VIBRATIONS

By Peter Chapman

The Who surfaced about six years ago along with such fabled Liverpool groups as The Zombies, Searchers, Animals and Jerry and the Pacemakers. While most of the other early British groups settled into comfortable chart-formula releases in the wake of The Beatles-Stones mania, a restless Peter Townshend experimented with colorful pop ditties like “Happy Jack” and “Can’t Explain.”

Sure, The Who smashed their amps and guitars and drums after almost every performance — their destructiveness was to rock and roll what Warhol’s soup cans were to art — it was an inevitable climax to the group’s incredibly vicious music.

The Who changed and survived. Their latest album, “Live at Leeds” (Decca DL 79175), smokes with blistering renditions of some of their very best songs, including a 14-minute cut of “My Generation.”

Roger Daltrey stutters through the Mod’s anthem, then reels into a bit of “Tommy,” pleading “see me, feel me, touch me, heal me” while Townshend showers him with savage licks. After about eight minutes of playing and singing against each other, the two fuse their delivery and get into the kind of scorching synch that Zeppelin’s Plant and Page have mastered.

“The Magic Bus” fills out the first side and reveals the exceptional balance the soundmen achieved at the Leeds gig. Daltrey’s lead and Townshend’s backing vocal carry the same pitch; there are no lapses or fuzzy lyrics and you get the impression that each man plays with supreme confidence, not hampered by counting or cueing, just living his music.

The fidelity of the Leeds LP seems close to the best a 16 track can deliver. The mixers have brushed out most of the applause and eliminated feedback, but preserved the whispers and humor on stage.

Townshend is brilliant on Mose Alison’s “Young Man Blues.” stretching out blinding, well-defined runs, trailing off and gathering up Daltrey’s voice. Keith Moon’s drumming holds it all together.

“Substitute,” “Summertime Blues” and “Shakin’ All Over” close out the album. On the last cut Daltrey screams “quivers down mah backbone, I got the shakes in my kneebone . . .”

That’s what The Who does to an audience.