John Entwistle, as the bassist for the Who, is one of rock’s most listened to yet least known musicians.

This explains, in part, why the turn-out for his Massey Hall concert Saturday night with his own group, Ox, was relatively small (about 2,000 people). For the soft-spoken quiet Entwistle has contributed little to the Who’s flamboyant presentation other than his finely-honed base runs and the occasional song. And it also explains why those who were there wanted his new band to sound as much like the Who as possible.

SOME PROBLEMS

This being a part of two rock bands, one world famous the other almost completely unknown, has presented him with some problems as he explained in an interview before the show.

“I spend seven months with the Who,” he said, “and for the other five months of the year I’m on my own. You see, I still think of myself as a member of the Who, but I’m still myself. I still have my own personal tastes. With the rest of the Who I’ll be in the recording studios in mid-April to record our newest album, and in September we’ll be touring again. But the rest of the time I’m on my own to do what I want to do.”

Three years ago Entwistle was the first of the Who’s four members to go out on his own, recording the solo album, Smash Your Head Against the Wall. For this and a following album, he formed a band called Rigor Mortis (with Tony Ashton on keyboards and guitarist Alan Ross).

“But the name Rigor Mortis was not accepted. People didn’t like its connotations,” he explained. “The BBC even blocked its use on radio.”

So he formed Ox, with drummer Graham Deakin sounding remarkably like the Who’s drummer, Keith Moon, and with guitarist Robert Johnson, saxophonist Jeff Daly and keyboard player Mike Deacon.

ROAD BAND

“You see,” he explained further, “my first band was formed just to record. But people wanted to see us. So I needed a band which I could take on the road with me.”

Even so, Ox gives the impression of being a shortlived effort, despite its recent album Mad Dog (MCA2129.) It’s a good band, direct, loud, punchy and full or fiery rock and roll. But it’s also without any particular sense of style, its own or any one else’s.