The Who are featured in an article in Record Mirror: “The group that slaughters their amplifiers…”
Transcription:
The group that slaughters their amplifiers…
by RICHARD GREEN
WITH a name like The Who, any group is bound to attract a certain amount of attention. But anyone who has watched The Who at work will realise that they do not depend upon their title to gain fans.
One of their main assets is lead guitarist Pete Townshend whose unusual style actually defies accurate description.
When I saw the Who at Edmonton last week, Pete’s amplifier was devoid of covering. The material had been ripped off by Pete during a fit of musical frenzy two nights earlier.
Before leaving for the show, Pete visited his manager’s flat in Belgravia. I caught up with him there and asked him about his stage work.
“I slipped on a banana skin and hit the amplifier with me guitar,” he said in mocking tones. “No, probably it happened when I turned round once and hit the amplifier. I looked such a fool that I had to do it again to cover up and it eventually stayed in.”
DROP IT
Pete explained: “When I hit the amp, the neck of the guitar gives a bit and you get this sound. The strings vibrate and makes it better. It’s the same thing when you drop it on the floor or kick the amplifier.”
Later at Edmonton, singer Roger Daltrey flopped off stage and collapsed into a chair where he was revived with a mixture of Scotch and Coke in a bottle. His particular act is not without gimmicks, either.
“I used to be the lead guitarist and I thought that was hard work, but being the singer is worse,” he sighed. “I find I get a good sound by grabbing the mike and rubbing it under the cymbal, but it’s still all go.”
INVOLVED
The Who used to be called the High Numbers, But Roger pointed out that they were originally the Who — at least for a couple of weeks.
“We played every week at a Soho club, but things got too involved. About three people were supposed to be managing us and we didn’t know where we were, so we just turned the whole thing in. We changed our name again and altered our style. We used to have long hair, so we cut it short.”
Someone started singing “Do The Clam,” which prompted Roger to ask: “Who buys that stuff, anyway?”
Keith Moon suggested that it may be the inhabitants of certain institutions, but Roger went on: “I think Elvis is doing it all wrong. He used to be good when he sang rock and stuff, but now he’s behind the times.”
The Who believe in keeping one step ahead of the times.
“We used to have long hair and maraccas and play Jimmy Reedey stuff. Real r-and-b. But when everybody else started playing it, we changed,” Roger told me.
WHAT NEXT
“We do James Brown stuff now, but if everyone else started doing it we’d change again. What to? I don’t know, it’s difficult to say what’s going to be next.”
Lots of people are trying to do James Brown material, but few manage as well as the Who.
PHOTO CAPTION: THE WHO certainly took an age for their waxing of “I Can’t Explain” to hit the charts. It’s been released for nearly three months now, and even longer in the States where it is approaching the top fifty—here’s a pic of the group by RM’s Keith Hammett, taken at Edmonton’s Cooks Ferry Inn Club.