Pete Townshend invites Kenney Jones to be the new drummer for the Who. Odd.

And the bit of the history that I don't know - I'm not really a huge Who fan - is what where Townshend et al was personally during that period. Etc etc etc.

I just got thinking about it today when "Eminence Front" shuffled up on the iPod after "Borstal Boys."

Available at the time? I don't know.

But imagine if, for example, they couldn't come up with a replacement and asking John Bonham to sit in. (Think, I don't know, "Carouselambra" shuffling up instead of "Borstal Boys" - more interesting, isn't it?)

My point is not so much to dream up so classic rock supergroup. It just seems strange from a musical point of view (although I'm not a drummer, so what do I know.) Maybe the bottom line is that drummer really doesn't matter.

I also shouldn't be assuming that it was all Townshend's say. Daltrey and Entwistle could've seen him as a good way to anchor Pete into good old' ten songs of four and half minutes each of hard Rock and none of this song-suite crap.

Of course, that's a total guess!

*runs and hides under a big stack of pretty things records*

Anyway, I came across this song in my random playlist just now and got to thinking how much Scott is right. I am embarassed to say the Stones do virtually nothing at all for me, never have done, outside of a few late 70's/early 80's singles/hits.

The Who win hands down. And I might pull out "Sell Out" tonight, just because I haven't heard it in a few years at least.

Anyway, I'll leave this thread for people who care what drummer the Who had in 1978. That doesn't include me. That was the one album by The Who I didn't buy, actually - "Who Are You?". I like the title track, but I tried to listen to that in the store once and I was like "no way". So yeah, that was absolutely the only Who album I never owned, including comps.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=URFbwUkBrjA

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dFNa4SRZhIk

I was just wondering about that YESTERDAY. Mick Avory was the drummer before Charlie, of course...

Worse, I daresay.

But that aside, why does anyone care who plays drums with The Who nowadays? It's not going to change the fact that they stink.

Well that's a kneejerk attempt to be cool if I ever heard one - you haven't even heard the new album have you? Admit it.

2. Townshend apparently chose Jones because he decided that any Who without Moon would need to be a new Who, one that would feature a more conventional drummer. The Ox also apparently said that it was novel to play with a solid drummer, but it was Daltrey who apparently never cared for Jones, which is odd cuz I would think their personalities were similar enough (both seem to be essentially normal dudes) to be complementary.

I like the Who just fine with Kenney: its too bad they ditched him in 1989.

3. I love that "Carouselmbra" is a meme on ILM.

4. The 5 or 6 songs I've heard from Endless Wire are feeble, and "Mirror Door" is absolutely pathetic.

daltrey always hated kenney's playing, from day one, and was very vocal about it. but he'd always say something like, "it nothing personal. we're great friends. i just can't stand his playing."

I like the Who just fine with Kenney: its too bad they ditched him in 1989.

i could never stand simon phillips. the hackiest hack who ever hacked.

I mean, he was in the small faces before the faces, and some that drumming -- "Get Yourself Together" and those early R&B throw downs -- is fuckin' nasty and unhinged. At the same time, he has his own, more solid style. So, if I Townsend, I'm thinking, "Jones will help give us a new sound in the studio, but he will also be able to keep up, when we play the older stuff on our next world tour."

absolutely OTM

but daltrey's claim was that the only reason pete asked kenney to join was because they were drinking partners. and given how much pete was drinking at the time, he probably saw jones more than he saw his own family.

on that clip, THE OX is fucking pwning the whole world on bass, dude was so badass.

i don't think he's ever said that kenney wasn't a good choice -- actually, he's staunchly defended kenney whenever an interviewer brings the subject up -- but rather that the band should've stopped after moon's death instead of carrying on. he's also said they should've stopped after the who by numbers (supposedly he was done with the who at the end of '76, but the others desperately wanted/needed to carry on); and that the band should've stopped the day after the cincinnati tragedy.

one of the most surprising things in Townshend's autobio was the revelation that after Moon died, Phil Collins was one of the drummers who offered to fill in. would've liked to hear what that'd sound like.

http://youtu.be/v-ErHX4IEIA

uh Midge Ure on co-lead guitar

Mick Karn on bass? What the hell is this?

damn, Phil is jamming that clip

Yeah, but Phil wasn't a mod. Kenney had a history with the Who, from touring together (he and Keith once played "Magic Bus" together on the same kit) to playing on most of the Tommy soundtrack. Great as Phil was, they barely knew the guy.

Not a mod? B-but he was in A Hard Day's Night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiKj007MA0g

i get WHY Phil wasn't the choice (and it's hard to imagine him juggling Genesis, the solo career AND the Who throughout the 80s), i'm just saying it's an interesting scenario to imagine.

I can't think of many moments of Collins as sessioneer when he hasn't shone.

The Sessioneer Shone would be a good title for a compilation of his sideman work

That video cracks me up-Pete looking like he is going to sit in later with Ultravox, and Collins ready to go for the Jimmy Buffett set.

Yeah, but Phil wasn't a mod. Kenney had a history with the Who, from touring together (he and Keith once played "Magic Bus" together on the same kit) to playing on most of the Tommy soundtrack. Great as Phil was, they barely knew the guy.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, July 21, 2014 5:24 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not sure about Collins during the 60s, do know that the Action are one of his all time favourite bands and he seemed to have a predeliction for 60s soul too which might suggest he was at least leaning toward mod.
THink he may have been too young to be actively involved in any mid 60s scene. Not sure how old he was when he was in Flaming Youth

Yeah, I realized after dow's AHDN post that Phil was too young to be a mod (he was 13 in 1964). And while Phil no doubt dug mod sounds, Jones and the rest of the Who came up through (and helped define) mod culture itself. So the Who and Jones felt a kinship that Phil couldn't have shared, largely due to the age difference.

That said, yeah, it would've been fascinating to hear Phil play with the Who. And it could've happened; Daltrey's idea was that the Who would have a revolving door of drummers, but Townshend shot him down and insisted on Jones. The irony is that Phil really seemed to love the Who, while Jones, by his own admission, only knew the hits when he joined.

Pete and Phil both played on Paul McCartney's Press to Play album as well!

http://www.maccafan.net/Albums/PressToPlay/Friends.jpg

http://www.maccafan.net/Albums/PressToPlay/Friends2.jpg

that is an amazing prince's trust clip.

"Angry" is by far the worst song on that album.

That video cracks me up-Pete looking like he is going to sit in later with Ultravox, and Collins ready to go for the Jimmy Buffett set.

That said, yeah, it would've been fascinating to hear Phil play with the Who. And it could've happened; Daltrey's idea was that the Who would have a revolving door of drummers, but Townshend shot him down and insisted on Jones. The irony is that Phil really seemed to love the Who, while Jones, by his own admission, only knew the hits when he joined.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, July 21, 2014 10:56 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

a poignant bit from Pete's book about the period after Face Dances when Roger wanted Kenney out:

"Why was this new system not working for Roger? Roger literally used to dance to Keith's drums. He was balletic in his upper-body movements, just as I was balletic sometimes in my leaps and splits. (I once said to Roger that if you could combine his torso with my legs you'd have a hell of a man.) But when Kenney joined the band, Roger couldn't dance to the music any more. He claimed that Keith had always followed the vocal line, and that he in turn followed Keith. And Keith was gone."

Roger otm

Dig Roger here at 1:33 demonstrating Keith playing with the vocal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLMc6J9h3mU

Can Pete come out already

i mean he's pretty open about his attraction to Jagger and other men in the book. if he'd acted on those impulses, it's difficult to imagine he'd hold back given how detailed the book is about everything else that ever happened to him.

wouldn't count on it some dude, have you seen how he walked back 'Rough Boys'?

The explanation is so goddamn gnarled

oh god, rog playing back the vocals and drums to behind blue eyes and just being totally joyful <3

Wasn't there someone he dun it with in his book? I forget who, boom boom.

i haven't finished it yet, jeez spoiler alert much

It's OK, it wasn't Basil Brush really.