When Lou Reed called Pete Townshend of The Who “talentless”
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The Who song that almost featured a pre-fame Jimmy Page
The Who were the quintessential rock ‘n’ roll group. They emerged from the 1960s as one of the prominent groups of the British invasion, known for explosive, roof-rattling performances that would more often than not end in a scene of total destruction as guitarist Pete Townshend smashed his relatively expensive guitars into the stage floor. On one occasion, Keith Moon even rigged his drumkit with explosives while performing on a US television show — it doesn’t get much more rock ‘n’ roll than that.
However, under the stony surface of rock ‘n’ roll, anarchy and chaos, the band were very serious about their craft. Off stage, Townshend had a keen interest in jazz music, and as the band’s sound developed into the 1970s, they pioneered the “rock-opera” with concept albums, such as 1969’s Tommy and 1973’s Quadrophenia.
It’s difficult to know whether the band wanted to pull in the raw, hedonistic direction of their stage presence or in the more erudite and geeky direction of their complex and precise recorded material. As Townshend revealed in his 2012 autobiography Who I Am: A Memoir, The Who were conflicted in this manner from the very start.
‘I Can’t Explain’, the band’s second single and first under the Who name, was released in December 1964. Townshend explained that the unrefined style of the band’s early years was seasoned by their producer, who wanted the single to have a Beach Boys-inspired vocal harmony and the more delicate guitar stylings of a pre-fame Jimmy Page.
“We played [record producer] Shel Talmy the revised ‘I Can’t Explain’, and he booked us a session at Pye Studios to record it,” Townshend wrote in his memoir. “Shel also brought in some additional musicians, which Kit had warned me he might do. Keith [Moon] jovially told the session drummer who appeared to ‘scarper,’ and he did. Because Shel wasn’t sure I could play a solo, he had asked his favourite session guitarist, Jimmy Page, to sit in.”
As Moon had done with the session drummer, Townshend dismissed the premise of this Page character stepping in for him. Thankfully, The Who’s first hit single was ultimately performed by the members of The Who, and their punchy rock sound combined with the harmonising vocals of The Ivy League in a winning formula.
He continued: “And because our band had rehearsed the song with backing vocals in Beach Boys style, but not very skillfully, Shel arranged for three male session singers, The Ivy League, to chirp away in our place.”
“Shel Talmy got a good sound, tight and commercial, and although there was no guitar feedback, I was willing to compromise to get a hit,” Townshend opined. “We wouldn’t know if the gamble would pay off until after the New Year.”
While ‘I Can’t Explain’ didn’t perform particularly well in the US charts, it was The Who’s breakthrough success in the UK as it reached number eight on the singles chart and remained on the ladder for 13 weeks.
