The one song by The Who Pete Townshend loves playing most of all
Pete Townshend has a complicated relationship with The Who. Despite being the founding member, the man behind most of the band’s songs, and, without a doubt, its most prominent member, he has always found the idea of being in The Who a little tiresome.
In the guitar-smashing maestro’s defence, The Who were not a harmonious group. In the 21st century, we like to think of our favourite bands as microcosms of pure creativity and artistic endeavour, underpinned by the feeling that should anything go awry, the band becomes a walking, talking street gang, ready to defend each other at the drop of a hat. However, The Who were always more likely to find themselves battering each other than batting off any would-be offenders.
Keith Moon and Roger Daltrey often found themselves on the end of each other’s square fists, while Townshend still regularly complained about his frontman’s incessant want for companionship with him. Speaking in 2014 about a then-upcoming Who tour, Townshend honestly reflected, “It seemed like a good idea about six months ago, but I hate performing and The Who and touring.”
The guitarist even complained about his former bandmates, too. “It’s not going to make Who fans very happy, but thank God they’re gone,” Townshend told Rolling Stone in a 2019 interview. “Because they were fucking difficult to play with. They never, ever managed to create bands for themselves. I think my musical discipline, my musical efficiency as a rhythm player, held the band together.”
Simply put, Townshend was never particularly in love with being a member of The Who. So there was a brief sun-shining refrain when, during an interview, he was asked to look more fondly back on his live show with The Who and pick out his favourite song to perform live with the band. Though he may seem a little dismissive in the clip, Townshend confirms: “Often, I would think ‘I love playing this’ and that’s ‘Magic Bus’ and that’s because of the rhythm I play when I’m doing it.” Perhaps owing to the guitarist’s enjoyment of the track, it would become “the most requested song” at their live shows.
However, the enthusiasm for the track did not extend to John Entwistle, who countered with, “I really hate playing ‘Magic Bus’. It was sometimes like eight minutes of A. There’s certain recordings where I actually sound like I fall asleep.”
Inspired by Ken Kesey, the beat writer who inspired a generation with his tales of an LSD-soaked bus trip across the US. Released in 1968 but written by Townshend in 1965, it is a potential follow-up to ‘My Generation’ The timing of the song’s composition shows just how ahead of the game Townshend was when it came to songwriting.
It was consequently delivered as one of The Who’s trippier pieces. The track typifies two things: the band’s dedication to debauchery in their earliest years and, perhaps most notably, the divisions within the group. That it can be both a member’s favourite and another member’s least favourite song to perform live is a perfect reminder of The Who’s difficulties.
