Pete Taaaansend...

Gassage

This is a guy who I have given scant attention to and I can never work out if he's good or not.

I get that he was like a Johnny Marr of the day...I see some fantastic chordal work, but not much lead.....

I have to also say his Hiwatt cranked tone epitomises the sound of a fully cranked DR103.

So school me....

jonnyburgo

He's always been more of a ryhrm player hasn't he, not really a soloist as such. Where his genius really shines is his onstage presence and sheer power in his prime. He is also a studio/composing genius IMHO but then you had two soloist in the band in the form of Moon and the Ox

Evilmags

On stage energy and stage presence when live. If you had Entwhistle on Bass their was probably not much need for a lear player. 

Deadman

He was one of the pioneers of home studio work and produced and recorded a lot of The Who stuff before it was used. He played ALL of the instruments too.

http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/1979/article/theres-no-place-like-home-19790628/181676/large_rect/1421598971/1401x788-140230162.jpg

Danny1969

He plays some great fills rather than full on solo's. I find his playing really sparse for the most part and that's what makes you notice it. There will be loads of bass and drums then every now and again he plays a lick rather than constantly playing all the way through

boogieman

Tremendous song writer. Most of his stuff is simple chord progressions, (not all, for instance the intro to Pinball Wizard is fairly complex) but he managed to make straightforward material sound different and often completely epic.

His combination of acoustic guitar double tracked with electric was groundbreaking at the time and really makes a lot of the early material full sounding. 

He didn't need to have great lead skills really, a lot of the breaks where you'd normally have guitar solos were filled by Moon and Entwhistle. Having said that he was no slouch at lead, listen to some of the live recordings and he really can cut it. 

Stage presence: second to none. 

His tone in the 60s and 70s was brilliant. Don't forget he was a pioneer of the use of Marshall stacks and he virtually invented the modern rock guitar sound. Clever in the use of feedback too. I don't think the P90-SG-through-cranked HiWatts tone on Live at Leeds has ever been bettered for pure chime-with-balls grunt. 

Yes he is good. He's over the hill now, he really needs to drop the aggression and angry young man schtick, it just comes across as ridiculous. No doubt he was a musical giant in his prime though. 

strumjoughlamps

It's not what you play it's what you don't play that matters

Richardj

To echo everyone else the genius of The Who was the complete sound from every member of the group. It never seemed to need the widdly widdly bits because of the tidal wave of sound and energy. Townsend is a great guitarist in his own way and his tones aren't difficult to copy, what you can never get is the energy of Daltrey, Entwhistle, Moon and Townsend combined.

mudslide73

Top comments. The bloke is a massive hero to me. His stuff came to my attention at exactly the right time in my life. He sometimes made the conceptual stuff so complicated it obscured the songs a bit. So much more than just a guitarist but a great one all the same. 

RandallFlagg

"school me...?" FFS

RandallFlagg

Listen to this:

Bargain

Bridgehouse

RandallFlagg said:

"school me...?" FFS

Get with the kids bro.

Oh hang on - wasn't that what PTs Internet 'research' was about?

IvisonGuitars

Great guitarist and songwriter.

Not much of an author though....

Iamnobody

Bridgehouse said:

RandallFlagg said:

"school me...?" FFS

Get with the kids bro.

Oh hang on - wasn't that what PTs Internet 'research' was about?

Yes - the only thing you really need to know about PT is don't buy a second hand computer off him.

rlw

Gassage said:

This is a guy who I have given scant attention to and I can never work out if he's good or not.

I get that he was like a Johnny Marr of the day...I see some fantastic chordal work, but not much lead.....

I have to also say his Hiwatt cranked tone epitomises the sound of a fully cranked DR103.

So school me....

Johnny Marr and Morrisey rolled into one more like, what with the songs and the ideas.

He was the spokesperson for a lot of people in the early 60s.  The guitar made him speak louder.

Saw The Who many times but a gig at Wembley Arena sticks in my mind.  We had, I thought, tickets for the third row and I was really disappointed to discover that we were in the third row rising off the floor at the back.   My disappointment lessened somewhat after the first couple of chords hit, followed by the bass notes punching me in the chest, very hard.  God knows how loud it must have been at the front.  My wife was terrified by the whole atmosphere in the arena, plus the noise.

You can't say that about many gigs and that was part of the genius of PT and the whole setup.

Richardj

RandallFlagg said:

Listen to this:

Bargain

Actually, just get a copy of 'Who's Next' and listen to it loud all the way through.  It'll pretty much tell you everything.

boogieman

miserneil said:

Great guitarist and songwriter.

Not much of an author though....

If you mean Who I Am, I agree. He comes across as an arrogant twat with nothing EVER being his fault: the drug and alcohol abuse, the disintegration of his relationships with his partners and kids, the bad feelings within the band. A lot of the stuff about his early life just seems a series of excuses for why he shouldn't be judged over his kiddyporn arrest. On top of that lot it's not particularly well written either and I found it a really disappointing book. 

rlw

boogieman said:

miserneil said:

Great guitarist and songwriter.

Not much of an author though....

If you mean Who I Am, I agree. He comes across as an arrogant twat with nothing EVER being his fault: the drug and alcohol abuse, the disintegration of his relationships with his partners and kids, the bad feelings within the band. A lot of the stuff about his early life just seems a series of excuses for why he shouldn't be judged over his kiddyporn arrest. On top of that lot it's not particularly well written either and I found it a really disappointing book. 

Me too, but it gives you a fair insight into what a mess his head is/was for many years.  He comes across, I think, as very very insecure but very clever.   

bbill335

boogieman said:

Yes he is good. He's over the hill now, he really needs to drop the aggression and angry young man schtick, it just comes across as ridiculous. No doubt he was a musical giant in his prime though. 

This is a bit unfair, as he's the only one still around from the 60s that gives anything close to the energy of the old days. I saw Clapton a few years back and he sat down playing acoustic most of the night. Fair enough, his back is done in, but if Townsend (and maybe Jeff Beck? Not see him for a while) want to do the splits and bash at the guitars while they still can then fair play to them.

Daltrey's Ricardo Montalban chest, on the other hand...

stickyfiddle

One of the very most important guitar players in history. Also a great songwriter, vocalist, producer, etc. 

I saw The Who once at Live 8 which was brief, and not quite their best, leaning on the CSI soundtracks and nothing else. But I also saw them *front row* in Abu Dhabi a couple of years ago. They may not have all of what they had in 1972 but my god they've still got something phenomenal.

earwighoney

I've seen a few interviews with the chap, and he seems a really great guy.