  This would include countless repeat playing of their albums on our stereo; attending their concerts with me; cohosting pay-per-view gatherings of Who shows at our first home in Waltham; listening to my vocal interpretations on hikes and car rides (often replete with stage imitations); watching their videos; or simply putting up with my general rock and roll sensibilities.  I must say, it helps that Nancy has these sensibilities too, but being married to a guy who can rattle off Rock & Roll memories the way I have in this blog series must on occasion have the feel of rock-sensory-overload. 

This past week Nancy and I celebrated our 25th silver wedding anniversary.  Seeing how great of a ride it has been, I can only conclude that our mutual Rock & Roll experience has to have been a positive contribution to our life together thus far.  Along with the Who and all their solo permutations, we have enjoyed many other incredible shows together, including the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Arlo Guthrie, The Band, Jonathan Richman, Rick Danko, Dave Davies, Charlie Watts, Southside Johnny, Richard Thompson, Richie Havens, Pure Prairie League, Shawn Colvin, the English Beat, and a great Roy Orbison tribute in Los Angeles with numerous musicians, including Bob Dylan and the Byrds.  I am sure I am missing a ton.  Last night we added to that list, attending the Bob Dylan 75th birthday tribute at the Bull Run in Shirley MA with a number of great friends.  Needless to say we plan to continue this trend in the years ahead. 

With that said, I think it apropos that I submit “Long Live Rock” as my 16th Big Top entry (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6VSSSbY0Pc), if for the title alone (I considered “Now I’m a Farmer”, but after gaging son Peter on it decided the song was….an acquired taste).  I fell in love with this song all over again this week.  I believe it to be Pete Townshend’s best lead-vocal effort on a Who recording.  At the end of the bridge, Roger Daltrey sounds very convincingly like he is giving a eulogy when he repeats “Rock is Dead” three times (Rock rebounds later in the song).  The lyrics tell the story of a Who show in 1966, including events leading up to it.  The lyrics are tremendous, including the opening “Down at the Astoria the scene was changing; bingo and rock were pushing out X-rated” (music and bingo replacing promiscuous theater at the old Astoria in Finsbury Park, north London) and “People walk in sideways pretending that they’re leaving” as well as “Jack is in the alley selling tickets made in Hong Kong”.  For a video link, I searched high and low for the end credits to The Kids Are Alright, which runs this song in the background as we get to watch the Who backstage after their final concert together with Keith Moon; mugging for the camera and generally acting out the song’s lyrics.  I’ll just have to pop the movie in and enjoy that finale on my own.  I recommend fellow Who fans to do the same, as I always pick up on something new when I watch that movie.

In closing, I would like to dedicate this entry to my lovely wife.  Happy 25th Anniversary Nancy!  May the music always be a magical ingredient of our life together. 

Pete