John Lennon's Coolness to Pete Townshend

There is a very good chance that John did not see Pete's comment on "A Whole Scene Going." That program aired on January 5, 1966. On that day, The Beatles were at CTS Studios in London, recording overdubs for the Shea Stadium film. John may have heard about it later but I don't recall reading anything indicating that one of The Beatles actually saw the show.

 

Both Lennon and Townshend are/were massively insecure. You can add McCartney and Davies on that list too.

 

That's very funny, never heard that.

 

No wonder why they broke up. Shame on John for inflicting the world with her.

 

Well Jefferson Airplane hadn't come on the scene yet.

 

Yikes, that Little Richard remark is... bad. What a putz. (Yeah, I know that being a Beatles guy and not a Who guy, I'm more likely to forgive the dickish stuff John's said over the years than some similar nonsense from Pete, but saying Little Richard didn't matter is alienating to me even by those standards... though I guess Lennon constantly slamming the entire genre of jazz should be equally troubling.)

 

Well, reading that interview linked at top of thread, shows Pete wasn't real warm and fuzzy, himself.
In fact he comes off as cruel and callous in some comments, like this one:


. . I spoke to him once on the phone. I was staying at the Pierre in New York – he had a suite there – and he came on the phone and we had a quick chat. I said, "Do you fancy a drink?" Not meaning. "Let's go get drunk." And he just said, "No, no, no. I'm just not into any kind of scene like that at all." And I said, "Well, what kind of scene?" You know? I wasn't suggesting a scene, I was suggesting getting together for a drink. And I thought then, you know [croons]: "Goodbye, John . . ." Perhaps I, like many others, was never meant to know him. And I wonder whether his chosen form of remoreness wasn't actually slightly instrumental in his eventual tragic death. In other words, can you really be Greta Garbo? You know? I mean, what an idiot that woman was. She becomes a great big star and then says, "I want to be alone.


He says this in describing John not wanting to go out and get a drink, did that warrant this reaction!?!?

He is pretty cruel in his comments on others, especially Eric Clapton.

Plus he was promoting his solo album, maybe wanted to mix some juicy, attention getting quotes in there.

 

Maybe Pete made a pass at him??????

 

...that's what I was thinking.

 

• " I think rock music is junk. I am a genius! The Who were OK but without me they would have all ended up working in the flower market, or worse – in Led Zeppelin"

 

Kevin Rowland springs to mind.

 

They busked it during Let It Be, it's in the Nagras.

 

As Lennon, Townshend is often ridiculous in his biases.
Little Richard didn't matter? Seriously? Just because he
wasn't one of PETE's inspirations doesn't mean he didn't
matter. Bullocks, as The Brits say.

I think a lot of people don't understand McCartney. He
took Lennon's credo,

"Where are we going fellas?"

"To the top, Johnny!"

"Where?"

"The tippy top!"

So, unlike Lennon, McCartney always protected The Beatles
legacy even while the band was together to stay away from
taboo things. As in, go lightly without going light. Challenge
but remember your base. "Look at what happened with the
Jesus flap." He carried that ethic forward on his solo work.

McCartney from time to time does bombast quite well although
he hasn't had the chops for it in over 10 years. But he's proven
he can rock harder than the best or rest of 'em. I just he'd done
it more often and check the schmaltz at the door.

 

Did Lennon do. anything as good as Who Are You /Quadrophenia, per solo career....no, but that's besides the point. But ..Pete was not intimidated by him ( maybe McCartney also) any longer.

 

Lennon largely was in the singer songwriter class
following his gig with The Beatles.

I've not heard the Elephants Memory stuff closely,
but other than that, Toronto and the "R'n'R" record,
there ain't much rock in the grooves.

Lennon and McCartney needed one another to bring
that Beatley rock out of one another.

 

Did Pete do anything as good as those Who albums? Not quite.

 

Important to remember:

overshadowing both men's views and reactions to each other-

The Beatles had climbed Mount Everest, broke the 4 minute mile and walked on the moon by the time The Who had gained international recognition for their live performances and started making epic albums.

By that time, the Beatles retired from touring before the Who performed at Monterey and Woodstock. The Beatles had recorded Abbey Road and disbanded the same year as The Who recorded Tommy.

In my mind, this had to reflect their different perspectives.

 

Why try to put John and Pete against each other? Both are genius, both made great records. Maybe they not got along very well but who cares? I think both had respect of each other works.

 

Wow, I just read that RS interview. What a...

I guess a lot of us think we're a little smarter than we really are.

But Pete Townshend always struck me as a guy who thinks he's about 1000x smarter than he is.

And the number went up with that interview.

 

That doesn't sound at all like "A Quick One." I can't understand why the bootleggers would identify it as such.

 

Yes, that's definitely true, his self-regard has been skyhigh for years. Of course, you need a degree of self-regard to succeed.

 

You're all making a big deal out of Pete's comments on that TV show but he was only referring to how bad the stereo mix was on Runner Soul. That's it.

 

Seriously, how perfect would this be? They are like the Brady Bunch of has-been rock stars. One quartet with a dead rhythm section, and another half-dead quartet with a living rhythm section.

 

Pete also said that about Hendrix, moaning that Eric always got the hugs but not him.
There was that little row at Monterey recounted here:
Pete Townshend Recalls Negotiating with Jimi Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival

The story goes that after the gig, Pete asked Jimi if he could have a piece of the smashed guitar, to which Jimi replied "You want me to sign it for you honky?".

 

Where is the rule that states they have to be bosom buddy friends?
Anyway, I have a question. I've never heard that version of A Quick One by The Beatles. Where they playing out of admiration for The Who or maybe just playing through a song that they thought was not that good?