![]() ![]() The guitar is finished in a thin skin nitrocellulose lacquer, which allows more resonance than a modern poly finish and contributes to the acoustic quality. He typically has four to six more of these, and all are Eric Clapton signature models. The first guitar I see is the Torino Red Strat (number 4) that Townshend has been using since 1989. I am taken immediately to a huge flightcase that contains eight Fender Stratocasters encased in thick foam supports that pull out like drawers. As Alan leads me to the festival’s Great Oak Stage, you would be forgiven for thinking that NASA is about to launch a space probe: there’s high-tech equipment everywhere and security is tight, but it’s par for the course in the run-up to a performance by one of the world’s greatest live bands. It soon becomes apparent that preparations for a gig of this magnitude leave nothing to chance. We meet at Hyde Park’s Gate 10, as Alan has agreed to allow G&B a close look at the guitars used by his current employer, ahead of The Who’s headline peformance to 70,000 people at British Summer Time festival. Featuring Townshend, Billy Idol, Alfie Boe, and Phil Daniels, Classic Quadrophenia also had orchestrations by Townshend's partner, Rachel Fuller.Having also worked with The Rolling Stones, Joe Walsh, Eric Clapton and George Harrison, there’s very little that Townshend’s guitar tech, Alan Rogan, hasn’t seen. That same summer, Townshend released Classic Quadrophenia, the flagship album in a symphonic reworking of his 1973 rock opera. Over the next few years, the group performed regularly, culminating in a 50th anniversary tour in 2015. Townshend and Roger Daltrey carried on as the Who and in 2006, they released Endless Wire, which was the band's first album in 24 years and Townshend's first collection of new songs in 13. After that, the band next hit the road in 1999 and performed often until John Entwistle's sudden death on the eve of a tour in summer 2002. The Who became a regular concern following the group's 1996 reunion to play Quadrophenia at Hyde Park. None of these came to fruition during the rest of the '90s, though, and by the end of the decade, he was releasing live and archival recordings (notably the long-delayed Lifehouse) through his website and planning another reunion with the Who. By that time, however, he had successfully reinvented himself as a Broadway tunesmith - the theatrical production entitled The Who's Tommy had become a runaway hit, earning him a Tony Award and prompting him to pursue more stage musicals. In 1993, Townshend delivered Psychoderelict, another conceptual work, to mixed reviews and poor sales. Simultaneous with the album's release, Townshend embarked on a reunion tour with the Who, an event that overshadowed The Iron Man, which enjoyed only modest sales. The record featured guest vocals by John Lee Hooker and Nina Simone, as well as two tracks featuring the three surviving members of the Who. The unit played only a few gigs, but one was videotaped and recorded, resulting in the 1986 album Pete Townshend's Deep End Live! In 1989, he released an album based on poet Ted Hughes' children's story, The Iron Man. As part of the White City project, he appeared in an accompanying film, for which he organized a band called Pete Townshend's Deep End. ![]() In 1985, he returned to thematic efforts with the album White City: A Novel, which included the Top 30 single "Face the Face." The same year, he published a book of short stories, Horse's Neck. Townshend released Scoop, a two-disc compilation of demos, in 1983 (a second volume appeared in 1987). Nevertheless, he felt he could no longer write for the Who, and at the end of the year, the group disbanded following a North American tour. Townshend's first full-fledged solo effort was Empty Glass (1980), which sold a million copies, reached the Top Five, and featured the Top Ten hit "Let My Love Open the Door," as well as the minor hits "A Little Is Enough" and "Rough Boys." He followed it in 1982 with All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, which was less successful. In 1976, he made a duo album, Rough Mix, with Ronnie Lane, formerly the bassist in the Small Faces. ![]() Dedicated to his guru, Meher Baba, it continued themes pursued in Who's Next, and like that album, contained material originally intended for an abortive conceptual work, Lifehouse it sold modestly. He made his first tentative solo album, Who Came First, in 1972. Best-known for his conceptual works, he wrote Tommy and Quadrophenia for the band, as well as the bulk of its other material. ![]() Pete Townshend was the guitarist and primary songwriter for the Who from 1964 to 1982, also participating in the group's occasional reunions after its formal breakup. ![]()
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