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One of my favourite
London bands of all time has to be West London's four-headed groove
machine, The Who.
Formed in 1964,
they featured Roger Daltrey on lead vocals, Pete Townshend
on guitar, John Entwistle on bass and Keith Moon on
drums.
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| A classic
early shot of the Shepherds Bush masters |
Their compelling
and explosive sound saw them rise from the capital's mid-60s Mod
scene and go on to challenge for the title of 'The Greatest Rock
n Roll Band In The World', influencing generations of bands from
The Jam to The Clash right through to Oasis,
who have recently included a souped-up version of the classic teenage
anthem 'My Generation' in their live set and on their new single
'Little By Little'.
Exemplary debut
In fact I'm currently
getting a real kick out of The Who's exemplary 1966 debut album
(cunningly titled 'The Who'), which has just been released - in
true stereo - on CD in this country for the very first time.
Lovingly packaged,
featuring extensive sleeve notes from people like producer Shel
Talmy plus bonus tracks a go-go, this new deluxe edition really
brings home the power and maximum R&B sound of the early Shepherds
Bush masters, a noise that would thrill the UK and then the world.
From the opener
'Out In The Street' through to 'The Kids Are Alright' to their blistering
version of James Brown's 'Please Please Please', this is
one band I would dearly have loved to have seen in concert at the
time, and on this album Pete Townshend's pen, in my opinion,
was never sharper.
Testimony
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| Now you know
where The Jam got it from - as if you needed reminding! |
It's ironic that
the band was never particularly pleased with the finished result,
but jeez has it stood the test of time! And what a wonderful testimony
to the memory of the band's recently deceased bassist John 'The
Ox' Entwistle.
As Andy Neil's
sleeve notes instruct, play it loud. And who am I to argue? It's
a classic...
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Listen live
Click
through amazing shots of London from high up in a helicopter!