Five iconic guitarists Pete Townshend couldn’t stand: “Arrogant”
Think back to what you know about The Who. Yes, they were a part of the British Invasion, yes, they also seemed to spearhead the Mod movement in Britain, though this fact is a little sketchy, and they appeared to be hedonistic and carefree. But, the final point is a contentious one, and you need only look at Pete Townshend to recognise it.
Sure, the band were certainly raucous; they lived up to their billing as rebellious rockers. But Townshend never has and never will be a lackadaisical or carefree artist. He was a songwriter and guitarist who meant every single note and word he said, at least when he first said it. The truth is, especially as The Who were making their name, they worked incredibly hard to get to the top of the pile.
Do not be fooled by any phoney sense of camaraderie; rock and roll is a fickle business that is largely driven by egos. Across many different music scenes and movements, artists were often far more likely to forge rivalries than friendships. This was particularly true of London during the 1960s, where a plethora of budding young groups sprang up, trampling over each other for a chance to make it to the top. Pete Townshend and The Who were among the lucky few who did make it to the top of the rock scene, but that didn’t mean Townshend looked upon his fellow musicians too favourably.
Unsurprisingly, for a man who built his career on the creation of loud, brash, and aggressive rock and roll music, Townshend has never been one to keep his opinions to himself. Throughout his career in music, The Who guitarist has taken virtually every opportunity presented to him to discredit and attack a variety of iconic musicians. Everybody from Paul McCartney to his own bandmates have come under fire at one point or another, and the guitarist’s views on people seem to change with the weather.
If egos characterise the world of rock music, then the world of rock guitarists is on an entirely different plane of arrogance. Guitarists are so often the driving force behind a band, and this affords them a certain degree of superiority over other musicians, at least in their own minds. Townshend, again, is no exception. After all, with The Who, he paved the way for virtually all future alternative rock, metal, and punk artists with his distinctive and original playing style.
In fairness to Townshend, many of the guitarists he has expressed annoyance with over the years have been because of their quality or popularity, which Townshend felt he could never match. Nevertheless, it is certainly worth remembering those who have come under fire from the songwriter, as the list spans various eras and styles of rock and roll music, seemingly without prejudice.
Five guitarists Pete Townshend hates:
Jimmy Page
By this point, it is no secret that Townshend has a complicated relationship with Led Zeppelin and their guitar hero, Jimmy Page. Speaking to the Toronto Sun, the songwriter once fired an accusation of plagiarism at Page and the gang, sharing, “We sort of invented heavy metal with (our first live album) Live at Leeds. We were copied by so many bands, principally by Led Zeppelin, you know, heavy drums, heavy bass, heavy lead guitar.”
Seemingly, though, Townshend’s gripe with Page began long before Led Zeppelin unveiled their hard rock manifesto. “I first saw Jimmy Page when I was 14 or 15, and he was already in a professional band,” Townshend once recalled. Although he highlights that, even at that age, Page was “an extraordinary player”, he also labelled the future Zeppelin axeman “arrogant” and “flash.”
Ritchie Blackmore
From one hard rock pioneer to another. When The Who began to make a name for themselves in the United States, they were often lumped together with the blossoming world of British hard rock groups like Deep Purple. Although there were definitely similarities in the sounds of these two groups, Townshend and The Who always liked to think of themselves as a little more profound and inventive than their hard rock contemporaries.
“I hated their music,” he once said of the hard rock scene, “It was very hard to live with in a way that we were being lumped in with these very heavy metal bands. I think it was because Ritchie Blackmore used to sort of bash his guitar on his head, smoke a cigarette through his teeth, and play a mouth organ back to front..” It is not Townshend’s most savage attack on a fellow guitarist, but he is certainly one of the only players considering a comparison to Blackmore’s offensive.
The Beatles/George Harrison
Although, during his later years, Townshend forged something of a friendship with George Harrison, the Who songwriter had not always been so complimentary about the Fab Four or their guitarist. Back in 1966, when The Beatles were at the top of their game and moving into more diverse and psychedelic avenues, Townshend had the nerve to brand the group “flippin’ lousy”.
“Actually, this afternoon, John [Entwistle] and I were listening to a stereo LP of The Beatles,” he shared, “In which the voices come out of the one side, and the backing track comes out of the other. When you actually hear the backing tracks of The Beatles without their voices, they’re flippin’ lousy.” He might not have been directly targeting Harrison within that interview, but it is clear that Townshend did not view the Beatles’ playing with any kind of admiration.
Kurt Cobain
Townshend has always liked to keep his finger on the pulse of new music scenes and emerging artists. Of course, when the 1990s came around and grunge began to dominate the airwaves, the impact of Nirvana’s frontman Kurt Cobain was difficult to ignore. However, Cobain found himself on the wrong side of The Who songwriter following a line in his journal which read, “I hope I die before I become Pete Townshend” – a pastiche on the lyric “I hope I die before I get old”, from The Who’s era-defining ‘My Generation’.
In response, Townshend reviewed Journals for The Observer upon its publication. Giving a less-than-favourable view of the grunge legend, the guitarist called the work, ”The scribblings of a crazed and depressed drug addict in the midst of what those of us who have been through drug rehab describe as ‘stinking thinking’.”
Jimi Hendrix
Even a guitarist as accomplished as Pete Townshend could not deny the groundbreaking genius of Jimi Hendrix, surely? Well, The Who guitarist was certainly an appreciator of Hendrix’s unique playing style and innovative approach to rock and roll music. His issue with the American icon, it seems, is that Hendrix would often overshadow The Who during concerts and festivals.
Speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock Radio, Townshend once recounted, “What I did for Jimi – which I always regretted doing for Jimi: His manager brought him to meet me at a recording studio when he first arrived, and he asked me what equipment to buy. I told him that I’d been using a mixture of an amplifier called Sound City. Which was a Marshall substitute, with a Marshall, to get this really kind of slabby sound.”
“Then, a couple of weeks later, we did a show with him at the Saville Theatre with him allegedly supporting us,” the guitarist continued, “I wish I’d never given him the tip! I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, this guy’s brilliant enough without being a thousand watts loud.’” Even a band as talented and beloved as The Who found Hendrix a difficult act to follow.
