Whether or not Must Must Change "needs" a drum part is a subjective opinion. But the fact is that Pete Townshend thought it needed drums, and so did producers Glynn Johns and Jon Astley. And Keith apparently did not disagree, since he tried very hard to record a part for the track, and was not able. If you think it sounds better without drums, that would amount to a happy accident, since the intention of the musicians was to record drums but they changed plans because Keith was not able to do it competently. If his troubles on this song were an isolated incident specific only to that one song, your comparison to Mason might be more apt. But they were not. We have testimony from all involved that Moon struggled to record drums for the entire album, and that his skills had deteriorated notably. Here's a few examples: "(Keith) was so sad about it. He was so upset. He used to cry. Nobody knew more than Keith (that his drumming had deteriorated). It used to break his heart." --Roger Daltrey "He was fluctuating between genius and complete rubbish, so you had to get him on the right day." --John Entwistle, regarding Moon's playing during the WAY sessions "Every time we came to overdub Keith, it wasn't great. His timing was out, which was unusual for him, and this became frustrating for everybody. He was drinking a lot and taking drugs to stop himself putting on weight — which wasn't making that much difference — and while he was still the jovial Keith character, it sometimes wore a bit thin with everyone else." --Jon Astley
Keith's playing serve the songs on the entire album, regardless of others' opinions about his playing deteriorating. Regardless of the struggles during the recording process, the band accomplished recording a great album. The Pink Floyd analogy is a good one, because both Keith and Nick Mason were unable to achieve success on their respective songs. In Mason's case, it was a matter of ability and chops. In Keith's case, it isn't so clear, since their are no other songs like that in the Who repertoire. This discussion sometimes overlooks how great Keith was, even when he struggled. That he rose to the occassion in playing brand new progressive rock material from Pete, showed how great of a drummer he was. He was able to accomplish so much even when battling the physical effects of his demons. He could have given up, but he completed the drum parts for the album.
It isn’t a secret that Keith struggled through the Who Are You sessions, but for the life of me I can’t picture what a Keith Moon drum part might sound like on Music Must Change. Stylistically, the song sounds nothing like anything The Who had done before. It appears as though The Ox had trouble contributing anything interesting to the song as well .It would have been more appropriate on a Townshend solo album. Surely Pete should have recognized it wasn’t really a Who song beforehand.
At that point, Pete just offered up all his demos and the band chose the ones they wanted. So someone besides Pete (presumably Roger) thought it would work as a Who song. They hadn't done anything like it before, but there are other songs in their canon that didn't really fit Keith's style, yet he found a way to play Moon-style drums on them anyway. Two that stand out to me are "Anytime You Want Me" and "They Are All In Love."
Moon's great on "They Are All In Love"- it might not have been his style per se, but he made it work. As for "Music Must Change" I can't imagine the song with drums beyond the odd flourish here and there, which is what Moon added. After fourty years I think we can put the whole "Keith Moon couldn't play 6/8 time" theory to bed now...
It's known that Keith attempted to record drums for "Music Must Change" and that only his cymbal parts were retained for the Who Are You release. Has a version of his drumming on the song ever been released or leaked on bootlegs?
Absolutely agree. He still ‘had it’ on By Numbers. On WAY, however, the decline is evident, although I don’t think it pulls the album down. The song material is too strong for that.
I always understood that Keith recorded drums for "Music Must Change" but that only his cymbal playing from those sessions were kept in the released version.
I think his drumming was terrific on the who by numbers tour as captured on several videos. I noticed the decline on the kids are alright movie on his last live performances on there. I believe he had a long 2 year break before that. So the weight gain and the long break diminished his drumming abilities somewhat.
He tried, but became frustrated with himself, which sent him into a tailspin. I’ve never heard that anything he played was kept. It had to have been mortifying for everyone in the room to hear him say that his playing was “s- - -.” Once a guy like Keith loses confidence in himself, it’s not going to happen. @czeskleba ’s quotation from Roger, posted last September, pretty much nails it, I think.
I'm curious now to look up to see at what point during the Who Are You recording that "Music Must Change" was recorded as Keith's drums on the rest of the album are otherwise fine. I know a lot's being made out of it being the only song on the album being in 6/8 time, but that in-it-of-itself doesn't seem all that logical to have been the main problem for him having so many problems with recording his part for it. I have the remastered CD from the 90s at home. When I get home today I'm gonna look up the recording details in it.
As I said, I think his problems were rooted in crippling self-doubt, which was then exacerbated by use of alcohol as a coping mechanism. In my experience, the studio can be a strange environment: comforting, warm & home-like, if you’re prepared & playing well; a torture chamber if you are singled out as being the one person who can’t nail his/her part. Your mind starts screwing with your confidence. Suddenly you are aware of every movement your body is making. Then you start overthinking, losing concentration, sensing the disappointment. It isn’t pretty to see this happening to someone. Now imagine being Keith Moon. Who among us wouldn’t have cried out for brandy?
That self-doubt wasn't limited to red light fever, either, from what I understand. He was downing copious amounts of alcohol just to muster up the nerve to get on stage! Amazing, how paradoxically intense his insecurity compared with the bravado of his Who persona.
Understood, that's why I'm curious as to at what point during the WAY recording sessions Keith attempted to record his drum parts for "Music Must Change"
According to this Moon's cymbals from his failed drumming attempt were kept in the final mix of the song: The Hypertext Who › Music Must Change I've read this before, and I'm pretty sure I read it in the linear notes of the 90s remaster of WAY.
Yes, I’m aware of the fact his cymbal flourishes were used. I was speaking about takes using the entire kit. I assumed the cymbal flourishes were done separately. If I’m mistaken about that, I’m happy to admit it, but on the other hand, I see nothing here to indicate the cymbals were taken from the failed takes. That’s a conclusion you’ve drawn.
The point being that he performed the cymbals on the song, which your previous msg that stated "I’ve never heard that anything he played was kept." heavily implied that he didn't perform on the song.
