The Who album John Entwistle didn’t like working on: “It actually sounds like I fall asleep”
John Entwistle was undeniably the black sheep of The Who. In a band full of members vying for the spotlight, the bassist stood out by contrast, thanks to his quiet, composed stage presence. Keith Moon was perpetually chasing attention with his wild antics, famously crashing cars into swimming pools for effect, while Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey dominated the stage, smashing guitars and microphones to pieces in a bid for headlines. Entwistle, on the other hand, remained stoic and focused, letting his musicianship speak for itself. Ironically, his unflappable demeanour made him all the more noticeable amid the chaos his bandmates created.
During a now infamous performance for The Smother’s Brothers Comedy Hour, Daltrey serenades the studio, strutting across the stage. Townshend (not very successfully) attempts to destroy his guitar in a faux fit of rage. Moon loaded his drum kit with gunpowder, ready to explode. Its larger-than-intended explosion was sometimes credited with Townshend’s eventual deafness in one ear. Entwistle, meanwhile, remains almost entirely still amid the chaos, only moving as much as his bass requires him to.
Entwistle earned the nickname ‘The Ox’ for the cool demeanour he retained both onstage and after drinking amounts of liquor that would leave most on the floor. He saved the energy his bandmates spent on oneupmanship for skill, resulting in his other moniker, ‘Thunderfingers’.
Largely inspired by and equipped with the ability to play jazz, Entwistle wore his intensity wholly in the music. It was intensity he felt wasn’t properly showcased on their album Who’s Next. “I made him play with a much more regular style and sound. But that was what the material required,” producer Glyn Johns explained. ”Some of the material didn’t require mayhem,” he continued. ”It required a bit more thought and control, and that wasn’t his natural way of playing.”
Entwistle’s technical and creative capacity is more obvious in songs like Quadrophenia‘s ’The Real Me’, in which he manages ever-moving intricacy while keeping rhythm. Meanwhile, A Quick One‘s ’Boris the Spider’ showcases his eccentricity, his bass catchy and quirky, especially when set against his growling vocals.
Despite his reservations, Who’s Next is widely regarded as a masterpiece for classic rock lovers, featuring songs like ’Baba O’Riley’ and ’Won’t Get Fooled Again’. Throughout it, Entwistle’s restrained bass feeds the album’s clarity and power. We can’t know what it might have sounded like if he were allowed to experiment with the freedom he wanted. Moon felt similarly stifled, forced to reign in his anarchist tendencies to produce something steadier.
Johns stands by the decision. ”It was hard to get everyone – including Roger Daltrey – to see the bigger picture, but I don’t think you could say that Who’s Next doesn’t do the band justice”. But while he certainly saw the application of the techniques stack up to be a cracking piece of work, he hated working on the album.
But while he hated the playing on Who’s Next it would not match his disgust for ‘Magic Bus’. “I really hated playing ‘Magic Bus’,” he said. “’Magic Bus’ was sometimes like eight minutes of A. Certain recordings, it actually sounds like I fall asleep.”
