Pete Townshend Is My God . . .
This video of the Who performing "A Quick One While He's Away" comes from the 1968 Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus concert. Apparently the Stones withheld release of this television special for years because they felt they had been upstaged by the Who. Judging from this clip, it's easy to see why the Stones were shaking in their boots.
I had never realized just how manic the Who were on stage. The Townshend windmill, now hackneyed and cheesy, is actually breathtaking to see in its original form -- he whips his arms around so furiously, so viciously, you can feel the electric mania coursing through his veins. And Keith Moon as a drummer? Check out how he manages to basically do a drum fill the entire song while spinning his sticks and extending his body back and forth, arms stretched over his head. Roger Daltrey's stage presence is propelled primarilly by his fringe and his mystical blue eyes. John Entwhislte? Well, he sure plays a dang good bass.
Between Townshend spinning and leaping and crunching out riffs, Moon going bonkers while driving along this seven-minute opus, and Daltrey just being Daltrey, the Who were really quite something. Even though they rose to even more majestic rock-god heights (see the anthems "Baba O'Reilly" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" on the Who's Next album), these seven minutes are all the proof I need that no one ever rocked harder than the Who.
Did I just say "rocked harder"? I'm such a dork . . .
I had never realized just how manic the Who were on stage. The Townshend windmill, now hackneyed and cheesy, is actually breathtaking to see in its original form -- he whips his arms around so furiously, so viciously, you can feel the electric mania coursing through his veins. And Keith Moon as a drummer? Check out how he manages to basically do a drum fill the entire song while spinning his sticks and extending his body back and forth, arms stretched over his head. Roger Daltrey's stage presence is propelled primarilly by his fringe and his mystical blue eyes. John Entwhislte? Well, he sure plays a dang good bass.
Between Townshend spinning and leaping and crunching out riffs, Moon going bonkers while driving along this seven-minute opus, and Daltrey just being Daltrey, the Who were really quite something. Even though they rose to even more majestic rock-god heights (see the anthems "Baba O'Reilly" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" on the Who's Next album), these seven minutes are all the proof I need that no one ever rocked harder than the Who.
Did I just say "rocked harder"? I'm such a dork . . .
