The day Pete Townshend bought 250 albums by a single artist: “Give me everything”
The Who emerged in the 1960s as one of the foremost proponents of the British invasion. Alongside the psychedelic eminence of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones’ blues allegiance, The Who filled a niche of explosive rock ‘n’ roll thanks to Keith Moon’s thunderous beats and the riotous, guitar-smashing Pete Townshend.
For their destructive onstage antics and early songs like ‘Boris the Spider’, The Who are considered crucial progenitors of the heavy metal and punk genres. However, under this incendiary, youthful exterior, the band took its craft very seriously. Bassist John Entwistle was regarded by many as the finest in his field, with similar praises bestowed on the three other members who faced fierce competition in their time.
The Who’s guitarist and principal songwriter Pete Townshend may have been no match for Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen, but his rhythm talent was widely unrivalled. When coupled with his innovative eye for lyricism and instrumental composition, he left most of his peers in the dust.
Townshend’s nuance came from a steadfast vision. While it was necessary to conform to the expectations of his “generation”, he brought his background and personal tastes to the table at every opportunity. Famously, his childhood fascination with fantasy literature and an adolescent quest for spiritual enlightenment guided him to create rock operas like Tommy and the part-abandoned Life House project.
Compositionally, Townshend freed himself from the rhythm and blues-heavy trends thanks to a taste for avant-garde jazz music. Prior to forming The Who, he and his school friend Entwistle played in the jazz band The Confederates. Over time, rock ‘n’ roll took centre stage, but Townshend’s passion for jazz never waned.
Speaking to the NME in 2018, Townshend discussed some of the albums that had been the biggest influence on his creativity over the previous six decades. During the conversation, he picked out one cult album that he believes everyone should hear at least once in their lives.
It turns out that one of the guitarist’s greatest musical heroes is the avant-garde jazz master Sun Ra. “I got really into that sort of way-out avant-garde jazz,” Townshend remembered. “But you couldn’t find his record anywhere. So, one day I was in a jazz shop in Chicago, which I think is where Sun Ra came from. I said, ‘Have you got any Sun Ra?’ The guy says, ‘Yeah! All his stuff.’ I said, ‘Give me everything.’ ‘Everything?’”
Presumably, Townshend expected a batch of ten to 20 albums as a consummate sample of the artist’s oeuvre. However, he didn’t quite comprehend just how prolific some of these jazz stalwarts can be. “He comes back with 250 albums,” Townshend continued. “Most of which I’ve still got in that room over there, still in the shrink-wrap.”
Of the 250 records, the album he picked out for essential listening was The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One. The seven-track LP arrived in 1965 when the American jazz composer was 50 years old. His work was known for its experimental tendencies as he opted to move with the times and integrate the synthesiser into his compositions to achieve a “cosmic” sound.
While Sun Ra never achieved due commercial return for his labours, he is now revered for his pioneering work in free improvisation and modal jazz. He was also one of the first musicians to use electronic keyboards and synthesisers – an exceedingly daring move for a jazz musician at the time.
Listen to ‘Heliocentric’ by Sun Ra below.
