The one guitarist Pete Townshend said could “play anything”
Groundbreaking guitarists were ten-a-penny during the rock and roll revolution of the 1960s, but few of those six-stringed masters could boast the same extensive CV as The Who’s Pete Townshend, whose wind-milling, proto-metal guitar playing changed the very landscape of rock and roll forevermore.
Even before The Who unleashed their legendary debut single ‘I Can’t Explain’ back in 1965, Townshend had already amassed a reputation as a spectacle when it came to live performance.
Owing perhaps to his anarchic adolescence immersed in the mod subculture, the guitarist was among the first to determine that live performance was the key to The Who’s success. Still, Townshend has never really been the kind of guitarist to resort solely to self-aggrandising guitar solos or endless jams.
Admittedly, Townshend has embraced the art of the guitar solo at various points during his career – you only need to look at the 14-minute version of ‘My Generation’ on Live at Leeds to recognise that fact. Still, he rarely stepped too far beyond the line that is drawn between composing a great guitar solo and simply showing off.
Townshend’s playing, for the most part, never overstepped its necessity, partly due to the fact that he wrote the majority of the band’s most beloved material, too. As a result, the guitarist has never been overly fond of the kinds of guitarists who leap into ten-minute guitar solos that never really go anywhere. In fact, he went as far as to declare the likes of Prince “a bit flashy” during a 2024 interview with Guitarist.
While the idea that the guitarist who bedecked himself in sequences and often performed on an entirely customised, otherworldly guitar might be guilty of being flashy is not a particularly revelation, that same interview did reveal that Pete Townshend spends a significant amount of time watching young guitarists on social media.
“There are many on Instagram – one of my favourites is a guy called Angel Vivaldi,” he shared.
Aside from the admittedly entertaining image of the 80-year-old rock god scrolling through Instagram reels backstage, Townshend’s appreciation for Vivaldi is rather surprising, given the guitarist’s metal roots and penchant for soloing. Nevertheless, The Who guitarist cited him as a “brilliant, brilliant player,” explaining, “When he works with other musicians, he changes.”
“He actually listens to them and fits in,” Townshend continued, declaring that Vivaldi’s talents extended far beyond self-congratulatory solos. “He can play anything that he wants to play.” He added, “And there are a couple of others that I follow as well, but a lot of them are just solo musicians that have mastered their craft and got really, really fast.”
Despite Townshend’s respect for Angel Vivaldi, the New Jersey-born guitarist hasn’t yet boasted quite the same impact on the rock and roll landscape as The Who – or, indeed, Prince. Having self-released a litany of studio albums, EPs, and collaborative projects, though, you certainly cannot accuse Vivaldi of sitting back.
