John Lennon's Coolness to Pete Townshend

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Gersh, Feb 24, 2017.

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  1. Gersh

    Gersh Forum Resident Thread Starter

    In an interview, Pete states John was always cool to him.

    Pete Townshend: The Who's Final Days - Rolling Stone

    He says he is not sure why. I think I know, that clip of Pete from the mid-1960s, it's in the Jeff Stein film, where he states, listening to the Beatles backing tracks they were "flipping lousy".

    Comments?
     
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  2. CMcGeek

    CMcGeek Loves records maybe too much

    Location:
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    Possibly because Lennon didn't see that show. Not sure if he saw Kids Are Alright either, where that clip is used again.
    It's also possible John agreed with that since The Beatles never liked or cared about the stereo mixes themselves.
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2017
  3. Gersh

    Gersh Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Well ... maybe..
     
  4. Chuckee

    Chuckee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate, NY, USA
    John didn't seem to mention them much at all, the Stones on the other hand came up quite a bit.
     
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  5. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
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    Paul and Ringo were The Who fans.
     
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  6. jfire

    jfire Forum Resident

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    Missoula
    John was cool to lots and lots of people!

    There's this recollection from Ray Davies:

    “We’d played with The Beatles in Bournemouth [on August 4] and John Lennon made a remark that we were only there to warm up for them, but we got a great reaction to You Really Got Me,” recalls Davies. “It was an early validation that we had something that stood up for us, like being bullied in school and having something that was bigger than the bully, it was that sort of feeling.”

    I chalk it up to a mix of jealousy/competition/insecurity.
     
  7. jfire

    jfire Forum Resident

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    Yes, Paul credits the Who's sound as an inspiration for "Helter Skelter."
     
  8. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

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    Another recollection from Ray Davies:
    "Paul McCartney was the most competitive person I've ever met. John [Lennon] wasn't competitive. He just thought everyone else was s-h-*-t."
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2017
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  9. CMcGeek

    CMcGeek Loves records maybe too much

    Location:
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    I think I also heard/read they were fans of the mini opera when it came out.
     
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  10. Chuckee

    Chuckee Forum Resident

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    There was a quick version of "A Quick One" during the Let It Be sessions, I think after George left, hah. Don't think it's a very serious version, been forever since I listened.
     
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  11. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

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    I like The Who am have lots of respect for Pete Townshend as a musician, songwriter and spokesman. That said, I always got the impression that he had a bit of a ying-yang thing going concerning The Beatles. In his book, he clearly implies favoritism and admiration for some of their work. On the other hand, he once said that he always "saw" The Beatles as being in the same corner as Herman's Hermits. How he could seriously make a comparison like that is beyond me. As far as The Beatles' backing tracks, I guess it's just a matter of opinion. While I love everything The Who did from Sell Out onward (in fact, I own a couple of their albums-in vinyl alone- in double and triplicate), I feel that many of *their* backing tracks on their earlier albums are a mess. Just my opinion:hide:.
     
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  12. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
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    Yes, it's like a primal scream version since Yoko takes over after a few minutes and there is a lot of raw guitar and feedback. And yes, it was done after George walked out and quit for that week:

     
  13. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    The person who posted the above clip on YouTube removed most of Yoko's vocals(!!!). If you want to hear the version with Yoko, listen here (Yoko starts at about 3:40):

     
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  14. the sands

    the sands Forum Resident

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    Lennon's taste in music confuse me. He gave 50s rock 'n' roll much cred. yet he made songs like "Strawberry Fields Forever".
     
  15. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
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    I think Pete acknowledges this in the interview. He's making the point that there wasn't much "quality" musicianship in pop music at that time.
     
  16. dudley07726

    dudley07726 Forum Resident

    Location:
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    He mentioned Who freaks and The Who during his 74 WNEW interview.
     
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  17. Gersh

    Gersh Forum Resident Thread Starter

    In the interview, Pete says, "he came on the line", so it's vague who called whom. I don't think there is much doubt Pete called John though, and was turned down.
     
  18. Gersh

    Gersh Forum Resident Thread Starter


    What did he say?
     
  19. keifspoon

    keifspoon Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    Maybe Lennon was having flashbacks of Keith Moon. John liked Keith, but he eventually got to be a bit too much. Unlike John, Keith's life was one long lost weekend.
     
  20. E.Baba

    E.Baba Forum Resident

    Oh "Coolness" as in *not* liking. You know for some years now "Cool" has also meant that something is positive ?
     
  21. moople72

    moople72 Forum Resident

    Location:
    KC
    Iconoclastic Pete:

    RS: I've been listening to Tug of War, Paul McCartney's new album. It may be the best thing he's done in a while – it sounds real nice. But it seems to have virtually nothing to do with rock & roll.

    Townshend: Do you think he ever really had anything to do with rock & roll?

    Well . . . .
    No, he never did. You know, I could sit down and have a conversation with Paul about rock & roll, and we'd be talking about two different things. He's got a couple of years on me, but it could be ten years, we're so different. If he talks about rock & roll, I think he is talking about Little Richard. Whereas I don't think Little Richard mattered, you know?

    But one of the reasons I'm excited about Paul's latest project is because it's him and George Martin working together again; because he's making a conscious effort to really get into serious record-making, rather than pissin' about in home studios – which I, for one, think he's terrible at. When "Ebony and Ivory" came out, everybody was saying, "Christ, have you heard it? It's terrible." Well, I heard it, and I thought it was ****in' amazing! I thought, "That's it, that's McCartney!" He's actually taken black and white, put a bit of tinsel around it, managed by hook or by crook to get Stevie Wonder to sing it, sit on black and white piano keys on a video . . . . It's wonderful! It's gauche! It's Paul McCartney!

    I've always said that I've never been a big fan of the Beatles: to me rock was the Stones, and before that Chuck Berry, and before that, maybe a few people who lived in fields in Louisiana. But I can't really include the Beatles in that. The Beatles were over with Herman's Hermits. That's not rock & roll. I was always very confused about the American attitude of thinking that the Beatles were rock & roll. Because they were such a big pop phenomenon. I've always enjoyed some of their stuff as light music, with occasional masterpieces thrown in. But with a lot of their things, you can't dig very deep. Either you come up against Lennon's deliberately evading what it is that he's trying to say, so it's inscrutable, or Paul McCartney's self-imposed shallowness, because he sees music as being . . . I mean, he's a great believer in pop music, I think. But I wonder whether McCartney, perhaps, rests a little bit on the laurels of the Beatles.​
     
  22. Gersh

    Gersh Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Your suggested 2nd meaning doesn't scan grammatically what I wrote.
     
  23. Gersh

    Gersh Forum Resident Thread Starter


    There are times (many) I don't get Pete. How could the guy who wrote Tommy and Quadrophenia speak such rubbish? Maybe he was drunk at the time?
     
  24. Gersh

    Gersh Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Actually, I read it again and you are right, it could be taken the way you suggested - if you didn't read the interview I posted.
     
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  25. ShockControl

    ShockControl Bon Vivant and Raconteur!

    Location:
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    They should hook up with Pete and Roger. The Whotles.
     
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