What was the first musician Pete Townshend to do? Classic Quadrophenia: Pete Townshend vs. Musical Snobbery

Pete Townshend is a British rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Known as the founder, leader and songwriter of The Who.

It is believed that Pete Townshend was the first to come up with the idea of smashing instruments on stage. In any case, he was the first to become famous in this way. A member of The Who, named one of the hundred greatest guitarists in the history of rock and roll, according to the British magazine Classic Rock, Townsend is also known as the author of several rock operas and musicals, a journalist, screenwriter, novelist and poet. His influence was recognized by a huge number of rock guitarists of different generations, among them Alex Lifeson, Joey Ramone,.

Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend was born on May 19, 1945 in London, the son of a big band saxophonist and singer. Since childhood, he had become accustomed to the sounds of music coming from his parents' room. At age 12, Pete was given his first guitar. In 1961 Townsend became a student at Ealing College of Art. Together with his school friend, he organized the first group. But it did not last long, and the musician decided to pursue a solo career.

In 1964, Pete Townshend again decided to create his own musical group. A group called The Who was founded. In addition to Townsend himself, it included Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon. Almost all of the group's popular compositions were written by Townshend.

The band achieved enormous success through their extraordinary live performances, and are considered both one of the most influential bands of the 60s and 70s, as well as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. The Who became famous in their homeland both due to an innovative technique - smashing instruments on stage after a performance, and due to hit singles that fell into the Top 10, starting with the 1965 hit single “I Can't Explain” and albums that fell into the Top 5 (including the famous “My Generation”). In 1969, the rock opera “Tommy” was released, which became the first album to reach the Top 5 in the USA, followed by “Live At Leeds” (1970), “Who’s Next” (1971), "Quadrophenia" (1973) and "Who Are You" (1978).

In the late 60s, Pete accepted the teachings of the Indian mystic Meher Baba. Pete became his most famous follower and his future works would reflect his knowledge of Baba's teachings. One of his ideas was that those who can perceive earthly things cannot perceive the world of God. From this Pete had a story about a boy who became deaf, numb and blind and, having gotten rid of earthly sensations, was able to see God. Having been cured, he becomes the messiah. The story eventually became known worldwide as the rock opera "Tommy." The Who worked on it from the summer of 1968 to the spring of 1969. When the album "Tommy" was released, it was only a moderate hit, but after The Who began performing it live, it became extremely popular. "Tommy" made a strong impression when the band performed it at the Woodstock festival in August 1969. Filmed and featured in the film Woodstock, The Who became an international sensation. “Tommy” was used in ballets and musicals, and the group had so much work that many people thought its name was “Tommy.”

In the early 90s, Townsend and American theater director Des McAniff turned the album "Tommy" into a musical, including moments from Pete's own life. After an initial run at the La Jolla Playhouse in California, The Who's Tommy opened on Broadway in April 1993. Pete won the Tony and Laurence Olivier Awards with it, but theater critics in London and New York loved it.

In 1972, Townshend began work on a new rock opera. It was supposed to be a story about The Who, but after meeting one of the band's old and ardent fans, Pete decided to write a story about a The Who fan. It became the story of Jimmy working menial jobs to earn money for a GS scooter, stylish clothes and enough pills to get him through the weekend. High doses of "speed" cause his personality to split into four components, each of which is represented by a member of The Who. Jimmy's parents find the pills and kick him out of the house. He comes to Brighton to bring back the glory days of the Mods, only to find the Mod leader turned humble hotel porter. In desperation, he takes a boat and goes out to sea in a strong storm and observes the appearance of God. This story formed the basis of the rock opera Quadrophenia. The album "Quadrophenia" (1973) had many problems after recording and performance. The main cause of the problems was the new stereo system, which did not work quite adequately. At first, mixing the recording into stereo resulted in the loss of vocals. Then on stage The Who tried to recreate the original sound. The tapes stopped working and everything turned into complete chaos.

In 1978, the band's drummer Keith Moon died, after his death the band released two more studio albums with ex-Small Faces drummer Kenny Jones.

In 1980, Pete Townshend released his first all-solo album, Empty Glass (1972's Who Came First was a collection of demos, and 1977's Rough Mix was a collaboration with Ronnie Lane on The Small Faces). The album "Empty Glass" received high ratings, and the single "Let My Love Open The Door" became very popular. That's when Pete's problems became obvious. He was almost always drunk, playing endless solos or ranting at length from the stage. His drinking developed into a cocaine addiction, and then he turned to heroin. Pete almost died after overdosing on heroin in London and was saved in hospital in the last minutes. Pete's parents put pressure on him, and he flew to California for treatment and rehabilitation. After returning, he did not feel confident to write new material for the group, but asked to suggest a topic. The band decided to record an album that reflected their attitude to the growing tensions of the Cold War. The result was the album It's Hard (1982), which examined the changing role of men with the rise of feminist sentiment. But both critics and fans did not like the album. The group's tour of the United States and Canada began in September 1982 and was called a farewell tour. The final show on December 12, 1982 in Toronto was broadcast worldwide. After the tour, The Who were contractually obligated to record another album. Pete began work on the album "Siege", but quickly abandoned it. He explained to the band that he was no longer able to write songs. Pete announced the breakup of The Who at a press conference on December 16, 1983.

After the breakup, he began working at the publishing house Faber & Faber. Work did not distract him much from his new occupation - preaching against heroin use. This campaign lasted throughout the 80s. He also found time to write a book of short stories "Horses" Neck" and make a short film "White City". The film features Pete's new band - Defor. Along with the film "White City" a live album and video "Deep End Live!" were released. .

On July 3, 1985, The Who came together to perform at the Live Aid benefit concert in support of the starving people of Ethiopia. The band was supposed to play Pete's new song "After The Fire", but due to lack of rehearsals, they were forced to play only the old material.

In 1989, Townsend released the musical The Iron Man, based on the book by Ted Hughes. The recording of the studio version featured Pete's The Who colleague Roger Daltrey, Nina Simone, John Lee Hooker, and Townshend's son Simon.

Pete's next solo work is again autobiographical in nature. The album "Psychoderelict" (1993) tells the story of a reclusive rock star who is forced into retirement by a vile manager and a treacherous journalist. Despite a solo tour in the United States, the new work did not receive much attention.

In January 2003, Pete Townshend was charged with pedophilia. After interrogations, he was released on bail. Townsend strongly denies these accusations and considers them an insult.

Townshend is currently working on another rock opera, which he will present to the public in 2011. According to him, “it will be something new and ambitious, but at the same time, in style, reminiscent of the operas Tommy and Quadrophenia.” The name of the future rock opera is “Floss”. Some compositions, according to the musician, will be included in the future album of The Who.

The opera plays out the fate of a married couple who are trying to resolve their problems. The main character, Walter, is a rock musician who retires after one of his songs becomes the anthem of a large automobile company. He becomes a sort of “housewife”, while his wife is obsessed with horses and only raves about the stables. Tired of an idle life, he decides to return to music after 15 years, but to his horror he realizes that his time has passed and he can no longer fit into the fashionable mainstream. After such a blow, he withdraws into himself and moves away from his wife, and only after a series of tragic incidents do they find each other again.

Based on materials from: stolica.fm

Face Dances sessions, Odyssey Studios, London, 1980. photo - thewho.net

", guitarist who broke countless guitars, one of the pioneers of feedback and concept albums, Peter Dennis Blanford Townshend was born into a family of professional musicians on May 19, 1945. When the film "Rock Around The Clock" was released, Pete fell ill with rock and -roll and watched the picture more than a dozen times. Nevertheless, the boy began his musical career in Dixieland, which he created after his parents taught him to play the guitar and banjo. However, quite quickly Townshend turned to the rock and roll path and, Having passed a couple of preliminary instances ("The Scorpions", "The Detours"), he became one of the founders of "The Who". In this legendary team, from the very beginning, Pete showed himself to be an outstanding composer, and his early works like "My Generation" and " Substitute" became the anthems of the Mod movement. The musician's stage behavior also attracted attention: he preceded many songs with lengthy introductions, and his guitar playing resembled the movement of the wings of a windmill.

When they (accidentally) came up with a trick with breaking instruments, and drummer Keith Moon actively got involved in the matter, people flocked to The Who concerts. By the end of the 60s, Townshend was seized by the idea of creating a rock opera, and already in 1969, the monumental work “Tommy” brought the group a string of sold-out houses and multimillion-dollar record sales.

Meanwhile, Pete received a spiritual teacher, Meher Baba, and the musician began to participate in the recording of albums dedicated to this Indian guru. One of these works was his first solo album, “Who Came First”. The record featured soft, often folky numbers, and the composition "Parvardigar" was an adaptation of Baba's prayer. Townshend's other passion outside the band was journalism, and in the early '70s he frequently contributed articles to Rolling Stone and Melody Maker. In 1977, Pete teamed up with ex-The Faces bassist Ronnie Lane and recorded the disc "Rough Mix", which intertwined the influences of the main groups of musicians. By the way, Lane was also Baba’s disciple, and therefore the duo made one of the songs (“Keep Me Turning”) under the influence of their guru. After Moon's death, Townshend, who had previously not disdained alcohol, began to actively drown manifestations of depression in whiskey. Later, cocaine and heroin were also used, however, despite the struggle with demons, in 1980 the guitarist released his most commercially successful solo album.

The main success of "Empty Glass" (No. 5) was ensured by the bright little thing "Let My Love Open The Door" (again inspired by Baba), which leaked into the top ten, and in addition, the album was accompanied by two minor hits, "Rough Boys" and "A Little Is Enough." Against the backdrop of the platinum status of "Empty Glass", the next work turned out to be a failure, and many critics tore "All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes" to smithereens for betraying interests and moving towards a new wave. Meanwhile, Townshend was finding it increasingly difficult to write good material for The Who, and the group soon disbanded.

Pete's independent journey began with the collection of demo recordings "Scoop", but after a couple of years the musician returned to the idea of concept albums and recorded the disc "White City: A Novel". The work was narrative in nature and told a dark story about the difficult everyday life of the urban jungle. This time, no one paid attention to its new wave coloring, and the songs "Face The Face" (Top 30) and "Give Blood" received a fair share of popularity. In the same 1985, Townshend released a book of short stories, “Horse’s Neck,” and also, as part of the “White City” project, started filming a film, for which he assembled the “Pete Townshend’s Deep End” team. By the end of the decade, Pete had prepared a musical based on the work "The Iron Man" by children's poet Ted Hughes. John Lee Hooker, Nina Simone, as well as Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle participated in the recording of the disc. At that time, Townshend reunited with his colleagues, but the Who reunion overshadowed the appearance of The Iron Man, and the record sold at a very moderate pace.

His next ambitious rock opera, "Psychoderelict," was surprisingly even less popular, but at the same time, Broadway applauded the production of "Tommy" for two years. Later, Pete abandoned work on solo material, and if he published something under his own name, it was either live or collections of illiquid material. During the late 90s and 2000s, Townshend paid more attention to The Who reunions and worked on his autobiography, Who I Am, which, when published after much delay in 2012, became a big bestseller.

Last update 05.08.13

Pete Townshend is a British rock guitarist, singer, and leader of the legendary band The Who. The main author of over 100 songs of the group, as well as the rock operas “Tommy” and “Quadrophenia”. Pete Townshend was born on May 19, 1945 in London, the son of a big band saxophonist and singer. “I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if I had been born into a classical-listening family,” Townsend said. He picked up the guitar after a friend gave him Bill Haley’s single “Rock around the clock.” Stage two began when school friends - John Entwistle and Phil Rhodes - persuaded Townshend to join an ensemble that played (or, out of respect for the style, let's say - tried to play) traditional jazz. “John and Phil were sure that I could play,” says Pete, “well, I had to run to the store and buy a guitar tutorial.” After some time, Townshend and Entwistle, who played a bass guitar he made with his own hands, switched to rock music.

Discography:
Studio albums:
Who Came First (1972)
Rough Mix (with Ronnie Lane) (1977)
Empty Glass (1980)
All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (1982)
White City: A Novel (1985)
The Iron Man: A Musical (1989)
Psychodelict (1993)

Live albums:
Deep End Live! (1986)
A Benefit For Maryville Academy (1999)
The Oceanic Concerts (with Raphael Rudd) (2001)
Magic Bus - Live From Chicago (2004)

Compilations:
Scoop (1983)
Another Scoop (1987)
Coolwalkingsmoothtalkings traightsmokingfirestoking - The Best Of Pete Townshend (1996)
Lifehouse Chronicles (6 CD box set) (2000)
Lifehouse Elements (2000)
Scoop 3 (2001)
Scooped (2002)
Anthology (aka Gold) (2005)
The Definitive Collection (2007)

Peter Dennis Blandford Townsend was born on May 19, 1945 in England. He is a famous British musician and performer, leader of the rock group The Who.

Pete Townshend was born into a musical family. Since childhood, he had become accustomed to the sounds of music coming from his parents' room. Pete's father was a professional saxophonist, and his mother was a good singer.

At age 12, Pete was given his first guitar. In 1961 Townsend became a student at Ealing College of Art. Together with his school friend, he organized the first group. But it did not last long, and the musician decided to pursue a solo career.

In 1964, Pete Townshend again decided to create his own musical group that would play rock music. A group called "The Who" was founded. In addition to Townsend himself, it included Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon.

The group has released many albums, including: “My Generation”, “A Quick”, “The Who Sell Out”, “Tommy”, “Who’s Next”, “Quadrophenia”, “The Who By Numbers”, “Who Are” You", "Face Dances", "It"s Hard". In 2006, the last album “Endless Wire” was released.

The latest album contains many acoustic compositions. It also features a short opera “The Boy Who Heard Music”

Almost all of the group's popular compositions were written by Pete Townshend. He is the author of the rock operas "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia". Pete is the driving force behind the team, which led him to fame and popularity.

In January 2003, Pete Townshend was charged with pedophilia. After interrogations, he was released on bail. None of the star’s acquaintances ever noticed his tendency to “love children.”

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The musician was accused of illegally storing indecent photographs of minor children on his computer. Pete was also accused of distributing these images.

During the investigation, the police learned that several famous personalities, a parliamentary politician and a famous TV presenter, were involved in the Townsend case. Police have withheld the names of the remaining suspects.

Townsend claims that he did not mean anything bad in any way. He was simply engaged in a detailed study of this terrible problem of humanity and for these purposes attracted several of his acquaintances. Townsend strongly denies the accusations of pedophilia and considers them an insult.