The Rhythm Section That Smiles Together

...Who members John Entwistle (left) & Kenny Jones during N.Y. interview

Despite rumors

Entwistle and Jones prove The Who is still alright

By Herb Ditzel III

Courier-News Staff Writer

NEW YORK — Interviewing the rhythm section of one of the world’s most popular rock bands is tantamount to playing straight man to a British comedy team. The conversation is filled with tongue-in-cheek one-liners.

John Entwistle, 34-year-old bass-player for The Who said he has 131 guitars of all shapes, sizes and brands in his London home, because he reasoned, “I don’t know how to change strings.”

As befits such a rational, practical man, he is not superstitious. It didn’t bother him in the least that his hotel suite overlooking Central Park was on the 13th floor. He even had a life-sized jeweled black widow spider hanging around his neck.

He is introverted, but not void of opinions. He speaks infrequently, but is not unfriendly.

Drummer Kenny Jones’ devil-may-care attitude is a carry-over from his street gang days in London’s East End.

“That’s the Brooklyn of Britain,” the 31-year-old newest Who member beamed about his old neighborhood.

Jones laughs frequently and gives an example of his drumming by vibrating his tongue against his lips and slamming his fists against air.

Together, Entwistle and Jones are two different peas in The Who pod.

THE WHO boasts, in its 15 years as a recording group, five certified platinum albums (more than a million units sold) and three certified gold (more than $1 million in sales).

In the city to promote the new Who movie, “The Kids Are Alright” both Jones and Entwistle said they were optimistic about the band’s future.

Together with lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and driving force Peter Townshend, Jones and Entwistle had played seven concerts since the rebirth of The Who following the death of Keith Moon, the group’s original drummer. Moon died last fall leaving a void that many observers felt the group wouldn’t dare to fill. This led to rumors of an impending break-up until Townshend announced the band would carry on with Jones on drums.

“It’s been going great,” Jones said enthusiastically about his tenure with the band.

“Yes,” Entwistle said. “It’s been upward all the way. We’re getting better and better.”

FOR JONES, once the drummer for Rod Stewart and Small Faces, pounding skins for The Who is more than playing new songs in a new group.

“The Who are much better musicians,” with more substance, he asserted. “The Faces needed some holding together. I feel right at home with The Who.”

But that wasn’t the case from the start.

“At first, I retreated into a shell,” he explained matter-of-factly. “I was so used to seeing Keith with the rest of the band, it took me a couple of weeks until I finally looked around and said, ‘Okay, this is it.’ ”

AND FOR ENTWISTLE the transition from working with Moon to Jones went smoothly.

“I’ve worked with Kenny before,” he said, between sips of white wine. “With Keith playing, sometimes I’d have to stop and see where he was in a song, but with Kenny I know that when I reach a certain part, he’ll be there too.”

As musical director of “The Kids Are Alright,” Entwistle spent 12 hours a day, five days a week in recording studios for nine months, mixing, producing, re-mixing Who songs, old and new, and matching them to film footage.

“Actually,” he said modestly, “it was gathering little bits of rubbish and making them sound good.”

While satisfied with the outcome of the project, Entwistle feels the film leaves something to be desired.

“I wish we could have put in a few of my songs,” he lamented as he sunk into the sofa. “But the concert films of those songs weren’t up to par.”

But three of Entwistle’s tunes appear on the group’s most recent studio lp, “Who Are You,” and that, he said, is a personal victory.

“That’s because I’ve started writing songs for Roger’s voice,” he explained.

And, honestly, a lot of my songs aren’t right for his voice.”

ENTWISTLE BECAME a Who member in 1963 when, he said, “They joined me.”

“I was walking down the street,” he recalled, “and Roger came up to me and said, ‘I hear you play bass.’ It was pretty obvious, really, since I was carrying a bass under me arm. I was always carrying a bass under me arm.”

He left his $14-a-week job as a tax auditor for a $30-a-week spot as bass-player for The Who (then called The Detours).

Forced by his parents to take up piano at age 10. Entwistle taught himself bass, trumpet and French horn. His classical training is evident in the French horn melodies that serve as an underlying theme in “Tommy” and “Quadrophenia.”

“I miss some of the touring we did in the early days,” Entwistle said. “It’s funny, you think of the good old days, but when you look back on it, it was a lot of hard work. We traveled in Greyhound buses and stayed in sleazy hotels.”

During the invasion of America by British bands in the mid-60’s, The Who brought a new brand of music to the U.S., reflective of the group’s days playing summer dances for British kids in Soho and Brighton as rival groups of mods and rockers battled in the streets. Simplistic, forceful songs about frustrated teen-agers were culminated by Townshend bashing his guitars to bits. Moon kicking over his drum sets and Daltrey swinging his microphone wildly about his head like a lasso.

And through the wild stage antics, Entwistle played his bass with feverishly-pulsing fingers and maintained a laissez-faire pose as he watched it all.

But he would like it known that he has had his share of onstage destructiveness.

“When I played in the Middlesex Orchestra in high school,” he said smiling, “I’d tip over the music stand and it would go ‘glup, glup, glup’ down the stairs and land in little bits by the conductor’s feet. Pete’s not the only one who did crazy things.”

TOWNSHEND, who used to hop around stage as if he were a pogo stick and swing his guitar-playing are in windmill fashion as amps blared at incredible volume, was informed by doctors last year that he may lose his hearing.

According to Entwistle, the future of Townshend’s hearing is still clouded. “He was really suffering,” he said.

The group will make some allowances for that on stage. Keyboardist Eddie “Rabbit” Burrows will take some of the load off Townshend on tour.

“We’ll also rely more on p.a. systems rather than on a lot of amps,” Entwistle explained. “There will be more amps on my side of the stage to make it easier for Pete.” He added with a chuckle, “Watch now I’ll be the one to go deaf.”

Jones and Entwistle both say they are anxiously awaiting an East Coast tour beginning in September. So popular is the band that tickets for its five-day stint at Madison Square Garden are available only by mail-order.

FOR A BAND whose future recently seemed in the dark, there is a large variety of new projects imminent.

Entwistle is scheduled to enter the recording studio next week to begin work on his fourth solo album.

Townshend has a solo effort scheduled to take shape in September. That month is also the scheduled release date of a film version of “Quadrophenia,” a rock opera about a teen-ager with four personalities — each one represented by a Who member.

And The Who will begin work on a new album in October or November, according to Entwistle, who added, “Hopefully, a few more of my songs will appear on that album.”

The album will mark Jones’ recording debut as a Who member. “I can’t wait,” Jones said happily.

Entwistle added, “We’ve got to show people that Kenny is a full-fledged member of the band. Even though he isn’t in ‘The Kids Are Alright,’ he’s helping promote it.”

With a clenched fist, the bass-player concluded with his deep quiet voice, “We couldn’t let the movie come out and let people think it is an epitaph. The Who are alive and well.”