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Who I Am

Pete Townshend

Discussion: 2012-Oct-Nov-Dec

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2012-Oct-Nov-Dec

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* December 2012
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last updated Dec 14, 2012 05:18PM

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Jun 14, 2015 Lee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: research

I very recently read Pete Townshend's memoir Who Am I. It was really nothing like what I expected it to be. Going into the book I really thought the reader was going to get Townshend's view of all the major goings on before, during and after (is there really an after?) The Who. I expected there to be more about his relationship with the other band members in particular, but certain the people around him. I was also certain, that being the self-reflective artist that he is, there would an in-dept I very recently read Pete Townshend's memoir Who Am I. It was really nothing like what I expected it to be. Going into the book I really thought the reader was going to get Townshend's view of all the major goings on before, during and after (is there really an after?) The Who. I expected there to be more about his relationship with the other band members in particular, but certain the people around him. I was also certain, that being the self-reflective artist that he is, there would an in-depth look at his process and how he relates to the work he's done. However, those three points are not what this memoir is. That is not to say, that Who Am I, was not a worthwhile read. At this point, I should also warn you I most definitely read this with an agenda, namely, using it to help inform my PhD research, So I'll have a slightly different perspective than someone looking for a fun beach read.

The very first thing that struck me about this book is how simple it was. In many ways I enjoyed the simplicity of it. The narrative moves right along unencumbered by overly complicated sentences or explanations. At some points it reads more like an accounting of events than a story. You can almost picture Townshend sitting with his diary from the 70's figuring out which dates he was where. However, there were definitely points that left you wanting more. For example, early on he talks about some of the infighting in the group and points where various members were going to be kicked out or leave. He really just goes through and very briefly documents who was going to be kicked out/leave, and maybe a sentence or two about why, but you do really feel like there is more to the story then what you get. Certainly there had to be some level of fall out from these decision, or lack of decision really, however, after accounting for them, they are not referenced again. What really made the lack of detail about Townshend's early work stand out more, was the abundance of detail on all non-Who related projects. For me the narrative really slowed down at some point in the 80's, when he was working on several projects as well as working with a publishing firm. Although, in many respects, it makes sense that there would be more information about his more recent endeavors, and things that have not been as widely publicized and documented.

It wasn't just milestone that I thought were missing, the interpersonal relationships in the band could have been delved further into. To look at the media, it wouldn't seem like Townshend and Daltrey were always on the best of terms, and while it makes sense that this relationship would be a sensitive topic and not necessarily one that Townshend would really want to dive into, the only relationships with the band members that he really mentions are John Entwhistle, Keith Moon, and Kit Lambert. In the text, with the exception of Kit who he writes about the most of the three, he only delves into his relationship with Moon and Entwhistle while he is referencing their deaths. Even so, the passages are probably no more than a page or two. (I was reading the book on a Kindle, so it's a little harder to trace it out in terms of pages, but the point is they were short passages.) Lambert gets a little more attention, because Townshend talks about how he had helped shape his creative process when working on A Quick One and Tommy. Frankly, what he says in those passages is everything he has said in interviews, there is no extra detail, and perhaps that is because there is nothing else to say on the subject. The relationships he writes extensively about are his many girlfriends, which frankly, I couldn't have cared less about and it made me really feel for his now ex-wife, Karen. Had he discussed how these women had influenced his work, I would have welcomed them to the narrative, but accounting for each woman he "fell in love with" on the road amidst a parade of booze and drugs, it read more like he was trying to make a record of his Rock 'n Roll conquests. To be fair, his stories of sex, drugs, and booze, have a lot more to do with explaining the emotional and mental state he was in at various points in his life. However, in my highly biased opinion, had those stories and his state of being been tied to how it effected the art he was producing, it would have made these forays more interesting.

For my own selfish research purposes, I had hoped to learn a lot more about how Townshend creates his music — his method, his inspiration. Specifically, I wanted to learn more about A Quick One, The Who Sell Out, Tommy, and Quadrophenia. I wanted to know more about his relationship with rock opera, a genre that he has become synonymous with. So I was a little disappointed that there was little detail about the actual production of these piece. There was also little about the Tommy movie, which I found surprising, considering the people who got on board to make the film. However, if you are interested in Lifehouse, which would produce the music for Who's Next, you're in luck. He writes at length about the philosophy, production and deterioration of Lifehouse, which was really fantastic. He does talk a bit about the equipment he used at various points. Early on he describes his amp set ups, later he writes about the recording equipment and synthesizers, and later still he writes briefly about the influence of computers, the internet and digitization on his projects (and his life). Although, I will say, when it comes to tech and music, the reader needs to be a little weary of what he claims to have come up with on his own. At one point, given the context of the quote, around 1967, he claimed to have come up the talk box:

I commissioned a small low-power radio transmitter that would simulate a true radio sound to check how my tracks would sound if they were ever broadcast. I was already experimenting with stereo ‘flanging’, taking two identical tracks and bringing them in and out of phase with each other to create a psychedelic effect. I built a speaker in a small box, attached a tube and put the tube in my mouth, allowing me to ‘speak’ music. When Frank Zappa leaned over to me conspiratorially at the Speakeasy Club in London and described this new invention to me, I was polite enough not to tell him I’d already come up with it.

Townshend, Pete (2012-10-08). Who I Am: A Memoir (pp. 181-182). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

I don't think so, Kustom Electronics was marketing the Bag by 1969, and Pete Drake was using it as early as 1963 on Roger Miller's single Lock, Stock and Teardrops. So, as with any memoir, you do need to take some of it with a grain of salt. While Townshend may have had one commissioned, neither he nor Frank Zappa invented it. Could it be an instance of multiple discovery? Could Townshend be the Alfred Russel Wallace to Pete Drake's Charles Darwin? The Elisha Gray to Drake's Alexander Graham Bell? Possibly.1

Despite, it not being the gem of a primary source I'd hoped it would be for my research, Who Am I is definitely an essential and worthwhile read for any Townshend, Who or 60's/70's rock fan. I'm constantly amazed at how well our favorite pop bands from the 60's and 70's knew one another. One of my favorite anecdotes from the book was Pete Townshend and Eric Clapton going to listen to Pink Floyd at the UFO. Again, for completely selfish, research-based interests, it is my favorite, because I just love the idea that the two men who would immortalize the rock opera were in the same room so early in their careers. It's entertaining to get those random stories about Eric Clapton, Ronnie Lane, Joe Walsh, or whoever. It was fascinating to find out about the diversity of Townshend's work. If you are more interested in learning about him as a tortured artist, you'll love this. The descriptions of his childhood and family are at times alarming and deeply moving. As he goes through the years, you truly get a sense of how he was unraveling. Who Am I is an extremely personal and reflective memoir.

1. It isn't really clear who invented the talk box, many people claim to have come up with the idea.Drake was the first person to become known for it, and says he came up with the idea. Bob Heil became famous for them in the 70s and famously made high-powered versions for Peter Frampton and Joe Walsh. However, Walsh actually used Drake's on the recording of Rocky Mountain Way Drake didn't actually make his himself. Country singer Dotty West's husband and steel guitar player Bill West reported made his. ...more

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