Listen to the isolated drums and bass on The Who classic ‘My Generation’
John Entwistle and Keith Moon were not a traditional rhythm section. Their two decades together as the anchors of The Who, Entwistle and Moon were unlikely friends and even more unlikely musical partners. In person, Entwistle was quiet and reserved, while Moon was manic and energetic. On stage, however, the pair battled each other for noise supremacy, often clashing and playing off each other in spectacular ways.
Off stage, Entwistle and Moon enjoyed a close friendship that played off their pair’s mutual love for clubs and hotel room destruction. Even though he was restrained in his demeanour, Entwistle was just as enthralled with explosions as his bandmate was. “A lot of times when Keith was blowing up toilets I was standing behind him with the matches,” Entwistle later admitted.
Perhaps the greatest example of Entwistle and Moon battling for sonic supremacy was on ‘My Generation’. While Moon busted out an iconic shuffle beat, Entwistle got his own spotlight to solo over a breakdown. As the song launched into its cacophonous finale, Moon would often turn into full-on destruction mode, launching drums and cymbals across the stage. Entwistle rarely participated in the destruction, but his wild bass slides kept the chaos going.
The Who never played ‘My Generation’ the same way twice. Sometimes, the song would start out as a slow shuffle entitled ‘My Generation Blues’. Other times, they stuck to the studio version, which was chaotic and energetic. In 1967, ‘My Generation’ was only two years old, so most live versions stuck to the studio version’s example.
The live version below shows Moon in a largely restrained (for him) style. Entwistle gets more chances to improvise, especially during his bass solo. Entwistle added increasingly complex variations to his solo as the years went on, and even in 1967, it was clear that he was mostly just winging it when the time came. Still, the live version down below contains most of the basic elements of the recorded bass solo, with a few notable deviations.
Check out the isolated bass and drums from a live version of ‘My Generation’ down below.
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