The only other band Pete Townshend preferred to The Who: “Best place to be on the planet”
If Pete Townshend had his way, The Who probably wouldn’t have gone very far past ‘My Generation’ when they first hit the rock and roll scene.
Being a part of the British invasion had to be a thrill for him for a while, but once he realised he couldn’t get off the merry-go-round, he was much more content to twist his songs in different directions like he would have done with any one of his art projects back in school. And aside from having a telepathic relationship with nearly every member of the band, Townshend was much more fond of some of his other pals who were on the touring circuit with him.
Then again, it’s not hard to see why anyone would have needed a break from The Who back in the day. They looked like they were having the time of their lives whenever they were onstage, but for anyone who needed to take a breather after a few days on the road, it wasn’t exactly the best idea to hang out with Keith Moon day in and day out. That reckless lifestyle was suited to Joe Walsh, but not so much to Townshend.
He had a much more introspective quality to a lot of his music, and since many of his songs showed his vulnerability, he wasn’t going to spend the rest of his life trying to bash away on his guitar at every opportunity. Even if you have a voice in the band as powerful as Roger Daltrey, there comes a moment when anyone is going to need a break, and it’s not like Townshend couldn’t make a name for himself on his own.
His solo albums may have been an acquired taste, but it was much more comfortable for him to make straight-ahead rock and roll than to live up to the massive standards that he set with his bandmates. There was a lot more that the music world had to offer when he didn’t have that much pressure on him, and compared to Moon’s drunken antics, The Faces were a lot more chummy whenever Townshend encountered them on the road.
That’s not to say that they were any less party animals than anyone else. Rod Stewart remembered the days when they were flying off the handle every time they went onstage, but even when they were at their wits’ end, it was much easier for Townshend to hang around with people like Ronnie Wood than settle for all of those tense moments where the rest of his bandmates were waiting for a song.
He had a job to do in The Who, but hanging out with The Faces was the one time where Townshend could let off steam, saying, “I used to love the way they worked in the studio; it was all about having a laugh. Later, when the Faces came together with Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart, hanging out with them was the best place to be on the planet. Being in The Who was fucking grim by comparison.”
And when you look at how Woody always worked, it wasn’t like Townshend was blowing smoke about his old buddy, either. Before becoming a Rolling Stone, Wood was already making a name for himself as one of the friendliest guitarists in rock and roll, and even if not everything that he played with Stewart was absolutely perfect, the entire appeal was hearing a bunch of friends getting together in the studio and having a laugh the same way they would if they were onstage.
Townshend definitely contributed to making The Who much more serious than they were, but sometimes you need a band like The Faces to remind you that it’s only rock and roll. The Who took the genre a lot more seriously than others, but even if The Faces were a bit rough around the edges by comparison, they have proven how far someone could go with a couple of decent riffs and absolute charm.
