The Who song inspired by Elvis Presley
The Who were the quintessential rock ‘n’ roll group; they had hedonism, heavy guitar riffs and scenes of destruction and mayhem under their locker from the very start. One of the guiding forces of the British Invasion, The Who joined The Kinks and The Yardbirds on the heavier side of the 1960s rock cannon that would go on to inspire the heavy metal and punk movements in the ’70s and beyond.
While it’s plain to see whom The Who inspired over the course of their prolific first 20 years of trailblazing music, it’s harder to place their influences. As the 1970s dawned, The Who still had their rock ‘n’ roll penchant for smashing up musical equipment and rigging live TV shows with explosives, but their music had begun to take on a more ambitious and artistic edge.
Towards the close of the ’60s, Pete Townshend became increasingly interested in synthesisers and wanted to electronic elements to their music. This coincided with the pioneering rock-opera idea, showcased in their early concept albums, Tommy and Quadrophenia, which were later adapted into films.
Their unique take on the rock genre was shaped by the members’ eclectic tastes in music which reached far beyond the realms of rock and roll tradition. Townshend, for instance, was particularly fascinated with avant-garde jazz music.
In an interview with NME in 2018, Townshend discussed some of the albums that had the biggest influence on his creativity over the past 60 years. During the conversation, he picked out one cult album that he believes everyone should hear at least once in their lives.
Recalling the day he purchased the album, Townshend said: “I got really into that sort of way-out avant-garde jazz. 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?’”
He continued: “He comes back with 250 albums. Most of which I’ve still got in that room over there, still in the shrink-wrap.” Of the many stacks of jazz records, the album Townshend was most interested in and picked out for essential listening was The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One.
While Townshend had sprawling interests beyond the realms of rock music, The Who’s central hitching post was in classic 1950s rock ‘n’ roll. For The Who and many others, the divine icon was Elvis Presley.
In 2004, some 40 years after The Who set off on their wild journey together, they released ‘Real Good Looking Boy’ as a tribute to the late King of Rock and Roll. The piano-based introduction to the sentimental ballad takes from Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’.
During live performances of the track, singer Roger Daltrey gives a short introduction to the song, describing it as a song about “a man that changed my life at the age of 11. I saw Elvis Presley live at 11. Thank God I did, I loved him because everybody under the age of 20 thought they were Elvis and dressed like him. Everybody over 20 hated him and that was good enough for me.”
The lyrics were written primarily by Townshend, who once explained that the two boys in the lyrics are himself and Daltrey. “Real Good Looking Boy is a song I wrote quite a few years ago about two young men who worry about their looks,” he said. “One of them, based on me – hopes and believes he might look like his best friend, who is a conventionally handsome fellow. (He is disavowed of this notion by his mother). The second, based on Roger – hopes and believes he will one day turn out to be like the young Elvis. (He, more happily, sees part of his dream come true). They both find love in later life.”
Listen to The Who’s ‘Real Good Looking Boy’ below.
